Short + Sweet Theatre Penang: A Completely Biased Review

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll say right from the start that I have stakes in this.

Not very high stakes, but some stakes. So yes, I am biased, but I shall try to be as unbiased as possible.

Now that's out of the way, let's begin.

What to expect in general:
A mix of everything. There's drama, comedy, and confusion. (We'll get to the last in a bit.)

I haven't been to watch S+S in a while so I didn't know quite what to expect. There were eight short plays altogether - half in BM, half in English. It used to be mostly in English with maybe one play each in Mandarin/Hokkien and BM (or something like that), so whilst I'm maybe sad that there were no Chinese ones this round (despite my comprehension of that being near nil), I think that this turned out to be a pretty good mix.

Overall, the scripts were biased towards drama-type shows, with two (clear) comedies, and one... that I couldn't decide if it was trying to be comedic or serious... which leads to confusion. Out of the eight, I thought four were really good, two were okay... and I don't know what to think about the other two. My brain pretty much just went ? ???? ???!?!

Last general comment: Accents, OMG ACCENTS. I really love the Malaysian accent, I do. Except when it makes everything sound so awkward. Like. WHY YOU ALL SPEAK SO CINA. I know you all are Chinese but don't be so cina can ah. (Speaking about two of the English plays. The other two were okay. The BM ones were pretty fine except one, where the loghat was a bit strong so I couldn't follow everything.)

Right. I'm not going to give a rundown of each play, but I'll highlight the four I really liked, in all its biasedness.

Happy -- of course I liked this. I wrote this. Well, I wrote it in English and they translated it into BM, and I still think it's awesome. I usually hate everything I write the more I read it (hahahaha) so having watched this twice (Tuesday at full dress and Wednesday at opening night) means that they did really well!
(VOTE FOR MAH PLAAAAAYYY)

The Setup -- How can I not like this? It features Penang superstar names like Chen and Lucille Dass, so it can't go terribly wrong. Though, to be honest, Lucille wasn't quite stellar in this. I had questions about her weird overacting and blocking choices (though that's probably more a director thing rather than an actor thing).

Overheard at a Cafe in Taman Tun -- Of all the skits, this felt the most natural. It was also one of the most static, but the actors were strong enough to carry it through. A lot of listening, though.
(Note: LGBT themes if you're the squeamish sort.)






Death is Satu Permulaan -- Malay slapstick at its best. Just park your brain at the door and enjoy. The comedic timing was spot on.

Tickets are still available for shows on Thursday - Saturday, so do do do do dooooo go watch! And also come say hi. :D

Head to the FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE for more details.

#Fridayflash: Come Home

Extracts of Nan's diary, as pertains to Walker. 

1994
October
He's gone. I don't know where he is. No one knows where he is. Milly asked about him at the funeral: Where's Uncle Walker?
He's late. He's coming. 
He never showed. I lied. Only Walker would pull a stunt like this in the middle of a funeral. I'm so angry I could kill him.

November
It's been a month. The detectives can't find him. No clues. No bloody clues. He's just vanished. Poof.
Magic.
I don't believe in magic.
He just "walked out of his apartment" and nobody has a clue where he's gone. This is ridiculous.
I hope he's alright.

December
Milly wanted to know why Uncle Walker didn't show up for Christmas. I want to know why Walker hasn't shown up for months.
Maybe he's dead in a ditch somewhere.
Good riddance.
Lina doesn't know. I can't tell her.


1995
January
Maybe he's gone crazy and forgotten his name and address. If he's institutionalised, how will we find him? Will he grow old alone, forgotten in a home?
Lina's doing better. Time to break the news.

February
I can't deal with two crazy people in a family. Maybe he's dead so I won't have to deal with him.
Harry says I should let go. I try.
We're letting the detectives go. We can't afford it anymore. They said they'd leave it on the radar, let us know only if something pings.

March
I managed to catch Pip's show again. I miss him.
I miss Walker.
I wonder if they checked if anyone jumped off the bridge.

April
Six months. Six months and we don't know if he's dead or alive.
He's probably dead. I can't--
Milly turned four today. We had cake. Balloons.
She asked about Walker again. I don't know what to tell her.
I said he's on a long trip in a faraway land. I hope she'll forget about him soon.

May
Harry says Walker can't possibly be kidnapped because no one has asked for ransom. He also says Walker's probably not dead because the police would have asked us to identify his remains.
Unless they haven't found his remains.
Or his body's been eaten by wild animals and there's nothing left with which to identify him.
Or maybe they can't ask for ransom until the estate's settled, but we need Walker to settle the estate so--

June
I cannot not think about him but I cannot think about him. If I go crazy, it will be Walker's fault.
Maybe he was in a plane crash. Or a car crash. Train crash. Burning wreckage out in the desert. Somewhere.

July
What if he's homeless? And too ashamed to ask for help?
Why did he just walk out of his apartment?
Ned's death must have set off an episode.

October
I'm meeting Walker tomorrow. It's been a year. But he's back.
Finally back.
We'll meet the lawyer with Pip.
It'll be good to see Pip again.

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EVENT PAGE

Our Pip/Theo was injured, so we're starting fresh this week.

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You know who you are, though I doubt you'll read this.
Come home.

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EDIT for additional note: realised it's supposed to be cold in New York during the time the original scene takes place, so the months are probably off. Oh well. 

#musicmonday: Lina's playlist

Chris asked us to come up with songs that our characters would listen to/like, so here's a playlist of songs from the 50's which Lina would likely like, or at least have heard. Often.

Question though: would Lina be a jazz or a rock kind of person?
Ned and Theo are undoubtedly more of the jazz type.

Lina never says, and she's pretentiously artsy and intellectual enough to appreciate jazz, with her cigarettes and wine (she mentions wanting to be a Negro blues singer, so that's a slight indication) but her penchant for smothering the day in speech makes me think she might secretly like a bit of Elvis. Just for the noise.

