Another Jet Plane

My final entry before I leave tonight for Sri Lanka ...

It's been a hectic week with the drama production and preparation for the trip. I haven't had much time to do anything else yet the thoughts of that person constantly invade the mental intermissions. I don't quite feel the extreme sadness any longer - work is fantastic therapy - but I do still feel the loss and, often, the emptiness; constantly thinking about what went wrong and how it could have been ...

The drama kids have certainly done themselves proud by putting up two good shows though, to me, the countless technical errors were a sore disappointment from my professional expectations. But at least that's over and done with and the show had raving reviews from the audiences. I'm proud of them and I celebrate with them the hardwork, endeavour, resilience and spirit that has been put in for the past 5 months. Some of them have grown so much - as actors and as individuals. The end of the performance reminded me of the value and power of theatre. For the audience, it is, as Shakespeare has once said, "a mirror up to nature". The themes and issues so saliently performed in 1984 are still pertinent; and the way the kids staged it kept the audience on the edge of their seats. For the cast, crew and production team, the value of comaraderieship and teamwork is what has been most invaluable. And I am quite certain they've learnt it. Very often I am tempted to just retire from this CCA but it is times like these that I remember why ...

It is time for yet another project, another one in which I hope students will learn something invaluable. For me, it is the opportunity of displacement - to see my life and what has happened of late from a different context, in a different country, in the hopes that I'd find some peace and some answers.

And so I say goodbye for the next two weeks ...