THE ULTIMATE BLOGGER...

This is actually our last week of lecture before the final exam begins. We only have one play to be completed which is “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. Overall, I have read five plays-Antigone, Pygmalion, Anike, King Lear and A Streetcar Named Desire. Taking drama class gives me a lot of new things and unforgettable memories. I have to read classical play especially Shakespearean plays which initially not my cup of coffee, I learned to pronounce those “alien” words in the play correctly, how to quote the citations in Shakespeare’s appropriately, watch black and white English movie and I also had better understanding on literature lesson. Apart from that, thinking about the funny experiences that happened along the way really makes me smiling to myself. I remembered the first time my friends and I went to KL Pac and we got LOST despite the KL Pac was actually in front of our eyes .We also had to break our fast at Sentul. However, the most important thing is that I learnt to appreciate the beauty of literature in a play. I realized that reading a play is also an enriching and exciting experience. Well, this is definitely not my final notes because I think I will never stop blogging. This is my first blog that I’ve ever created and I want to continue writing in it till death do us part. (yikes!) Hopefully all of us will always be the ultimate blogger forever.

PEER EVALUATION OF SIMULATED TEACHING

I am going to give comments on Tiang Siew Ching and Pauline Wong’s simulated teaching yesterday(19 October 2007). They taught us the play Antigone focusing on characters and traits.

PRE READING STAGE

In this stage, we have to highlight the sentences which contain modals such as will, shall and would in the extract. I think the have make a good choice of extract and the activity was appropriate except for the extract which was too long. As mentioned by Dr. Edwin since this was just the pre-reading, the extract should not exceed the next page.

WHILE READING STAGE

There was continuity from the first stage. We are asked to complete the table on Antigone’s character traits. I like the worksheets and they have produced good worksheets with clear instructions and guidance for students. The exercise was average because it was neither too easy nor too difficult. I believe that the students would be able to attempt the task successfully but ample time should be given.

TEACHER’S LANGUAGE

They were fluent and looked confidence in using the language. Their voices could be heard with just some minor grammatical mistakes.There are still room for improvement.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS

The teachers were well-prepared with answers being previewed on the screen using power point. The used of technology in class was good and creative in a way it can attract the students. Apart from that, I feel it is much easy for us to check our answers.

“I AM A MAN MORE SINNED AGAINST THAN SINNING"

Finally, our class has completed the play, King Lear last two weeks. I really enjoyed the play despite the difficult and archaic words which I encountered along the journey. Initially, I thought King Lear would be the toughest play we’ve ever learned (well, maybe because of its thickness) however as we go along I found that the play was not that difficult to be understand. Thanks to Dr Edwin for his detail explanations, notes and exercises that I believed have helped us a lot and made everything as easy as ABC. Luckily the text that we bought which is by Heinemann is very accessible, reader friendly and easy for students who just got a crush with Shakespeare. It really helped me to comprehend better because I can easily refer to the opposite page for notes and meanings. In addition, the book can be read again and again for better understanding. In my opinion, King Lear is indeed an evergreen masterpiece because of the issues or messages dealt in it were so relevant to our society and timeless throughout the centuries. I am looking forward to read other works by Shakespeare as well. Right now I plan to finish my reading on Macbeth. Hopefully, I can finish it during the holiday.

PALACE OF CULTURE

My blog entry today is rather different than usual. I've been thinking a lot about the Elizabethan theater-the circular shape stage, the "heaven" and "hell". Thinking of the Elizabethan theater makes me think of Malaysia’s own opera house-Istana Budaya. I was lucky enough to visit this palace of culture during the holidays with my family. I will share my unforgettable experience in this blog since we are doing drama class this semester. What really impressed me about Istana Budaya is in its glorious architecture. The light blue roof looks it has been modeled after the Sydney Opera House. However, it is actually designed to mimic the sirih junjung, the multi-tiered arrangement of betelnut leaves used in traditional Malay ceremonies. According one of the workers there, it was designed by Kamar Yaakub to reflect the traditional side of the national heritage. The base of the theater is in the shape of the wau bulan. The staircase leasing to the grand entrance is in the style of a traditional house while the lobby mimics the rebana ubi.There is an air of elegance as I walk into the lobby, across an expanse of polished Langkawi marble floor with geometric motifs. The grand entrance itself is reminiscent of the Balai Rong Seri, audience hall of a Malay palace. Lastly, the royal boxes in the auditorium replicate the spacious windows of a Malay house. The Panggung Seri stage hall is everything you would imagine a national theater house to be. With its cavernous hall and state-of-the-art stage mechanism, Istana Budaya is capable of hosting the heavyweights of theater. In fact, it has staged productions of Andrew Llyod Webber’s Cats and Giacomo Puccini’s operas Tosca and Turandot. As a Malaysian, we do not have to go abroad just to watch world-class performances because they now come to our shores. And for that, we have to thank Istana Budaya for bringing the world to our country.