EVENT PAGE

#fridayflash: Lina

She is
        Sharp lines and taut strings
        Focused on
        Theo, Theo, Theo
but Ned.

No, Ned is comfort. Ned is safety. Ned is the sudden silence in a world of cacophony and if only Theo could be that be comfortsilencesafetysimplicity --

Oh what is the secret behind Theo?

But maybe there is no secret. Maybe he is as empty, as broken, as loud, as crazy and Lina cannot see it. Lina cannot see past -- He wants. Fame. Fortune. Acknowledgement. He is consumed and she is drawn into his orbit; sucked in swallowed down engulfed --

-- no.

She draws herself up, pulls away. The Southern belle has her strength and her dignity and she may not have weight, but she has her power.

A tilt of the shoulders
        A twist of the fingers

Ned doesn't need seducing. Ned is just... there. Easy. Simple. A rock. An abstraction turning into facts. A lifeline. He pulls her out of deep waters, just by kindness. And she needs to escape because Theo, but Ned --

And maybe it's not wrong. Maybe this simplicity is what she wants and needs and craves but cannot get because Theo wants and Theo needs and Lina

cannot be anything other than what she is needed to be.

No matter how hard she tries. 

What you want.
                                  >
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                                                                              >
                                                                                         >
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                                                                                                                >

What you will get.

But it's not her ascent.

it's her descent

into madness

---

Character work on Lina; Three Days of Rain by Richard Greenberg.

#musicmonday: Welcome to the Black Parade | My Chemical Romance + A Bengal Tiger review

He said, "Son when you grow up,
Would you be the savior of the broken,
The beaten and the damned?"
He said "Will you defeat them,
Your demons, and all the non-believers,
The plans that they have made?"
"Because one day I'll leave you,
A phantom to lead you in the summer,
To join The Black Parade."

Brought to you by Chris Preslar's unwitting ability to trigger nostalgia (or in other words, the closing song for Bengal Tiger).

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with the cast of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
L - R: Iz Sulaini (Tom), Phraveen Arikiah (Musa), Christopher Preslar (Tiger), Putrina Mohamed Rafie (Iraqi Woman/Leper), Kabilan Murali Dharan (Iraqi Man/Uday), me, Farah Jasani (Iraqi teenager/Hadia)
Missing: Christopher Culver (Kev)

If I had to describe this show in one word, it would be intense.

Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo sounds ridiculous at the start. Taking place during the 2003 Iraq Invasion, two soldiers guard a Bengal tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. When the tiger (Christopher Preslar) bites off Tom's (Iz Sulaini) hand, Kev (Christopher Culver) shoots it, pushing all three into a downward spiral. By the end of the show, Baghdad is filled with ghosts, all connected by a strange web of death to Musa (Phraveen Arikiah) and a golden gun.

The characters are brilliantly cast, filling their roles exceptionally well. Culver is believable as the dumb redneck Kev: the boy's itching for action - either a fight or sex, he doesn't care which. In later scenes, he manages the intense nature of his role with aplomb. As Tom, Iz comes across smarter, or at least more experienced, but is handicapped by his utter lack of empathy for and understanding of anyone not White American (doesn't this sound so familiar?) as well as his extreme anger (which may have been a tad overdone - he was angry all the time and it was grating). Kabilan does a brilliant mad/evil (evilly mad? madly evil?) Uday and Preslar is stellar, as usual, as the atheist Tiger (all tigers are atheist, apparently) stuck in an existential hell trying to figure out why he's a ghost on earth. But it was Phraveen who caught and held my attention: Musa, the poor, tormented gardener employed as a translator for the Americans, caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. You see him happy, almost care-free. You see him afraid. You see his soul wounded and tortured. You see him stumbling through life, almost zombie-like, frozen because he doesn't not know who he is anymore.

Copious swearing aside, the play asks hard-hitting questions. The Tiger flits in and out of the scenes, asking questions no one wants to voice: who is God, where is He, and what is the point of this life? He taunts, he teases, he rages; but he is insubstantial. Meaningless. A ghost. Musa's quandary is more physical; practical - why should he continue working with the Americans now he's found out they're not the good people he once thought they were? Also, what's going to happen to him once they're gone?

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo leaves you with a heavily full heart. There is evil, and killing, sure. It's an extremely dark show. But there is also a man finding himself, finally coming to terms with who he has been and deciding for himself who he will be.

#musicmonday: Saturn | Sleeping at Last

You taught me the courage of stars before you left.
How light carries on endlessly, even after death.
With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite.
How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.

I couldn’t help but ask
For you to say it all again.
I tried to write it down
But I could never find a pen.
I’d give anything to hear
You say it one more time,
That the universe was made
Just to be seen by my eyes.

I couldn’t help but ask
For you to say it all again.
I tried to write it down
But I could never find a pen.
I’d give anything to hear
You say it one more time,
That the universe was made
Just to be seen by my eyes.

With shortness of breath, I’ll explain the infinite
How rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist.

---

And it's curtains for W;T.

Saturn provided a fitting ending to the play, even as this rounds out my final post about it.

One day, I'll write a play as beautiful as this one. As poignant. As gripping. As devastatingly hopeful. 

