《王鼎昌》

演完了今晚的这一场万众瞩目的《王鼎昌》（许多学校高层，贵宾都来了），感触万千，似乎比以前更加热衷于戏剧了。虽然是喜欢看戏、演戏，但是以前想到要去参加华岗的活动，想到要在戏剧中心里面坐几个小时，就提不起劲了。那时我认为大部分的时间都在看别人排练，自己排练的时间非常之少，简直是浪费时间。

这一个星期正式演出，每天下午课下课过后就要去戏剧中心作准备功夫。第一天的演出观众是中一的学生，开演之前陈副校长已经嘱咐我们前面几场戏吸取前车之鉴，从问题中学习，养精蓄锐在星期五这重要场合做到最好。第一次的演出，深深地感受到舞台的神圣。立于台上，在聚光灯下，万众瞩目之下进行表演。刺激。平时的同学，天天见面，在舞台上顿时化身为剧中角色。一个平平凡凡的学生，在舞台上化为总统、领袖、职总工友，趣味十足。

经常可以听到人家说在台上演说、演戏十分困难；也说面对诸多观众的目光两腿都发软。也有杂志调查显示公共演说为新加坡人最害怕的事情。有的人之所以上台就会紧张，我认为原因是心态上的不当。上台，与其把自己看作动物园里的猴子，不如把观众看作小丑。杨老师曾说过一句：“演员是疯子，观众是傻子”，此话之意不在于贬低任何人，而是旨在告诉我们在舞台上无需保留，可以尽情挥洒，发挥演技。观众不会把演员看成傻的，因为正在台上演戏的演员就是全场的主人，他的一举一动观众只有观赏，是观众看演员，不是演员看观众。

听到观众报以热烈掌声的感觉果然爽快。就这样，从假期回校排练时的心存不甘，到后来第一场演出的迟疑，到星期五重大演出时的激情。观众从杨老师一个人，到陈副校长，到校内学生，到外来访客、贵宾，人数倍增。很多人都说我们的戏越演越好，成对比的，演员在台上的享受也越来越大，直到二零零七年八月十七日的完全挥洒，不止观众感官享受，在舞台上也倍感快活。一路走来，学了很多，虽然不是主演，可是几乎每天跟着大家排练，多多少少演技也有所长进；在后台泡久了，听老师每天叮咛后台的规则，对后台规则、程序也明白不少。

在华岗剧坊，感受到了在柔道从来所没有想象过的热忱。我相信不知我一个人在参加《王鼎昌》的制作中成长了。两个从前话都不说几句、常发生摩擦的人现在竟然还会一起开玩笑。

华岗剧坊，谢谢。

Most tests done. Getting more and more busy

On Friday, I took the Lit class test. The text was Emily of Emerald Hill. The test was, put simply, no sweat. Before this, I have already gotten over and through test for Chinese (Higher, mind you), Math, History and Biology.

History was not as difficult as I feared it would be. After getting an F9 for History in term 1, I had been rather paranoid. Granted, I got A1 in term 2, but thats only 2 examples. If I get another A1 or acceptable grade this term, I can be sure that the F9 in term 1 was the exception rather than the rule.

Got my Chinese results already. 87% or more accurately, 79/90. Not bad results for the class test, but the common test is still uncertain. I am confident though. On top of that, I am not worrying about ACE thanks to 戏剧小品。We were overall Champions in the competition in addition to the Best Script Prize and Best Performance Prize. Feeling happy, but i think we put in more than most other classes. We deserved it.

For Mathematics, it was an A1 score. I forgot the exact number… Have been scoring A1 for maths since the first math test I sat for in HCI. But this is not exactly worth celebrating. At least not for now. I have only achieved 10 ACE points. I will be getting A1 for overall math results, but I think an exemption will be a useful addition on my report card.

王鼎昌is coming up. Despite what 杨老师 says, I think our performance on-stage is already not bad. The problem is whats happening backstage. The Sec Ones seem to find playing and fighting behind the cyclorama very fun… One of them even used his coloured flag to obstruct part of the path of a side light on Friday. Luckily for him and all of us, 杨老师 did not notice fluctuations in the light. He gave the whole 华岗 a lecture when a Sec 4 used his bag to throw shadows across the stage. During a 全剧连排. The Sec Ones this year seemed particularly unruly, maybe its because of the larger than normal intake this year.

Rehersals for 王鼎昌 are scheduled for everyday now. This arrangement eats into my free time. Some people may complain that they have no time to study for the numerous upcoming tests. But that doesn’t affect me, since I will be spending most of my free time sleeping even if I can leave school punctually at 1.30 p.m. (which I have not done for a long time). Regardless of whether I study, intensive rehersals certainly took its toll on me, physically. Due to the widely-known fact that I sleep a lot, and that rehersals have took away much of my sleeping time, I feel tired more easily… Never mind, just 2 more weeks to go.