The Lying Theory

The Lying Theory, written/directed by Lauren Teo. Picture: Julie Tan

I was roped in for the minor role of the philandering father less than a day before the shoot, as I didn't put myself forward for it and I swear I don't have any experience in that department. But together with the lovely Sharon Hoo, who played the role of the mistress, we managed to pull it off, culminating with the mother  (Karen Tan) dropping the cake, beating the mistress up and young Claire's (Kyra Cheung) childhood bliss for a trusting father broken forever..

It was one of the many times I have acted with Karen and my first with Sharon and Kyra, and at that time didn't know that the older Claire would be played by Julie Tan, whom I later acted with in the movie "That Girl in Pinafore". Then, Julie was a student in NAFA, before her foray into mainstream acting at Mediacorp TV.

I didn't have any expectations from this film besides knowing what I had to do in the scene and that it is about  a cute 'Lying Theory'. So it is a pleasant surprise to watch it today and discover the more inspiring bigger picture.

If only more people realise that lies no matter how well hidden emit different energies and thought forms than truth does. Lies also compound matters into bigger unexpected ones, often with undesirable results. We can spot a lie by the weaker tone of the voice, the unnecessary longer pauses in between the speech, the defensive body language and the inconsistencies of data that follow. Sometimes, it would be just the inexplicable hunch that something is amissed.  If only everyone has Claire's clairvoyant abilities, then perhaps less people will lie and the world would be a simpler place without the myriad of falsehoods criss-crossing our lives and making them more complicated .

Post scriptum:

"The Lying Theory" is nominated for Best Script in the 5th Singapore Short Film Awards 2014.