#musicmonday: Death, Be Not Proud | Audrey Assad

Death, be not proud
Even death will die

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Last post on this topic. Promise.
The show is this week!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

#musicmonday: Death Be Not Proud | Attalus

Death be not proud
though men will fear you
and think you grave when they draw near you
'cause you take us down
and we can't escape the fact
but I've learned by now
your rite is just an act

so lay my bones inside a hearse
take me in and do your worst
but, tell me why you choose to boast
you're just a shadow and a ghost
I'll breathe again, you'll be surprised
when you're the only one who dies
Death, be not proud
you'll soon find out

You're not the end
You're just the start of me
beneath my skin is the real heart of me
so don't pretend
that you can keep me locked forever in your grasp

but you're just a ship sunk on the ocean floor
your flag was stripped when you hit heaven's shore
so close your grip
but the only thing you'll ever hold is dust and ash
Death be not proud of that

dates on a stone
they're just an alibi
a simple line, it can't sum up my life
beneath the tears
the wreaths, the letters, and the roses
God composes a new life
as the old one decomposes

So come on death, I've got your dues
take them any way you choose
and shake the heavens with your smile
if my bones are worth your while
but this coffin's just a womb
thanks to the cross and empty tomb
my God will get the final laugh
Death, here He comes - your epitaph!

you're not the end
you're just the start of me
beneath my skin is the real heart of me
so don't pretend
that you can keep me locked forever in your grasp
you're just a ship sunk on the ocean floor
your flag was stripped
when you hit heaven's shore
so close your grip
but the only thing you'll ever hold is dust and ash
Death be not proud, you set me free at last

I lay down my life
and find it again
dust turns to dust
but my heart and soul ascend
God bless the path
that leads me through life's shallow end

I lay down my life
and find it at last
dust turns to dust
but I escape this shipwrecked mast
God bless the calm
that drowns the voices from my past

I lay down my life
and find it anew
joy turns to joy
at the thought of breaking through
God bless the pain
that makes me desperate for the view

Death be not proud
what are you boasting for?
thanks be to God
your walls are just an open door
God bless the place where you can't haunt me anymore

Death be not proud
what are you boasting for?
thanks be to God
your walls are just an open door
God bless the place where you can't haunt me any more

Lay my bones inside a hearse
take me in and do your worst
tell me why you choose to boast
you're just a shadow and a ghost
lay my bones inside the dirt
take me in and do your worst
in the end you'll be surprised
when you're the only one who dies
death be not proud
death be not proud

---

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EDIT: A fitting post for today, maybe?

Death, be not proud, though some may call thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.

And though he sleeps on earth now, he wakes in the arms of the Eternal.

#fridayflash: Death, Thou Shalt Die (Fleshing Susie Monahan #4)

I read this book once - I do read, you know, when I have time - about Death. It was my sister's book. Reaper, I think it was called. Reaper Man? Something like that. About how Death became... human? Not exactly human, I guess, at least, he was given a timer and told his time would run out and the new Death would come for him. So he set out to discover what it felt like to be alive. I don't remember much of what it said anymore - it was really long ago, back when I was still in school - but Death kind of (I think) falls in love with the woman he was staying with. And he discovered that he didn't want to die, being on the other end of the scythe.

We talked last night. Early this morning, rather. She was awake. Worried. Afraid. I... I took my chance, though Jace might hate me for it. Kelekian... Kelekian might understand. He's a little more... well, he knows better when to give up. When to be human, or at least, "nice". Through experience. I wonder if he was once like Jace. Probably. I don't know. Anyway. I gave her her choices, bulldozing my way through like I had a right to, but... she's good at reading people, you know? At least, she's good at reading me.

At any rate, I'm glad I did.
For better or worse.

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So. Tickets are for sale. Did I not tell you yet? I think I did.
Come watch meeeee :D
Call penangpac or get it off ticketpro.

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Also, Charity Event. So all money goes to Penang Hospice Society.


And none to me.

Buy a book. Support your local artist :P

#fridayflash: On John Donne (Fleshing Susie Monahan #3)

Thou hast made me, and shall Thy work decay?
Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste;

So I looked up John Donne. It’s all Vivian and Jace talk about. It’s dark. Darker than I thought poetry could be. I mean, you always think of these dreamy, floaty stuff when you talk about poems, don’t you? But John Donne talks about death. Death and God.

I run to death, and Death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday.

When you think about it, that’s true, isn’t it? Death meets us all. I don’t run to it, but I can’t run away either. It’s coming quick for Vivian. A frightening thought. I don’t think Jace thinks of it at all. Sometimes it’s like he thinks he’s as immortal as those cancer cells of his.

I dare not move my dim eyes any way;
Despair behind, and Death before doth cast
Such terror, and my feeble flesh doth waste
By sin in it, which it towards hell doth weigh.

Jace calls it Salvation Anxiety and treats it as an eternal puzzle to solve without any resolution. Vivian liked it enough to give him an A minus, so I suppose they think alike in some ways. I don’t know. He calls it that “meaning of life garbage” but it isn’t that. There has to be meaning, doesn’t there? I mean, I don’t know if my sin weighs my flesh towards hell (if I’m even understanding this right), but…
Death doesn’t terrify me. It’s just another rite of life. But the road to it can be terrifying, especially with cancer. Which, I suppose, is why I’m here. Why I do what I do.

Only Thou art above, and when towards Thee
By Thy leave I can look, I rise again;

I don’t know why Donne needs God’s permission to look at Him. Doesn’t He call us all to seek His face anyway? Maybe it means something that I don’t get. Maybe it’s something you’ll only understand if you study more of his poems.

But our old subtle foe so tempteth me,
That not one hour myself I can sustain.

And maybe that’s why Jace thinks I’m stupid. I mean, he’s never said it directly, but sometimes… Subtle foe? I’m guessing he means the devil. I admit, I’m not the best at reading this sort of stuff. Like I said, I never took literature. Poetry is hard. Which is why Vivian studied it, I guess. But at least I treat people like people, not like… research.

Thy grace may wing me to prevent his art
And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart.

I had to look up ‘adamant’. I thought I knew what it meant, but it didn’t make sense. Even then, there were so many meanings, that I’m guessing the one he wants is the one meaning “magnet”. Because that makes sense, to me at least. God being a magnet, drawing my heart to him.

Oh, I don’t know.

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John Donne's Holy Sonnet I, quoted from http://www.bartleby.com/357/91.html

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https://www.facebook.com/events/574052542755635/

#fridayflash: Oh, Jace (Fleshing Susie Monahan #2)

I trusted you once. Looked up to you. You were so smart, so good-looking. Focused. I could see that you would go far. I listened to your dreams, the things that you wanted to achieve, the illnesses you would cure. When you spoke, I soared with you. You do that, you know.

