In response to The West Wing (Dance Version) review

It's kind of bugging me so I thought I'll mention it.

In reference to this review of the The West Wing (Dance Version), I have read and re-read my post and I don't think it is really very, very harsh. Is it because they don't know me? Or is it because I did not put my thoughts across properly?

I was so troubled, I SMSed my friend to read it and tell me if I have really erred. I heard from him that that post might have hurt people concerned. I am sincerely apologetic and feeling very guilty. However, we can never escape from criticisms. Sometimes we just have to know which ones are worth taking a note from and which we should ignore, or which aspects of the post to take into consideration and which to ignore. Look, I am just one person in a whole group of audience. Many like it, some don't. Look at both sides and don't let the negative remarks take you down.

Actually I don't know if I should have used the word "review" since I am in no way a professional. But I thought it would be ok, you know, a review from an audience's point of view.

I simply did not enjoy the production as much as I had hoped to. Is it wrong? Must I enjoy it? Must all in the audience enjoy it? I only said very truthfully what I felt was contributing to my un-enjoyment (if there's such a word) of the play. I did not mean to sound like a professional critic in the process. Maybe I do not understand Chinese Opera and cannot appreciate it. I think I should have taken this into consideration while writing the review. That was wrong of me.

One reader said she has paid for the $19 ticket while I paid only $14.50. I don't know how much his/her allowance is every month, I don't know if he/she is the type who spend on movies and think a $3 lunch is cheap. For me, $14.50 is a significant sum. I had previously debated whether to go for this or the other play "Saving Grace", another NUS student production and I chose this because I had high expectations for it (one of my erroneous assumption). Concerts and plays are probably the only things I am willing to splurge on.

Then another reader told me to shove my comments up my ass. I felt very offended by this. I might have made some mistakes in the review of the post, but is it right to criticize your audience or even anybody, like this?

They might respond that I criticized them as well. But I criticized their acting and presentation of the play! I did not criticize the persons themselves! Whereas this reader had made a very personal attack towards me.

If they had told me that I was wrong and that my entry was too harsh, that I was not seeing some things right and would like to tell me the hard work they had put in to make this happen, in a polite way, I would have been very happy to acknowledge my mistakes. If they were very angry over the criticisms, I would even understand. In fact a couple of the comments told me relatively nicely how they felt compared to the above person I mentioned. I thank them for their patience and restrain.

My friend has also given me a view into how things were backstage and I truly appreciate his efforts to attempting to make me understand. I have yet to replied his email fully though (if he is reading this: I think the curtain call is absolutely necessary in any production! Their hard work have to be acknowledged. It is not the presence of the curtain call I did not like, nor was it the length of curtain call. Believe me, I have seen longer ones! It was just that a mere accumulation of dislikes which made the disorganization of the curtain call bug me).

I had tried to tone down the review because I am aware my unhappiness with the play is probably not going to be well received. Was also aware that my emotions were running high at that time, especially since I blogged about it soon after watching it. Also, I did not only include bad stuff in the review. In fact, I started off with what I thought was good. Are the good things not important? Why are people focusing on the bad of what I said?

I am actually very upset because I just expressed what I thought as a member of the audience but was criticized instead. I previously wondered if I was very "unprofessional" in the way I criticized the play. The email from my friend made me think about it and I realized that it basically stems from my ignorance of the amount of hard work they have put in. I have acknowledged that it is a mistake on my part, to not have taken that into account, because any performer would want the audience to know how much effort they personally have put in. But are the responses from them very unprofessional? I believe yes, but I now understand it is also because they had put in a lot of hard work and I had seem to, using one of their own words, demean it.

By the way, I have heard of a number of people who have enjoyed the production, so I hope you all do not have a bad impression of NUS Theatre Studies' students in terms of their acting skills. Afterall, everybody has to start somewhere, make some mistakes and gain experience in order to get to the professional level.

Comments are welcome, flaming is not. Keep your "shove your comments up your sorry asses" to yourself, thank you.