Back From Kunstenfestivaldesart08! What the hell!!???

yes!! it certainly was cutting edged, experimental, FUNKY!!! most of it i didn't understand, but didn't stop me from having a great time. I just came back from performing at the Kunstenfestivaldesart08 in Brussels. we were part of Ho Tzu Nyen's troupe in "The King Lear Project" (look for it in this year's Singapore Arts Festival!).

okay - it's very hard to explain what this piece is all about - but basically, it's a performance lecture about power structures within an audition process and likening it to the Shakespeare's King Lear.

Here's a large part of the reason why i had so much fun....Meet the gang...

a bunch of talented young actors from Singapore. I am old enough to be the girl in the red/white checked hat's mum - except that i'm so ill behaved :) nobody would want me to be their mu - except my own darling, but then, she's got no choice;)

so, to cut a long story short - the kunstenfestivaldesart is a rather well known arts festival for experimental theatre. highly conceptual, intellectual - give you an example - here's a look at how many people stayed for the question and answer and unlike in Singapore, MANNN!!!! they sure asked A LOT OF QUESTIONS!!!  some very hard ones too. luckily, our director Tzu Nyen always had a reply.

often, they just gave their views...pity we were hungry (didn't eat before the performance and this is right after) so when your stomach is growling, hard to keep up. actually, hard to keep up anyway because belgian audiences are obviously very much in touch and interested in art concepts, and dialogue.

this is us in front of the audience...if we look blur, it's because we are...

okay, so not all of us were blur - but i wasn't all there - too hungry.

and where do we go each night when we're hungry??

the festival bar!!! it was a kool place - and the festival organisers sure knew how to get their participants together for some drink, some food, some commune - nice lah - all in the name of art. i felt like i belonged. i was happy to have been there as a part of 'them'.

see the people right up in front? they're all part of the Singapore contingent. see the strings all over the place - they're tied to pencils for people to draw on huge sheets of paper on the table tops. and you know, i've found out that when pencil and paper is around - EVERYBODY CAN DRAW, AND WILL. hahha. and what they draw is very telling of who they are...

here's mine....

waddya tink? i think i subconsciously want to be an anime.

something else i liked very much about the experience - there was this lady veronique who cooked at the canteen in KVS Theatre (the foremost flemish theatre in Brussels) for people working in the place. all you had to do was write your name on the board if you wanted a meal the next day while bumping in or whatever. she'd cook the most wonderful hot meals - cous cous, sausages, lamb, salads, fruit, fresh baked cakes, cookies, ice cream, breads and some sort of potatoes for you!

best of all, only 5 euros!!! and huge portions. friday is fish day.

here's an example...

yummy!

also - another very kool and unusual thing this festival provides for all its participants....BICYCLES!!! seems it's the best way to see the city - i certainly think so, but my bum hurts cos the Brussel roads are all COBBLED STONES! hahaha

this is my fellow actor Shu An (the one young enough to be my daughter) at CYCLO when we were getting our bikes...

and yeah - in case you're wondering, she's as talented as she is cute.

bumping in to a foreign theatre is not always the easiest thing - but well, with good pals around, we can always amuse ourselves...

there're always pictures to take for blogs you're gonna write.

and finally - when all was over - we adjourned to, where else, the festival bar (which was cryptically called "Flu Power Flu". if you have any clue, pl message me :) ) and talked, laughed, into the wee hours.