And then she came and all she was to you was research. Nothing more.

Not a person. Not a soul.

Just research. Data.

Even when she was breaking down, even when her body failed her and all we could do was give her comfort – you didn’t care, did you? All you cared for was what she gave you. Those precious numbers on your graphs, the symptoms, the problem areas, the side effects. She was all that, but not a person. Not to you.

But you can’t live on dreams, can you? I can’t. Maybe you can. I don’t know. I think you’ve kind of lost the forest for the trees.

I get that maybe you don’t believe in God… in that "meaning of life garbage". I get that you don't have salvation anxiety, for all that she taught you about it.

You don’t have to.

But I wish you’d listen to your heart for once. 

If you still have one.

---

W;T performances update: 

#fridayflash: Fleshing Susie Monahan

You’re cold and hard and lonely and I want to comfort you, but you don’t want comforting. It’s not just professionalism or “clinical” like some of the fellows here. I know, it’s my job, but I do care. That’s why I became a nurse. To make people feel happier in their saddest times. To let them know they are loved, that they’re wanted and cared for even if they’re alone.

You’re so alone, Vivian. You don’t want to let me in. I mean, you listen to me sometimes, you laugh and you seem welcoming for a while, but when I leave I know you freeze up again, stuck in your lonely little tower. Maybe you laugh at me a little because I really don’t know what you’re getting at sometimes. I don’t know what to say sometimes, because you make me feel stupid with your big words and your sarcastic voice. So I just try to be my kindest even if I don’t understand.

I do wish I had taken poetry. It’s not just empty words. I do wish I had learnt something of it, if only to be able to connect with you in some way. It’s all you know, and it kills me that it’s something I cannot give to you as part of my care. As part of my love.

You and Jason are so alike. Always thinking. Always puzzling things out. You’re so smart that you’ve forgotten what it means to be human. What it means to love. What it means to care for someone… and to be cared for. I imagine you as a young lady sometimes, maybe about my age, and I think about you falling in love – but I think you’d only fall in love with his brains. Or with his words. With his ideals. But you can’t live on those, sweetheart. You can’t.

I overheard you asking Jace if he would miss people. I don’t think he would. I don’t think he’s capable of it. But I would. 

I would miss you, even if it’s only to hear you laugh at me.

---

Preliminary character work on Susie Monahan from the play W;T by Margaret Edson, which is slated to show on June 16 & 17 at PenangPAC.

I also started on a Susie/Jace piece, but didn't have time to complete it. I should probably work on it before the next rehearsal.

---

Which makes me think that Semicolon doesn't work because I didn't do enough character work. I thought I knew them enough, but now I realise that I never wrote their monologues and first-person pieces, not like I did for A Place to Call Home. 

So yeah, that needs more work.

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Also, second last day to use the Smashwords coupon for 50% discount on Coexist. Talk to me if you need one ;)

Syiok Sendiri - a not quite review

SYNOPSIS (from PenangPac's website)
Syiok Sendiri! A Very Merry Malaysian Christmas!' is the first installment of the 'Syiok Sendiri' series, a comedy-variety project we are hoping would be an endless saga of celebrating the spirit of 'self amusement' on stage. Expect drivel material, not-so-high-brow stuff, and occasional 'siapa makan cili terasa pedas' (tak faham, google la ye!) moments. But ingat ye, no need to be tersinggung and all ok. It's all in good fun. So datanglah beramai-ramai to penangpac from 5-7 December and join the Syiok Sendiri crew as we celebrate Christmas...a la Malaysia.

* For Mature Audience ONLY !
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I caught Syiok Sendiri!: A very merry Malaysian Christmas! today. On kind of a whim. Well, not really a whim. I knew a couple of people who were involved in it and since I was feeling bored and unmotivated to do anything today, and there were tickets, mah go lor.

Syiok Sendiri is a "comedy-variety performance", which was truly funny (only if you understand the Malaysian context) and very varied. There was a Christmas performance, a drag queen, some keyboard warriors, annoyed flight attendants, a gossipy sales girl, a very cinapek Scrooge, catwalks, a game show, bollywood, errr too many things to remember right now.

I have to say that it was really rather well done... and rather deliciously seditious. Don't go if you're easily offended or if you don't quite understand what satire is.

Two more shows tomorrow (Sunday)! Tickets are RM35 each.

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Performance wise, I would say that the cast did a great job overall. I especially loved Kanchana and Isabelle - I would say that they were the most natural and realistic of the six.

One major weak point I would have to point out would be that since that Stage 2 is really a very small stage, and I sat right in front because, well, because, there could have been more emphasis placed on facial expressions. This wouldn't really be relevant if this had been done on a bigger stage, say Stage 1, where the audience are really quite far away from the performers - I think the body language was pretty much consistent - but being that close up, there were several instances where it felt like the actors broke character a little based on their facial expressions.
Or maybe I'm just expecting too much facial expressions. I don't know.

Anyway.

Catch it if you can.

#30to30: Day 19 - Theatre | S+S Review

There's just something about being on stage.
About portraying someone you're not.
About putting yourself in someone else's shoes, feeling what they feel, saying what they would say.
About understanding.
And being bigger than yourself.

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I just (an hour ago) came back from watching Short +Sweet Theatre Penang, so I'm updating this post with a mini review. (More info and photos on their blog here.)

This year's short + sweet felt extremely lacklustre. Less than half of the plays had a solid storyline, and most of the acting felt rather meh.

