[FLUSH]

6 February 2004

Fridays are here again and generally Fridays isn’t the favourite day of the week for me. I foresee a long and continuous day for me that covers up to 5 ½ hours straight that includes 3 hours of lectures and 2 ½ of CISCO lab. Lunch had to be postponed due to limited time. I grabbed myself a kung fu burger ( the burger I usually consume when I am in a rush) just to filled my stomach at around 5pm. Hunger wasn’t that important to me today, what was more anticipating was going for my first local theatre production that night.

Life…… Sdn. Bhd (An Extensive Review)

Clouds were beginning to gather in the sky. As they gather, the sky began to grow darker and heavier. Strong wind blew from side to side, shaking all that was in her path. Doors slams, windows shut, clothes floating away, cups and plates scattered all over the place. A big storm awaits and we were in the middle of it. All who were going for the play tonight had gathered at HB3 for some announcement and also arrangement of transport. As we wanted to leave that place, we were forced to stay in the shelter as winds coupled with rain form a strong barrier between us and our transport. Once we spotted a break in the rain, the drivers quickly rush to their cars to pick up passengers who were told to wait near the shaded crossing. Despite of the precaution taken, some of us were quite wet and one had to even go back to have a quick change.

The Journey

Looking at the weather condition, we decided to take another route to Bangsar as we feared the road to Puchong and Sunway will be jam packed due to after working hour. The road that we took was long and expensive but at least we were sure that we be able to reached on time. Despite meeting earlier, we ended up reaching Actors Studio at Bangsar Shopping Mall (the place where Canny Ong was kidnapped and later found rape, murdered and burned.) close to the opening of the show at 8.30pm. There was also a bit of confusion due to a missing ticket that we had just found out. Thanks to Mrs. Faridah Merican who came over to take a look at us and decided to let us all in, trusting us that we had paid for our sittings.

Overall Performance

What did I think of the show as I sat glued in my chair and one of the best seats in the house, the front. (thanks to my sis.)? I was really surprised my the awesome performance of the cast that rendered their life stories in a rather amazing, creative and humours way filled with many emotions that caught some of the audience with tears in their eyes as well. It was a rendition of their life as Malaysian and their experiences in growing up in a multiracial land touching on the personal expects and also political in some ways. What compelled me was the openness to certain issues like homosexuality and also transparency and openness to share their thoughts and what they perceived life is. It connected with the crowd as some of us were in a similar situation as theirs. The little expectation from me about a monologue session cause me to really enjoy myself and I also felt very familiar to what the theatrical scene is due to my involvement in theatre in uni as my cocuriculum subject which I took last semester. I felt a lot of the points that were made my theatre master finally made sense for example the technical issues of the importance of the stage, lights and sounds, portraying yourself on stage rather than another person and also the visual aspect of projection of voice and facial expression that allows the audience to capture what you are actually saying besides the speech element.

The Cast

During the play, I noticed a few individuals that caught my attention and made me analyse them more not to notice their faults, but to learn from them in how they presented themselves on stage. I finally got to meet Patrick Teoh up close after memories of him in my childhood days of listening to him host the Morning Show on Radio 4 from 9-12pm during the weekdays. The voice of Malaysia, as many perceived him to be, make me realise why he was ordained this status. Indeed, the clarity of his voice with his perfect usage of the English language moved me to start improving my speech. Gavin Yap, half Chinese half Irish, caught my attention as someone who expresses himself very well as someone that I would listen to if he was going to make a speech. His sharing filled with emotion caused me to want to listen more and never felt the time pass by even if it was a 2 hour speech. On the other hand, I was astounded my the different facial expression and voice over and not forgetting the usage of the language that was presented by Ari Ratos. I was a little sceptical by the way he looks but looks did fool me and whenever it was his turn, I was laughing my head out and at the same time respecting this man for his gift. An old timer that we used to see regularly on Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu, a local TV programme, Susan Lankester really exuberates such fine display of performance that was simply perfect. I was pretty shocked that she was able to speak in Cantonese and applauded her effort on it although it sounded rather Westernise. Last but no least, a young girl of 18 years, Lum Kay-Li caught my attention as she was simply radiant. I could have said that she was pretty and had a nice smile but radiant would be the perfect word to describe her. Despite of her beauty, she amazes me with her rendition of “Reflection” by Coco Lee and carrying it the chorus so beautifully without stumbling on the note caused me to looked in awe. Other characters like Iqbal Abdul Rahim with his Kelantese logat was hysterical but overall the cast was well balanced.

The Red Carpet

It was surprising at the end of the show when I notice how a stage really makes a difference to the actors on it. Seating as the audience which was lower than the stage, I had a diagonal vision that cause me to think that the actors were a lot more matured compared to their age and also taller in nature. At the entrance of the theatre, I was baffled to realise that they were much more younger in person and shorter too. I had a glimpse of all the actors except Iqbal and Ari. The first person that I saw was Wei Jun, the dancer followed by the other cast members. It was pretty interesting to see Ben Tan carrying a YSL cosmetic box which didn’t really surprise that much as he shared to the audience about his ordeal and status as a gay man. Gavin was in his three quarter, something I fancy wearing, rushing out. It was also surprising to spot Patrick Teoh with a gold earring on the left side of his ear. Talking about a 56 years old wanting to look different. Besides the actors, I was scanning through the area for any interesting people that I would meet. I usually let my eyes wonder around especially when it comes to functions such as this as to allow myself to spot any prominent people that I might usually see in the media, to see them in person. I manage to spot Sheila Majid from the back together with her husband and also a famous model which I can’t remember her name. Other than that, I also manage to catch a glimpse of Edward Sumon (can’t really recollect his name) from the Techlive programme that used to be on TV3 and also a few regular DJ’s from Radio 4, which I recognise after watching a game show over 8TV.

In Conclusion

Before I took my leave, I manage to get myself the T-shirt the cast was wearing on stage which was pretty cool for RM25. As it was late and our stomachs began to rumble in desperation for solid, we quickly made our way to SS2 for our delayed dinner. It was quite an interesting evening and I guess this would not be my last visit to a local theatre production. Some of the people who went were already making plans to watch for the next one but I rather reserve it for a better time because its quite hefty in price to watch a show like this, especially coming from a student who still is dependant on our parents finances. I was pretty please to also have my younger sister, Jessica and my big time rock star friend, Andrew to come along with us. Though he was the only one who didn’t enjoy the show, I wasn’t convinced by his reasons because I just love it. No doubt about that. Going for this play didn’t leave me with memories only, but also ideas that came about while watching the show. Ideas of starting something like that in future and also implementing the style of presentation in CF one day as a way to share the Word. Still thinking and I shall let the idea sink in.