雨季

Good news to all my loyal blog-readers (if there are any) - I'm back to blog! E-med EOPT was just over last week, I would have blogged, as per tradition during EOPT periods, if I weren't busy playing StarCraft so I can be inspired to buy SC2.

And so, ENT, Pathology, and E-Med came to pass. Besides the World Cup-Paul the Octopus craze, the visit to the mortuary and watching autopsies, the ambulance runs and setting many IV lines, nothing really spectacular or especially memorable happened.

In a span of 15 days from 14th - 29th Aug, I would have caught:
1. 张信哲　－幸福决哲演唱会
2. 雨季 December Rains
3. Boeing Boeing
4. Fried Rice Paradise
5. Mendelssohn's Elijah

Not forgetting Blackbird in Sept and probably Cinderellah！ in December, many of my friends express awe and sometimes shock that I catch so many shows. It probably forms the bulk of my expenditure; the only other things I spend on are DVDs and CDs.

So why do I watch so many concerts and plays? I　used to just think of it as mere entertainment and relaxation and enjoyment (I still do), but after watching the 张信哲's concert and 雨季, I realised something else, a conclusion which many people have already analysed and come to .

Perhaps concerts and theatre are a form of escapism, to me at least. For the 2.5 hours, I am plunged into a completely different world, and needn't think about work, problems and issues. Sometimes I enjoy a performance purely because of artistic and musical merit, I simply enjoy the music and dance, like in the musical Chicago.

At other times, I'm immersed in a world in which I'm almost omniscient, knowing and in turn, experiencing by proxy, the myriad of emotions the characters portray. In some instances, an emotion that you've never experienced before, or experienced rarely, is thrown at you and you engage and ponder upon that emotion. For example,

"Mr. Cellophane, Mr. Cellophane, shoulda been my name, Mr. Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me, walk right by me,
And never know I'm there." - Chicago

"渺小的我，也想要轰轰烈烈地活
心中的话，也想要痛痛快快地说
渺小的我，习惯在全世界的背后沉默
如果有一天，我真消失了，究竟有没有人会偶尔想起我？" - 雨季

I'd say I don't really experience this emotion very often, if at all. But it's an interesting thought. But of course, when the character expresses this emotion, my heart goes out to him.

In other instances, theatre brings about a mix of reality and fantasy. Theatre allows one to identify with a character with his emotions, as if one could really step into his shoes. At the same time, theatre allows you to feel and imagine yourself as someone you know you would never be, or dare to be, in your life. The irony is that both could very well be portrayed in the same scene in the same song number by 2 different characters, and I would end up having a split personality and feeling for and like both characters. Example in 雨季:

男主角甲：
"身边人影 左右褪尽 所有声音 渐渐停息
天地之大 我的眼眸中只有她
在我彷徨时候 她的心就是我 世上最美的家
请你请你告诉她 我永远爱她
虽然大雨一直下 我有温暖胸膛 一生庇护着她
请你请你告诉她 我永远等她
沧海桑田都不怕 我愿付出代价 今生为她牵挂“

男主角乙：
"身边人影 左右褪尽 所有声音 渐渐停息
天地之大 我的眼眸中只有她
有没有人懂我 心中也有一朵 送不出去的花？
教我如何告诉她 我也爱着她
最好大雨一直下 让我无需面对 她那盼望脸庞
教我如何告诉她 我深爱着她
我想默默陪着她 哪怕付出代价 一生痛苦挣扎“

Not to mention, the female lead (Kit Chan, with her superb vocals) has a corresponding part in this song. What beauty! =)

There are times when you'd feel that nothing else could express your feelings more than the lyrics in a song, because you lack the 文笔 to express such, e.g.

"太想爱你是我压抑不了的念头
想要全面占领你的喜怒哀愁
你已征服了我 却还不属于我
教我如何不去猜测你在想什么

太想爱你是我压抑不了的折磨
能否请你不要不要选择闪躲
只想爱你的我 太想爱你的我
难道只能在迷雾中 猜你的轮廓？” - 〈太想爱你〉（张信哲）

Some may detract and say these poetic expressions are hardly realistic, and are nothing like that in reality. There lies the appeal in such expression - the escapism it provides to the receiver. Where the timid becomes courageous. Where something you never dared to say or do becomes expressed. Where the seemingly impossible becomes possible. Where something out of your grasp can be firmly in your hand. When one lives in reality most of the time, it isn't overly indulgent to escape for 2.5 hrs, is it? Until dreams become reality..