1. In My Mind - this felt like a shaky start to the whole show. It's a simple enough play about a guy who's stuck in a shitty job and is being convinced to try to kill his boss. There is some development in the short 10 minutes, but it wasn't a very compelling story. I think it could have been made much darker. 
2. Cargone - this was silly slapstick about two (really weird) guys who lose an imaginary car, and report it to the police, who look for the imaginary car... It's funny, sort of, but doesn't really lead up to anything. 
3. Revenge of the Ugly Step Sisters: A Rewritten Fairytale - I found this utterly confusing, partially because of the Malay slang/patois they were using (especially when they whined/screamed the words and I couldn't make out what they were saying), partially because the story felt increasingly erratic as it went on...
4. A Thick Skin - I suppose this was an attempt to be educational. Maybe it was written in conjunction with the Tapir fest thing - the whole story was mainly about how special the Tapir is. I'm not sure why the actor who was representing the school kid on a zoo tour also had to act as if he was somewhat retarded. School kids are innocent and say stupid things, yes, but they don't act so... dumb. 
5. Goodbye - There was a sadder tinge to this story about a widow trying to let her dead husband go. But between the overacting of the widow and the strange vacillation of the man (was he supposed to be part shrink, part remembrance of the dead man?) it muddied the whole story hopelessly. (Apparently the script was originally a musical from 2013.)
6. A Pinch of Fate, A Shot of Destiny - this was one of the best shorts of the whole night. A solid, funny story matched with really good acting. The only minus point of this one was that the actors felt too young for their supposed ages. 
7. The Surgeon's Creed - This was hilarious. Again, a pretty strong story, coupled with great acting. 
8. Cari - This short felt like a really long ramble to nowhere. I suppose the twist at the end was supposed to be interesting, but after listening to the two girls ramble for so long, I was like, get it over with already. 
9. (don't know how to write the Chinese character) - It's shorts like these which really make me wish I was better at Chinese. Alvie is a great actor and his monologue was astounding. Unfortunately, I could only grasp maybe 10% of what he was talking about. Everything else I inferred from his body language and acting. It was something about sibling rivalry (how his little brother was always favoured/pampered instead of him - he always got punished?), there was a little bit of abuse (I gathered his mother or father, or well a parent figure, pulled his ear and dragged him away and scolded him and beat him a bit) and he went a little ballistic and beat up his little brother... and I think he choked someone to death and later he went out to get a knife...
10. Knock knock - For some reason this doesn't show on the S+S blogspot, so maybe it was a late addition. This was totally heartwarming. It revolved around a man and his autistic brother (friend? brother? relationship wasn't defined - I'm assuming brother)

I don't know. I think last year's offering was way better.

#review: Sinbad the #musical

It probably doesn't make much of a difference whether I review this now or not, since there are only two more shows in this run - Saturday, 8.30pm and Sunday, 3.00pm. - and I heard that they're sold out. Then again, I suppose feedback is always good.

I enjoyed watching Sinbad, despite the kind of weak storyline as well as the kind of pathetic ending. I'm not sure what the actual Sinbad canon is supposed to be, except that he's this dashing sailor/pirate person, but for this musical, the storyline is a very basic (and slightly underdeveloped) 3-act hero's journey.

I suppose I should start with the plus points:

1) THE VIZIER IS AWESOME.
I honestly think Gene Sha Rudyn basically carried most of the show for me. He's the classic comic bad guy and I think he's a much stronger and well-rounded character than Sinbad was. Or maybe I just like the bad guy. Haha. (Ooo, he was a Malay rocker. Figures)

2) The group songs and choreography had great energy and were actually really entertaining
I particularly liked the group songs in the second act - "Orders is Orders" and "We're not that bad". I don't suppose they really added anything much to the story, but Huzzah and the guards were entertaining in this one (Huzzah kind of grows on you in this scene) and the choreography around the prisoners and their movable prison bars was interesting. From the first act, "We Work", "Sinbad the Sailor" and "Waiting for the day" were interesting enough to grab your attention as an opening scene, but I guess I don't remember anything catchy enough to make it memorable.

3) The singing is good
I mean, compared to the usual fare, these people can really sing. =) I'd rate them a couple notches up from Broken Bridges and super way better than Malaysian Girls. Can't really compare them to Marrying Me I guess due to the size of the productions.

4) Suliman
I don't know what to say about him. Um. But I found his solo impressive, and he had great stage presence.

The not-so-plus points:
1) The hero didn't really feel heroic.
I mean, he was mainly just a love-sick fool. And an enchanted one at that, although he didn't believe in magic. He was rather good-looking though :)

2) I wasn't really sure what the Ezra character was for, and why she was a principal cast and why she had a solo, which I unfortunately tuned out on because I couldn't really get what she was singing. Sorry.

3) The story line was overall rather weak, though it had its funny moments either through a witty line or through one or other of the cast and ensemble's quirks. I'd say that this musical was not so much plot-driven as it was character driven. And the problem it had was that it was focusing on too many characters. So whilst it was entertaining, it wasn't really... cohesive. Maybe another bugbear I have (which others might not really care about) was how much it seemed to depend on cliches. Or what I feel were cliches at any rate.
Maybe the other thing is that... it didn't really have an emotional arc. Things happened. But they didn't really draw you in to feel with the characters. So it's bam-bam-bam, this and that happens, bam-bam-bam, something else happens. Which goes back to why the Vizier and Suliman stood out for me was that I felt them.

I think that's the best I can figure for now.

---

So I noted a few familiar faces in the musical program book.

One of which was that Dominic Luk, whom I worked with in Yes Broadway Penang, was the vocal master. That was like.. woah, really. And also Riena Aisya, one of the really dedicated dancers from Yes Broadway Penang was in the ensemble! Yay for them!

Alvin Looi, of course, who had been actively promoting this musical on facebook for the past few months. (Nah, there's your picture. Don't jeles anymore).

Oh. And the most astounding thing happened. Okay, it didn't just "happen" but... well. I walked down the stairs and saw a college friend of mine, and she was talking to this guy, and she's like "don't you remember each other?" Frankly, I didn't. And then she was like... "he was in Drunk Before Dawn". And I'm like, oh, okay. Brain doesn't quite remember but he's starting to seem more familiar. and then OHHH. Ten years. TEN YEARS DID NOT JUST HAPPEN.

