Cooling Off Day 2nd Run

Today, or rather yesterday since it's now past 12 midnight, was the first showing for the 2nd run of Cooling Off Day. I bought the ticket just this week, no plans originally to watch the play again but I had time plus good seats still available for opening day, so yes I bought it anyway. The new venue is definitely a draw, me being first time at SOTA Theatre. Different venue, different sparks, i thought.


Thoughts

As much as I enjoyed the stories and vivid impersonations of some characters, it wasn't quite as enjoyable as watching it the first time. Timeliness could be a reason, now being Feb and quite a while since Elections ended. "Freshness" of the content also did dampen the level of excitement.. interviews collected for the play raised issues that were 'current' a few months back but maybe not so much now.

Or maybe it's just me cos' there were still moments of roaring laughter and applauding in agreement. Watching it the second time did however remind me of on-the-ground sentiments during elections. And what is interesting now that we're in the future (as compared to when the interviews were collected), we can look back and have more visibility on the changes that have or have not occured after the elections.

I felt strongly for the portion on retirement. "My children will never know the meaning of retired. They will only know what is TIRED!" says one of the characters. Citing examples of 30-year HDB loan and working despite in the 60s.. this is really depressing. I don't think if given a choice, anyone would want to work when they're in the 6os. More so if you're working as a cleaner.

The vicious cycle continues......