“Pop POp POPCORN...  

《爆米花》

 - Melbourne University Chinese Theatre Group (MUCTG) -

Was really glad that I made the right choice to catch MUCTG's annual production for 2011, Popcorn (爆米花）today, having caught its productions in previous years.

Sited in the Beverly Hills home of Oscar winning movie director Bruce Delamitri (David Lu), Popcorn is a satirical comedy thriller that vividly portrays the themes of media violence, familial importance, sex and sleaze. Notorious killers Jack (Cheng Hung Fei) and Scout (Lim Liang Qi) intruded upon Bruce's life and brought his family/career to its knees. Amidst the tussles and quarrels, audiences like myself were brought on a journey that forced us to reflect on the media's influence on our lives together with our mutual responsibilities towards our family members, the community and ourselves.

Focusing on the title, coining the production Popcorn cannot be more fitting. Being a snack that movie-goers love, it parodies the infatuation of audiences with sex and violence on the big screen. Similarly, when movie-goers watch movies, they are often faced with the choice of buying or not buying popcorn. This dilemma is reflected in the theme of the show where audiences have to often grapple with their choice of movies and also directors' concern about the social impacts of their films. More significantly, the Chinese name 爆米花 further puts across the effects of bust, boom and bang through the word "爆", meaning explosion. True to its name, audiences were indeed flooded with a flurry of firepower, heart pounding action and emotion.

While watching the show, I also cannot help but relate to the issues mentioned in my modules this semester. One of these is the issue of media violence and its effects on audiences, bringing to bear things such as the "hypodermic needle" model among others. The issues pervading my subject on terrorism such as violence, death, law and justice were also brought up during the course of the show (if one bothers to read between the lines). Law in itself is merely a tool that people use to ascribe meaning to something that is indeterminable as death.

Overall, the production was well scripted. The cast especially Jack (Cheng Hung Fei) performed their roles with much aplomb. My friend seated beside me was doubtful of the fact that the cast was actually made up of students. Why? Because their acting skills were scintillating, realistic and professional.

So congratulations MUCTG on a job well done again:)! Being a theatre/musical fan that I am, I look forward to your next production in 2012. I'm sure you will continue to grow from strength to strength and continue to put a smile on everyone's "exam-stricken" faces!

For those who have yet to catch this epic production, hurry on down to the Open Stage before it closes on 22 October 2011. PS: You don't need to understand Mandarin to understand the production (Subtitles are provided). Refer to MUCTG's website for more details.

*Credits: Photos and videos are courtesy of MUCTG (http://muctg.com/).
Presented by the University of Melbourne Chinese Theatre Group
Written by Ben Elton
Translated by Fan Yi Song
Directed by Jin, Angeline Woo, Kimi Liang