And now I'm thinking... WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?

More thoughts on #marryingmemusical and Christian theatre

I'd wanted to write about this a little last night too, but it was late and it slipped my mind by the time I got round to actually writing the review. 

It was just a thought about tragedies and the role they play as catalysts in theatre. The thing is, having some sort of family tragedy is so overdone in Christian plays. It's utterly predictable. 

You have the headstrong person heading to hell and nothing you try to say can change them but then someone dies or nearly dies and all of a sudden they (or the loved one, depending) repent and see the error of their ways and turn to Christ. 

Marrying Me almost had that cliche - except that they faked it. They created a fake crisis to try to make Stephanie get married. I liked the twist and the fact that they made us know it was fake, because if they didn't that would have made it such a boring generic show. 

Which comes to the question - will a tragedy of that sort really change someone? Or would it just be a temporary thing until that loved one really dies? 

MUST I get married? #marryingmemusical #review

http://www.klpac.org/marryingme/

When you reach a certain age (normally after 25) the few questions you tend to hear a lot are:

1. When are you getting married?
2. Got boyfriend yet or not?
3. Why no boyfriend yet?
4. Why are you so picky?

It's a presumed fact of life that you are supposed to get married. That's been the formula for the past hundreds of years, and it's supposed to be the formula for the next few hundred, never mind the fact that half the marriages now are ending up in divorce. As Auntie Gertrude (Chang Fang Chyi) says, "Everyone gets married for the wrong reasons."

Marrying Me is a hilarious look at what happens when Stephanie's mother and aunt get together and start planning to make her tie the knot. Stephanie (played by Stephanie Van Driesen), the headstrong CEO of SCOWL, an NGO to help abused women, absolutely refuses to get married... until her mother (Sandra Sodhy) mysteriously falls ill and says it's her dying wish to see her married. Who else can she turn to but her old flame, Tony (Tony Leo), who also just so happens to be Auntie Gertrude's son?

Stage 2 is a really small space, so it's easy to see everything that's going on (no faking due to distance, ha) - the cast of Marrying Me was gave a really stellar performance. This is the first time I've seen Stephanie Van Driesen act (I've heard her sing in the YES Academy 2012 show), and I thought she was superb as this very strong, intensely wacky, and yet immensely vulnerable woman. It was also great to see someone I've worked with before - Benjamin Lin - playing Stephanie's BFF, Leroy (was also totally distracted by the 'legalize gay' shirt!).

What I like best about this musical is how local it is. It's stuff that you instantly relate to like parents pushing you to get married, broken families, the tough relationships that sometimes happen, and the crazy mismatch of religions that we sometimes practice (a Catholic family that believes in palm reading?). Of course, never forget the witty asides on current affairs!

It's really a must-watch show.

P/S- Oh - if you're watching it in Penang, do check where you sit! It makes a bit of a difference, because it's theater-in-the-round so the "front" stage gets more face time, though usually they do face all corners. (And I happened to be in the corner Benjamin was facing... hahahaha!)

#review: Short + Sweet #Theatre Penang 2013

I'd wanted to write this the night before, right after watching the show, but I was tired, and then I was lazy. So anyway, there's still one more run Saturday night (not sure if they have a matinee? There might be) so I figured I might as well just do the review now, in case there's anyone who's still figuring out whether or not to catch the final show.

Okay. So mini introduction - short and sweet theatre is a showcase of 10-minute plays. Plays will be judged for a variety of things (doesn't make a difference unless you are a participant or a judge), as well as the Audience Choice Awards (okay, this one involves you, the audience. You get to vote for your favourite).

As a mini rundown goes, I think this year's offerings were slightly better than last year's. Most of the plays were local - only two from KL - as compared to last year, whereby some plays were recycled from previous fests.

Thoughts about the plays 

The show started off with Arrangement, which kind of bombed for me because it didn't quite make sense. A wife comes home from a trip to find her husband masturbating (?) goes into a spiel about being perfectly fine and understanding if he needs to have another woman (went on too long about this, in CIRCLES) and then discovers that after two months of marriage, he is still a virgin. Er. Unless I understood the whole thing wrong. (Sorry if this is a spoiler, but if you understand it any better, please do let me know). *scratch head*
It would have been much better if 1) the extreme vulgarity was dropped (the actors didn't seem comfortable with it anyway) as the subject matter was shocking enough at any rate 2) the acting was much more flamboyant (and the English better/more fluent), thereby carrying off the pseudo-American patter it was written in.

This was followed by Noticed, which was a sweet little piece about teenagers and self-image, and how things are supposed to change in college, but doesn't really, not unless you do something about it yourself. On one hand, you have a teen (sorry, I forgot her name) who, tired of being the wallflower, is on an extreme diet (i.e. I AM NOT EATING). Her friend, the popular one, is worried about her. I loved the argument about why, if losing weight and gaining popularity was supposed to make you happy, you don't actually seem happy? As much as I liked this piece (and it was quite well written by my friend Jackie) there wasn't anything spectacularly new or exceptional about this.

I didn't really follow Hope and hopeless as it was in Mandarin, but you know what, it was BRILLIANT. Sounds strange, right? But that shows you what good acting really is - it draws you in, entrances you, makes you laugh and react - even if it's mainly to the body language and about 10% (err, or less) of what they said. It had something to do with heaven and hell...

Good girls turned semi-serious, talking about abusive husbands and arranged marriages, whilst "..." was a classic lost in translation/miscommunication story between a frantic husband (I think he was supposed to be Indian, but the actor was Chinese) and his visiting Japanese mother-in-law though it was a rather Malaysian interpretation of what a Japanese old woman would be, which I think made her look like a rather frazzled, befuddled aunty lost in her own world, rather than one who had communication problems. (Okay, that sentence was way too long).