MACBETH... Fair is foul and foul is fair.

The last time we watched "Shakespeare Walla" movie, I nearly fell asleep in the middle of the scenes. However, it was a different situation when we watched Macbeth. My eyes were wide open till the very end and I definitely enjoyed the movie. Even though, we did not read Macbeth as one of the compulsory text in the drama class, after watching the movie I felt interested to read the actual original play. While enjoying the movie, I tried to make comparison of the movie with King Lear. Based from my observation, the issues presented in both plays and perhaps in most Shakespeare works are mainly about greed and power. People will do everything to gain the power and materialistic thing. Even though Macbeth is rewarded with gifts from his crime boss, Duncan for serving him faithfully and performing bravely in a vicious gangland rip-off, these gifts are nothing compared to what Duncan lavishes on his son Malcolm. Macbeth wonders why he bothers to stick his neck out when Malcolm does nothing at all. Macbeth was greedy and he wished for more than what he already had. Macbeth is a story of horror-filled and also full of gory. There are lots of bloody scenes, killings, violence and betrayals. Well, just forget the gory scenes because there always some moral values everybody can learn after the movie ended. I prefer to watch a movie which leaves me something to be thought about after that.Just like the Brechtian play that left the audience to response intellectually. As always, Shakespeare deeper purpose seems to be to show us our own lives and make us think. That’s what I like about Shakespeare.

4:48 PSYCHOSIS

Never had I imagined that my first experience of watching a play would be a thrilling and exciting one. Recently, my friends and I went to KL Pac to watch one of the plays in the Black Box Festival 2007- 4.48 Psychosis, directed by Gavin Yap. By looking at the title, you can definitely predict the terribly sad ending of this play. Thus, I am going to tell about my unforgettable experiences however before that let me just give you some brief ideas about the play. Basically, the play deals with psychological crisis faced by a nameless woman. The play ended tragically as she finally commits suicide as the result of her unbearable mental anguish and life despair. Well, not a happily-ever-after ending though. What I really like about 4.48 Psychosis is its minimalist concepts. With only three great and charismatic casts namely Susan Lankester, Samantha Schubert and Malik Taufiq, I felt overwhelmed by their superb acting skills. Their voice projections are clear and loud while articulating all the monologues and dialogues with lots of repetition as well. Most of the dialogues and monologues are between the patients and the therapist. The minimalist concept can also be seen by the casts’ apparels. They just wore simple T-shirt and khakis pants. Apart from that, the stage consisted of a few props such as two staircases-one leads to an upper level stage while the other one had a door-like mirror in the end. There are also a hanging doctor’s coat and certainly lots of mirror all around the stage. Suddenly the idea of mirror of life emerged in my mind. The lightings are fantastic just like the synchronized rhythm of music. I was surprised when the spot lights were suddenly being focused directly to us and the actor was talking as if we are also one of the characters in the play. Personally, I think this is a good play to be seen and worth-viewing. As I left KL Pac, I still can’t stop my mind from thinking about Malik Taufiq and the play (of course). “Remember the light and believe in the light”….

PYGMALION…ON THE BIG SCREEN

I will never watch classical films unless Audrey Hepburn is in the films. Undoubtedly, I am a truly big fan of her. However, when my class had to watch Pygmalion last Friday, I was more than excited about it. It was only later that I realized that it was a classical film in black and white and needless to say… without Audrey Hepburn. Since I really enjoyed reading the play, I tend to be optimistic to think that the movie will not be rather disappointing. Basically, the film was very similar to the original play by Shaw in terms of characters, plot, settings, dialogues and the issues portrayed. The written play and the film were like an identical twin standing face-to face in front of a mirror. They reflected each other most of the times. The only difference between both genres was certainly the ending. In the original version, Eliza did not marry Higgins but Freddy instead, which likely support the idea of Pygmalion as “A Romance in Five Acts”. The movie drastically diverges from Shaw's play at the end by indicating that Higgins falls in love with Eliza and in the end Eliza willingly come back to Higgins. The movie was remarkable and great because of the strong issues it conveyed about the language as the vital instrument of power and oppression. It was like watching another version of Cinderella story however with a sad ending. To be frank, I dislike the movie’s ending as it ended with Higgins final question to Eliza, “Where the devil are my slippers?'. The question sounds very sexist to me as it indicated a strong male dominance towards woman. Personally, I think men and women are made to complement each other, not for one to subjugate the other. It is not a matter of who leads who but it is a matter of walking side-by-side together. Thus, I disagree with Higgins's harsh and immoral treatments to Eliza and sorry to say that I prefer Shaw’s original version of Pygmalion than the latter on the big screen.

