Kill the faces

Faces-
Faces colored with joy
Conceal the pain.
The inside is shattered with turmoil
But outside looks so calm and plain.
Who taught you to go behind the walls;
Hide inside those coverings that baffle humanity?
Faces are fake.

Faces- dark, wodden masks,
Shadowing your self.
Who are you?
Why are you afraid to show you true self?
Why do you want to look like others?
Faces are evil.

Kill the face
Can you?
And show me you true self,
Let me see the turmoil in you.
Please, be brave!
Kill that ugly face.

My heart wept...

My heart wept-

Like a child missing his mother,

Like a young lad left by his lover,

Like a old dying man forced to say goodbye to his life.

In this plain land lying across like a carpet,

I remembered the mountains that I'd left,

I remembered the paddy fields where I had slept.

The flowing blue rivers, the dark green forests,

The narrow streets, where I had ran,

The old artistic houses,

The temple besides the river,

The monastery on the top of the hill,

My acquaintances, my love-

All I left to achieve something that now seems so vain.

I wait to the day, when I shall be back

To embrace my beautiful land,

Then my heart shall be happy.

The Crucible

When the knowledge is blinded by prejudice and superstitions disastrous accidents happen. The knowledge we have evolves as the time passes by and our efforts to learn more. When we fail learn and root them in our minds we make some mistakes that haunts us till the end of our civilization. "The Crucible", movie based on famous play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller recounts such mistake made by our predecessors. The movie depicts the cruel "witch hunting" episode of 1692 in Salem, Masachussets. The 1996 Fox Production that took away Best Screenplay at the Oscars is directed by Nicholas Hytner (Great job!).

As the movie begins, a minister finds a bunch of erotic girls dancing, some even naked, with his daughter Betty and niece Abigail together. (Sexual repression caused by religious forbiddance) Betty pretends to be unconscious afraid of her father while the other minister suspects the probability of witch. A pastor John Hale, who is known for witch tracing, is summoned to investigate. Girls suffer from mass hysteria as the investigation is going on and the ministers call it act of devil. (Bad luck! Freud was not born.) The girls claim to have seen the devil and blame innocent people of having pact with devil as the afraid maid, who led the dance, confesses. Judge Thomas arrives to investigate furthur and punish the accused, who are later hung if didn't confess that evil act. Meanwhile, Abigail, sly and cunning, plans to have vengence with Elizabeth, who had fired her from job for having affair with her husband John Proctor. When John refuses to have relationship, she accuses Elizabeth to be witch. John is also accused of being devil (He claims "God is dead!"), in his dismal and desperate effort to free his innocent wife. He is given a chance to confess to save his life but refuses. At least 19 people are hung for having pact with devil.

The great story is powered by some superb performances. You hate sly Abigail (Winoa Ryder). You pity helpless John(Daniel Day-Lewis). You love forgiving Elizabeth(Joan Allen, who won Oscar nomination for the role) and laugh at well educated but prejuidiced Judge Thomas (Paul Scofield). The dialogues are good but subtexts takes the breathe away. The other striking part of the movie is its background score (by George Fenton) that thrills and takes us to the 17th century. The location of picturization and the costumes used portray the society vividly but are sometimes monotonous.

Ode to my Mom

In those fearful, deadly nights
When I walk alone in the darkness;
I see a pair of beautiful gleaming eyes
Of a beautiful lady.
When I look into those black, resolute eyes
Power streams into my veins.
The fear of the darkness vanishes
My will strenthens to find the ray of light.
Her strong and calm face radiates love-
Illuminates my soul.
She then stretches her arms forward;
I want to run towards her and hug her,
And rest my head on her warm bosoms.
But I can't
As I am thousand miles away from her.
Desperately I see in her face;
I can see tears trickling down her cheeks
And I hear her say in her soft tender voice:
"I only showed you the world, Son.
If you want to conquer it
You must do it on your own."

Desdemona

"Desdemona: A play about a handkerchief" by Paula Vozel was presented at Welsbacher theatre from Wednesday to Sunday. The play directed by Adrienne Matzen was based on the tragic play Othello by William Shakespeare. The playwright put a new perspective to the events of Othello.

The play was a good illustration of how vivid imagination of a playwright can make things more interesting. The use of sexuality to show that innocent Desdemona was not actually honest to her husband tries to cut the tragedy of the play but adds a new sensation. The presentation of 21st century Desdemona, who is convinced of her right to choose other options when she is dissatisfied with the relationship, appears interesting. The director certainly had put a lot of effort and imagination to present the play. The director is successful in transforming Desdemona from a frail, innocent to disguised bad woman. The other plus point of the play was excellent performance by the actresses. The amazing acting of the actresses actually persuades the audience to believe the idea of the playwright. The performance was the most valuable part of the play. All the three actresses Kim Liebenberg (Desdemona), Carrie Allen (Emily) and specially Camille Schmierer (Bianca) were fabulous. The technical aspect of the play was good too. The use small stage in such an effective way made the audience feel as if the part of the play. The lights were used effectively to change situations while background of the stage was good too. Costume and make-up were successful in presenting the traits of the characters.

The play was good but there were certain things that could have, if changed, made play even better. The presentation of sexuality was not too convincing. The experiment was good and entertaining but not artistic for sure. The presentation of Desdemona as a woman, who keeps relationship with other to find one, whom she could satisfy with, rather than for money could have been better. It seems as though feminism is taken light-heartedly for mere enjoyment when it could have been used to create artistic and intense in feeling by using a "desperate Desdemona trying to find out a way". The dialogues were pretty confusing because of the use of different accents.

Overall, the 68 minute play was entertaining and worth watching but not as artistic as one expects. It surprised audience- totally different from what one would expect.