The sixth play was Shooting Star, where Rachel recalls why wishing on shooting stars makes her feel sad and why she will never wish on one again. I really liked the actors on this one. They had this nice shy/awkward vibe going on (you know, he likes her, she's oblivious, he doesn't know how to tell her, she's talking about another guy) that makes me go awww.

Okay, so 'No' in spite of itself was a brilliantly written piece. Do you realise how many nuances there can be just for that one word - "no"? Okay, so slightly same premise with the love triangle thing, but I like the way it played out. Touched a bit on suicide. Also, actor (from last year's S+S) did much better this round - maybe he suited this character better, or maybe he improved a lot.

Grave affairs was another serious piece - also bringing up the issue of abusive husbands (why are all the serious pieces about abusive husbands?) and male chauvinistic thinking. I preferred this one though, because it was serious and intended to be serious. Good girls had that psychotic/hysteria vibe to it which tends to take away from the issue. In Grave affairs, the widow stands up and gives an eulogy about why she won't be grieving for her husband's death. Her son's attempts to shut her up gives even more gravity to the issue.

Who is the killer? was another Mandarin piece, so it lost me a little. It was something about H1N1, some other pandemic (also spread by mosquitoes, I think and has R?N? or maybe N?R? code, I forget) and Char Koay Teow and I think the case was about who killed more? Or who killed someone? Er. Of course you had to have the Chinese Judge. Oh, and iPad photos. A little more slapstick humour to this one.

The last play of all, homo | phobia, was the shocker of the evening. I mean, I don't even know how to start talking about this one. Okay, I had a sneaky suspicion it was going to go the way it was going, but I didn't quite expect them to end that way. (Haha! No spoilers until after the final show!) It was, of course, about the gays and homophobia. Gay guy (shown obviously by his erm. tight, colourful shirt and short shorts and GLITTERY EYELASHES OH MY GOODNESS THE GLITTERY EYELASHES*) comes to borrow notes from a classmate. Classmate acts decidedly uncomfortable around him and gets accused of being homophobic.

* First thought - that's more trans/drag queen than gay. Second thought - do gay guys wear glittery eyelashes? Third thought - are transsexuals gay? Fourth thought - who cares, let's just take this at face value

Other random thoughts
1. Okay, so why is it that the two plays about abuse was written by Malays (Haris Hazizan and Fa Abdul)? Is this a common problem in Malay households? Or is it a bigger/weightier problem/issue for them? Good Girls was a definitely Malay setting, though Grave Affairs was rather confused - the son was wearing a cross, there was an obvious "Christian wake" kind of setting with eulogy time, but the widow later smears red paint on her forehead which is a Hindu practice? (Intentional, I'm thinking - kind of I'm not just renouncing you as my husband, I'm renouncing your religion too!)

2. Is Maxime Rhapsody the poet guy from last year's lit fest?

3. LANGUAGE! It makes such a big difference - not the language itself, but how well you speak it, or how comfortable you are speaking it. It really affects your acting. I don't doubt that the two actors in Arrangement were okay with speaking English, but you could tell it wasn't fluent, maybe not quite their first language. And I think that was the deciding factor in what broke the play (for me at least) - there was no impact to what they were saying at all. This was all the more evident because right after that, Noticed, was played by two girls (one Caucasian, one maybe mixed? - or at least from an international school) who were decidedly fluent and it made everything they did and said feel more natural. Of course, as I said about Hope and Hopeless, and which also applies to Who is the Killer?, even though I didn't understand the actual dialogue, it still captured my attention because it felt real.

Broken bridges - a must-watch Malaysian musical

Broken Bridges is the story of a boy who couldn't wait to leave his small town home of Ipoh, and how he broke his father's heart in the process. It is the story of a boy, grown up, coming back to change his home town, and breaking his father's heart again.

Broken Bridges is the story of the rift between father and son and how they try to make amends giving in, or apologising. It is the story of the generation gap that was and that is, where parents do not understand their children and try to make them copies of themselves, and where children do not understand their parents and do not bother to try.

Broken Bridges is the story of a decision between maintaining tradition and culture and venturing out into something new. It is the story of expectations made and dashed, traditions clung to and discarded, promises given and broken.

Broken Bridges is a story of love. Love of the new, love of the old, love of a town, love of a lifestyle, love of a woman, love of a child.

Broken Bridges is a story of many things. But no physical bridges were broken in its making.

I thought it was a good musical, deserving of the many Boh Cameronian Arts Awards it garnered. It tells a strong story, one that resonates with the local crowd. And boy, was it a responsive crowd at the Sunday matinee. The first act was well-paced. I hardly realised that almost an hour had passed when suddenly it was the end of the act. The second act felt a little bit rushed though, as if there was too much material to be covered (and there was).

The overall casting was excellent. This is the first time I've seen Jon Chew act (after being told to catch his shows, but never managing to) and I thought he was a good fit. Ho Soon Yoon was perfect as Leong, though I think he overplayed the simplicity just a little in the first scene so for a moment I wondered if he was supposed to be a bit retarded. I was a little concerned at first about how Colin Kirton could pull off a "quintessential Chinese towkay" because I remember how strong his accent can be, but he was excellent as Wong. I initially thought Anrie Too was a little old to play Mei Ling, especially when they started describing her as a school girl years younger than Ming, but after watching the musical, it was obvious why they had to make that choice. A younger girl or less mature actress would have difficulty with that role. The only complaints I had casting wise was that Ringo wasn't quite splashy enough for his song. Nick Dorian wasn't from the original cast though, so maybe that was why it didn't quite fit. He was pretty okay, but not really outstanding enough, making the song just a little draggy. (Not quite sure why they changed KL in the original to Singapore in this run. What, KL not good enough for you, issit?)