THE TWIN: ANIKE and ANTIGONE

Previously, I have never heard of neither Anike nor Wong Phui Nam. Who wants to bother about Malaysian play or Malaysian playwright anyway? People are more concerned about the latest hand phones on sale or the hottest hits song on the radio than any good play. Well, thanks to my drama class for giving me new insights and perspectives about our own Malaysian play written by our own local playwright. We should be proud because we actually have many talented playwrights here. Just because they are not as famous as Siti Nurhaliza or Mawi, it doesn’t mean that they are not talented and great individual. It is surprising that Anike was actually the Malaysian version of Sophocles’s Antigone. I was impressed by the way Wong Phui Nam used his creativity and turned the imaginative ideas into a startling reality. After reading the play Anike, I realized that the story was basically quite the same with Antigone. There are quite similar characters and issues dealt in both plays. However, what made it a unique masterpiece of its own right was actually the setting that was so close to our own world and culture. It is not another isolated setting for us to be in. In fact, we can also identified Malay words such as taugeh, dusun, verandah, tosai and belukar used by him to maintain the originality and local identities. Apart from that, I also found that Anike was full of gory and horror-filled scenes than Antigone. The choices of word used in Anike to describe certain things were so vivid and clear. This can be seen in the extract “Wira was to have our brother carved, stripped bare and hung from a tree by the city gate, then left there to mature into a sack of waste for worms...”(page 3). This is one of the example and I'm sure you can identify a lot more. In conclusion, Anike is certainly a great local play I ever read with my heart and soul. It is a truly great work by a truly great playwright.

THE ONE AND ONLY PYGMALION

Pygmalion is not the name of a bird and it certainly has nothing to do with “pygmy”. Pygmalion is originally a Greek name. By definition, this one word can convey a thousand meanings. However after I have read this play, Pygmalion by Shaw is apparently connected to the tale by Ovid “Metamorphoses” though it is very much different from the original play. Thinking of the word “metamorphoses” really bring me back to my biology class a long time ago in the land far, far away. I learned about butterfly’s metamorphosis where an ugly greenish caterpillar transformed slowly into a beautiful butterfly. Thus, the key words of Ovid’s play are transformation or changes in shape. In Shaw's play, Higgins transforms a common flower girl into a graceful lady, like the sculptor Pygmalion in the Ovidian legend carved a beautiful statue out of shapeless ivory. Higgins effects this amazing transformation by teaching Eliza to speak correctly and beautifully. In addition, Pygmalion is described as having repulsion for women and he thus decides to remain single but his statue is so realistic that he falls in love with it. He offers the statue presents and eventually prays to Venus. She takes pity on him and brings the statue to life. They marry and have a son, Paphos. Similarly Higgins stresses out that “I shall never get into the way of seriously liking young women: some habits lie too deep to be changed…besides, they’re all idiots.”(pg 34) and he remains as a bachelor till the end of the play. The twist created by Shaw is witty as even though Higgins was actually fall in love with his elegant work, Shaw moved from the cliché as not all love story ends with “…and they lived happily ever after”. By looking at Higgins utterances, his character possesses similarities with Pygmalion as a sculptor. For example, Higgins assumed Eliza as his masterpiece instead of his student as he said “I’m not going to have my masterpiece thrown away on Freddy”(pg70). Other similarity that makes these two masterpieces connected can be identified in the last lines of Shaw’s play. "Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion; his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable".(pg 82) In the end, Eliza prefers Freddy's simple-minded proclamation of devotion to Higgins' profound indifference. Personally I really enjoy both Shaw’s version of Pygmalion and Ovid’s Metamorphoses “The Story of Pygmalion and the Statue. What I can say is that reading Ovid’s work really helps me in comprehending the play deeply.

