Army Daze is Army Daze, and Own Time Own Target (OTOT) is Own Time Own Target.
I think Michael Chiang is a great playwright; I’ve read quite a number of his plays before like Private Parts, Mixed Signals, Beauty World and, of course, Army Daze.
But I don’t think Julian or I referred to Army Daze while writing Botak Boys and Full Tank! respectively. I don’t think Jonathan Lim referred to Army Daze while directing OTOT either.
So maybe everyone should stop conflating the two productions. They are separate entities with their own merits, and the most important distinction that has to be made: one play i.e. Army Daze spoke for an era that had its own challenges (the ’80s – ’90s), while OTOT speaks for another era – our own.
If random people are going to keep on referencing Army Daze or comparing OTOT to Army Daze, it’s not only unfair for all of us, but it’s also very selfish – why stay mired in the past when we have such a beautiful chance to move on and create our own future?
