Buds Theatre's Death and Dancing in Joo Chiat

This is Buds Theatre Company's second staging of Death and Dancing by Claire Dowie.  An American gay student met a lesbian while studying there.  A relationship developed, and may possibly turn into a relationship.  And of course, one party backed out.  While this play explored theme that was beyond same sex relationship, it took some time to develop.  Some of the jokes were rather long and repetitive, and the second half was quite preachy.

Buds Theatre chose to stage this production at a space at Joo Chiat Road shophouse, partly to give an intimate setting, or to save on theatre rentals.  Director Claire Devine made good use of the venue where the audience were seated close to the actors. Rebecca Lee and Zuhairi Idris gave credible performance as Max, though putting on the foreign accents did strain our ears at times.  The 2-hour performance was also taxing to the performers during the second half of the show.

While I did not really enjoy the first act more for the script, I was more engaged in the second act. Script aside, Buds Theatre put up a good show in a simple setting and we felt the commitment of the 2 actors.