well well, we've arrived at the final lap. or, as lofty puts it, "the last 10 metres from the finish line".

it's been an odd little race. the fastest starters have been knocked about quite badly since, there are some surprise leaders towards the end and some have stayed permanently beyond the horizon. most importantly, the race is not and has never ever been about finishing first. it's about everyone finishing the race together.

that's meant staying back to watch someone's IS, lending precious props where the need arises and compromising on slots that were seemingly set in stone. perhaps some moments of tension every now and then, and the occasional spark. but nothing has threatened to derail the train, not even the most tumultous events of the last few weeks.

groopeas have had our share of chaos. scrapping our piece. moving space. slotting and writing scripts beyond the fatigue threshold. various run-ins with various people. and we're still some distance from the finished product, i'm sure. but dearest makoto, vernie, yish, mik, ming and bob, it's been a funny old month with you funny old people but we're gonna craft a bloody good piece of theatre and blow mr pymm's black-and-turquiose socks off on June 1st.

my IS is chugging along slowly as well. to be honest, i'm not awfully confident about the whole darned thing but i'm gonna wrap up and leave the rest to God. it's been total madness, scrapping my piece 4 times, struggling to source out the best sounds and trying to assemble the enormous jigsaw of effects into cohesive soundscape. sometimes, i feel as lost as the eyes of my crew staring back at me. but whatever it is, the week has gotten better and so has my piece. in faith to June 8th then, and perhaps some theatre magic will reveal itself in Night Studio.

everyone's sniffling sick and buckling over with fatigue, living on daily doses on honey lemon. browse through blog entries of TSDians, both cast and crew, and the madness reveals itself. when i walk into the TSD spaces, i swear i can feel the exhaustion hanging in the air like a vicious noose, threatening to strangle life out of our wheezing, sleepy-eyed frames.

stronger yet is the hope, perseverance and camaraderie that promises to slash that noose loose.