Confessions of 300 Unmarried Men

That's the name of the play we went to see this afternoon. My friend was acting in it, and it ended its run today so I thought, why not? It should be fun, especially since I have not seen him in 'action' before, so to speak.

The play was made up of little snippets by the 5 foremost playwrights in Singapore on the theme on unmarried men and was a lovely combination of humour, satire, and some moving moments. To be sure, there were some bits that were slightly off, but on the whole, a really well put together production - one that made us laugh and in a few moments cry. (I should say at this point that I cry at most things, so that should not be too surprising for my friends reading this).

The best part of it I think is the way the playwrights had brought to life the issues of loneliness, the reasons and excuses men stay single. Laughing at the issues that have made the local news recently (e.g. single guy goes to watch crazy horse, and shock horror, finds his mom there with her old biddy friends and she gets him to go to one of those buy a bridge outfits) and the situations that are far too common - shy guy can't express himself, balding guy who has a self-esteem issue and the working class that wants to see what else is coming on the conveyor belt.

It's amazing that almost all the scenes in the play could have been a page out of my life, applied to my relationships. I definitely could relate to it all. The one that ended because he felt he wasn't good enough for me, the one that ended because he didn't want kids, the one that ended because he wanted to see what was on the other side of the hill.

Ah well. I guess I'm at the point when I can look back at them and laugh.

In any case, after the show, we met up briefly with my actor friend and I introduced him to the rest of the girls. He had to rest and prep for the next show at night, so we left for coffee at Starbucks and the girls were like, he's super cute and how come you didn't introduce him to us before? All in all we had a great time just sitting, chatting and rearranging our lives according to fantasy. The power and wonder of 4 women chatting over coffee. I think many a things were probably decided and accomplished over that simple cuppa (make mine a tea though, earl grey, black no lemon).

Quick aside: I'm typing this during my break at work. It's amazing how much faster the words flow with the portable keyboard!

Oh and did I mention that the theatre was at the new National Library? I was so thrilled at finally being in the main branch of my favourite government agency. The entire basement houses the central lending library, and has many carrels and places for us to browse and read. The ground floor was the reception and exhibition area. I didn't have time to explore the other floors, but you can bet i'll be back there to do just that! There's just something about the smell of books - be it old or new, that gives me a thrill. What's more amazing than all the books lined up there, the universes that you've yet to enter and escape to? (At least I recognise that it's a form of escapism for me).

It's just so amazing, I can't believe I haven't made the effort to go there till today. I think I will be spending more time there pretty soon!