This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By Li Xueqing (16S06G), Chairperson; Wang Heng (16S06E), Vice-Chair

How are you going to react, when you open the door of a classroom, expecting to see desks, but no! You instead come across a group of Rafflesians ‘crying’ bitterly over…a ‘toppled chair’??

Don’t be surprised if you do see such a sight!

Watch how our members turn their seemingly ridiculous yet exquisite imagination into entertaining play!

And that’s merely a small part of our weekly activity!

If our members are not rehearsing for our annual performance or SYF, we are being challenged to dream up drama pieces according to the criteria given under severely limited timed conditions.

While the tasks are certainly no “Piece of Cake”, we as drama members will never fail to rise to the occasion, to impress our audience, and of course, to challenge ourselves. You can expect us to be able to improvise a drama reflecting a colour theme, to develop a story from just looking at a picture stimulus, to run a short skit based on five disassociated, disjointed, random sentences, and most definitely, to have a great time whenever we take the stage.

In an actual performance, every member is empowered to explore his or her potential and interest in being an actor, a scriptwriter, a director, or a “control-room” wizard. Every single role is indispensable and essential for a successful performance. But true empowerment is not just about being responsible for these “roles”. Life is dramatic, and drama is about life. Every drama piece has a core, meaning, and new life journey for us to experience. Participating in the production of a drama is not just about repetitive rehearsals, but is also a collaborative quest to seek and manifest our inner human identities.

As our instructor never ceases to tell us: “A good play originates from your daily lives.” Outstanding inspiration for writing and acting requires a peaceful heart and observant eyes. A glass of hot milk given by your mother while you are revising notes, an unexpected car accident along your normal route home, even a seemingly insignificant discussion with your friends can inspire another enlightening, entertaining drama. If you can appreciate the beauty in your daily life, you should really consider joining us. Don’t be worried and shy if you are not a fluent Chinese speaker. Being the only CCA that merges Rafflesian as well as Chinese Culture, our sessions are conducted in both Chinese and English, providing the most easing environment for interaction among all Rafflesian who are interested in Chinese culture.

You may think, “CLDCS could be fun, but what if I have absolutely zero talent for stage performances?” Well, even if that is the case, you may not want to miss the opportunity to develop or nurture your songwriting or calligraphic skills. Indeed, you could choose to participate in any of the three CLDCS sections according to your passion and interest!

In the Songwriting sections, we have external instructors to teach our members how to compose a song, create a melody and write the lyrics. No music background is required as long as you have the passion to perform. Lyrics and the melody will also be amended repeatedly to enhance the quality. But remember, the creation of a song is not the end. All of our music pieces will be recorded into CDs for sale to raise funds for charities. Sounds exciting to own an album?

In the Calligraphy section, members go for training without the help of external instructors. Calligraphy, here, mainly allows us to steal a peek into the world of this seemingly mysterious art, and emerge into tranquility and peace.

We hope to have you in our family!

Please click here to know more about our annual production.