Torturous Love

Ever been to a play that's 7-hours long? Should such a play be allowed to exist? No, it should not. But through some glitch in the matrix, such an abomination happened, and I had the 'privilege' of sitting through it. Definitely would like to reclaim that 7-hours of my life. It all started with a pair of free tickets to The Symphony Theater's "The Butterfly Lovers" matinee show from my church member. When she told me that the duration, I thought she was joking. After church, we headed over to GTT Main Hall, which is actually short for Glenmarie Table Tennis. Hmmmm. Surprised to find such a place in a light industrial area. Upon walking in, there was a reception area or perhaps I should say box office. On one corner, the wall was full of past and present posters of plays. There was one recurring theme-- Jessie Chung, Malaysia's most famous transexual businesswoman. I suspect that Symphony Theatre is her personal platform to excel in the performing arts. And of course, they were selling her merch. 

We actually had our very own usher, a woman who showed us around the place, and provided information about the play. Raises eyebrows hor? The venue was actually quite horrible for a play. Chairs arranged in front of a stage. Everyone was sitting on the same level, so you're pretty much screwed if the person in front of you was Marge Simpson. Goes without saying that Jessie Chung played the female lead, Zhu YingTai. The male lead was supposedly some American Chinese, Paul Lee who is an actor/director. However, the yummiest actor on the cast was Isaac Cheah. During the intermission (1 hour 15 minutes), we got some dinner from the canteen. Honestly, I found the incorporation of Peking opera and martial arts too forced. Right up to 10:30 PM, Jessie Chung poured her heart out, and they actually officially flashed out an informational message that 'real tears' were involved. 

Somehow, we survived the play, and at the end of it, our usher actually sat us down, asked us to fill up a feedback form, and recorded an interview on how we felt about the whole thing. Some questions were specifically about the acting prowess of Jessie Chung. I gave very vague opinions. I just wanted to go home and sleep!