What didn't work for me was placing the Teacher (Theresa Leahy) as part of the "aunties" group. It was a little awkward that in the scene where the boys visit the pub, and the aunties come in, that they addressed her as "Teacher" (what teacher would dare be seen at the pub in those days?). As it was, I thought her role a little pointless, especially since she didn't really have any role-specific lines and her accent was too different from the rest of the cast & ensemble.

Choreography wasn't quite tight enough in the opening scene (nerves, maybe) but that's the most I have to say about that. Singing/talking complaint is the usual Malaysian diction problem but this was much clearer than most.

Story wise, I would have liked the love story between Ming and Mei Ling to have unfolded a little slower, rather than just a discussion about a book and a song and then oh they kiss but then again, there wouldn't have been enough time for that. (It would also have been interesting if  Siew Yee were still around and had a jealous fit. Hah!) And it would have been a much better closure if at the end, Ming didn't hear the story from the waitress, but from his friend Leong instead. I mean, what waitress would bother to go and learn the history of the place she's working at in such detail?

So overall, good show. Go catch it if you can.
[Much better than Malaysian Girls :P ]

Broken Bridges runs at Penangpac until 8 June. 

#review: Short + Sweet Theatre Penang

I managed to catch Short + Sweet Theatre Penang on Thursday night and found it very sweet, but hardly short. Well, with 11 short plays of around 10 minutes, total run time was around 110 minutes. Adding in the opening intro to Short + Sweet as well as introduction of cast, directors and playwrights after the show, the whole production took slightly more than two hours.

Rather reluctant at the moment to give it an grading in terms of overall production, but I would say that on a whole, I liked it a whole lot more than Indicinelive IV.

A rundown of the plays (more or less in sequence):

1. Echo (Toby Teh)
The play centres around a blind girl auditioning for an acting role. The thing that irked me from the start was the awkward speaking style of the actress. I initially thought that she had a speech disability or some mental deficiency before I realised she was blind (dark glasses might have worked better than closing her eyes all the time?). I don't know if that was the way she really talks or it was an assumed accent, but I think the play would have been more solid if it was more evident that she was perfect for the role and the only reason she's not being considered was because she was blind.

2. Away from     , away from      . (Ankoku)
This monologue plays on the politics and hardships between three generations of one family. I saw the original play acted by the playwright himself during the Short + Sweet Workshops in April, and all I can say is the actor did not quite flesh out the passions and raw emotions inherent in the script. I think it was difficult for Rio to play all three characters (the shifts in characters were not obvious enough), so maybe having three separate actors for the three generations instead of one playing all three might have worked better.

3. Smart Phones Stupid People (Jackie Ashkin)
The awesome Jackie Ashkin (whom I worked with in Broadway Penang) wrote this one, about an iPhone, a dangerous wild animal, and two crazy friends out in the Sahara. Okay, so I read this script during the Short + Sweet Workshops in April and I must say I was pretty disappointed with the final product. Sorry. I blame it all on the director, though. In my opinion, keeping it simple and subtle would have enhanced the story. As it was, the fancy costumes, blatant attempts to sexualise it, and the over-the-top acting, as well as that strange ending with the Vote sign just made me... confused? (Also, too much panting and shivering involved. There are other ways to show fear than shaking.)

4. My Home (Wong Lay Chin)
I am having difficulty coming up with a blurb on this because I don't read the Chinese characters in the programme. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it, even though I didn't really understand the song they were singing. It was stunningly well acted.

5. Love is a Four Letter Word (How Han Ming)
The blurb says: Nice Guy and Jerk engage in a battle of jokes and pickup lines to win over Nice Girl. Um. This was one of those plays where they break the walls and speak to the audience. Plus point was that they were intentional about it right from the start. Minus point was that the whole play was pretty pointless.

6. We Were Made Fools (Yasmin Bathamanathan)
This was a very real, very gritty play about how migrant workers ended up in Malaysia. The acting was solid, with the actors putting realistic accents that fit with the scene. Loved it, despite not getting the point of the dance in the beginning of the play.

7. The Martyr (John Harris)
The play was about two people discussing life at the funeral of their abuser and I liked it up to the point where the two actors suddenly broke the scene by talking about missing lines and doing it with the script, and arguing. After that, I was just plain confused. Again, what was with the weird chicken costume? However, I did feel that the actors were more fluent when they broke the scene and spoke in Malay.

8. Confessions of Perfection (Yvette Chan)
Great performance by Gowri, and a good script by Yvette. (Blurb confused me by saying "two teenagers confess..." when there was only one.) The part I didn't get were the awkward motions in between staging. Was that supposed to mean/represent something?

9. Small Talk Really Stinks (Terence Toh)
This was good from the beginning until the end, and I think drew the most response from the crowd. Wouldn't be surprised if this got the Audience Choice Awards. We could identify with both characters right from the start and it was very Malaysian, very local and very funny. The only problem I had with this script was HOW COULD YOU TEAR A PAGE OUT OF A BOOK?!?! SACRILEGE!!! My heart stopped. Poor book. *tears*

10. Somnus (Catherine Ooi)
In this one, Danny takes his insomniac wife on a trip to the countryside in the hopes that she will finally get some sleep. It seems like she doesn't. A rather dark little play, but pretty well done.

11. Drive All Night (Mark Sasse)
Two major thoughts emerged from this play. One, the kid is cute, and two, the actors were too young for the script. This very teenage cast wasn't quite believable in a play about a guy who drives all night after a quarrel with his wife and is confronted by various radio programming which forces him to rethink his marriage. Also, I do believe from his motions that his driver's seat is on the left of the car. I'm guessing that he (and the director) either doesn't drive, or at the least, they don't drive in Malaysia.

So that wasn't a rather short and sweet review of the Short + Sweet Theatre.

There are two more runs at Stage 2, Penangpac (Straits Quay) at 8.30pm on Friday (14/9) and Saturday (15/9). Tickets are RM28 for adults and RM23 for students, TAS and senior privilege card holders.

Call 8991722 if you want to book tickets! (Especially for Saturday).