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| Saturday, May 31, 2008
Theatre > Preview > Colour My World by Tapestry Playback Theatre Explosion of ColoursWriter: Yang Ming Time : 6pm Date : 30 March 2008 Venue : 40 Commonwealth Food Centre  tapestry playbackersColours define our existence in this world and many of us often associate colours with our daily lives unknowingly. That was how 'Monday Blues' and 'Black Monday' derived from. When I watched Tapestry Playback Theatre's latest offering, "Colour My World", I remembered the colours that once painted my world. I have not been to any of Tapestry Playback Theatre's performances before until I volunteered in one of their productions last year. Since then, I have been wowed by their productions. Those who have neither seen nor experienced Playback Theatre Productions, it's an original form of improvisation theatre where it involves the audiences' participation. The audiences will share their life stories based on the theme and the team of actors will then re-enact the stories. For "Colour My World", Anne Chua who is the conductor got us involved by asking us to think and draw our favourite colour on several sheets of paper that were placed on the table. Being not an artist myself, I decided to write out my thoughts instead. That warm-up session helped to break the fourth wall between the audiences and the performers. There was an array of stories from the audiences about their favourite colours - poignant story about the now-defunct Funworld, lying freely at beach in Adelaide and a grandmother's relationship with her granddaughter. Kudos to the actors who amazed me with their brilliant improvisation on the different life stories they have heard from the audiences. It's as though as they knew the stories at the back of their hands. What I love about Playback is their assortments of music instruments which accompany the stories. Audiences will get a sense of the beautiful and queer sounds from those instruments and not the predictable of the ubiquitous CD music.  memorable scenesThe most memorable scene in the performance was when one of the audiences shared about a film he has watched earlier and how it changed his perception on child prostitution. Actors Mike Cheng and Sia Ee Mien used the Narrator-Actor form to convey the story; Ee Mien wrapped herself with grey cloth as she desperately cried out for help. That short and concise wordless scene was so powerful and haunting that everyone in the room felt the impact of those voiceless children. However, what can be improved in future productions, I thought, is their awkward interlude when the audiences are reluctant to share their story. Given that we live in an Asian country, audiences tend to be reserved in sharing their stories with one another or with the teller. Perhaps, they could play soothing music during the interlude so that the audiences wouldn't feel intimidated into the need of contributing a story. Nevertheless, "Colour My World" has given me another kind of theatre ambience which sets Tapestry Playback Theatre apart from other theatre productions. That's why I am always looking forward to Playback Theatre performances. Visit http://tapestryplayback.blogspot.com/ All photos from http://tapestryplayback.blogspot.com/
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