BRING IT TO LIFE

Recently, I went to TGV Cinema to watch this year gigantic blockbuster film, Transformers. Well, I am not really a cinema-type person as I prefer to watch VCD at my cozy room on a lazy Sunday evening. If we are given the chance to choose between two things-watching a movie or reading a drama, which one will become our cup of coffee? I believe that majority of us will opt for a movie treat instead because it has more visuals, sound effects and not forgetting the handsome good -looking actors and pretty actresses. My first encounter with reading a play gives me a truly great experience. When I read a drama, I like to imagine myself as the director of the drama that is waiting to be acted. For me, the drama script is merely a text if we as the readers do not make it “alive”. By giving the script an interpretation and then imagining its effects onstage, we complete it and bring it to life. Indeed, as imagined directors, we determine the perspective form which it will be staged. This is completely different with watching a movie because we become an audience who see, hear and analyze the director’s imagination of the movie. Thus, it is crystal-clear that reading a drama will not leave us with a bad experience at all even though you have to deal with the one by Shakespeare, Sophocles or other classical playwrights. This is because it gives us the total freedom and independent to create our very own drama by using our unlimited, borderless power of imaginations. We draw the characters and settings as we wish for in our minds. I think that’s what make the reading of drama more enlightening and in fact as enjoyable as watching a movie in a cinema. My point is to just enjoy your reading of the play and do not feel de-motivated to continue reading it till the last page. Initially, I also think that drama is terribly a nightmare however as I had get along with Antigone and Pygmalion I just yearn for more. I also can’t hardly wait to watch a real stage play performance soon and experience all the thrills.

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

The background music beats loudly and sounds rather catchy for me. Four young Indian girls in dazzling red Punjabi suits with colourful-beaded veils suddenly appear from the backstage. They dance with full of energy tuned to the lovely beats. The sheer fluidity and grace of their dancing invokes a wonderful feeling in me. I was mesmerized by their performance as I have never seen a Bhangra or maybe Bhagra dance (well, that’s what the M.C said) before. After the energetic dance performance, what really comes to my mind is one of the plays that Dr. Edwin has mentioned in class “Dance like a Man” by Mahesh Dattani. After reading the short extracts, I feel the drive to learn more about the dance form mentioned in the particular play. Basically, this play is about two Bharatanatyam dancers. Bharatanatyam is a well-known dance art from Chennai. It is rather fascinating and interesting as it deals with the general inhibitions to a man taking dance as a career which is usually and traditionally performed by women; the relationship between a husband and wife and how their own thwarted ambitions and frustrations affect their own daughter who is in love with a man who has nothing to do with the art scene at all. Thus, this brings up the issue of preserving our very own roots and culture in today’s generations. The other play “In the Name of Love” by Ramli Ibrahim also deals with the similar issues when Mak Su mentioned that “Nowadays people don’t really care about us anymore”. The Makyong dance “has become-not dead or alive”. Reading both extracts of plays really become an eye opener for me. Through my personal experiences, it is sorry to say that this scenario is actually happening to the new generations. In our high-tech age of flat screen, movies, DVD, Play station and so on, not many of the youngsters nowadays really know or care about any traditional dance form. As for me, I like to watch dance performances especially zapin dance and I enjoy watching them a whole lot. Even though I am not skillfully gifted with the dance talent, deep in my heart I treasure the uniqueness and originality of our culture. I always experience an unspeakable feeling whenever I watch a dance being performed. I always imagine myself as one of the dancers moving gracefully on the stage. How does one describe such a feeling: exhilarating, fantastic, incredible? I feel as if I am “on top of the world”, so to speak.

A NEW DAY HAS COME....

I love reading so much so that it becomes a part of me. I love to read various genres of writing namely novels, short stories, magazines, newspapers as well as poems. But plays or dramas seem different, maybe because they are written to be performed. As James Howe mentioned in his article, “Every printed version of a play is a script waiting to be enacted”. In fact, I rarely read plays especially classical plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and others well-known playwrights. Knowing that I have to deal with Shakespeare, Sophocles and what more to come really freak me out. I can still remember my first encounter towards drama was during the first semester where I had to read modern drama. That was my first step in the realm of drama as I did enjoy reading Trifles and The Glass Menagerie although I am not really into them.
However, the good news is that I had actually finished reading Antigone this week-that’s unbelievable and I am very proud of myself. In the past two month’s holiday, I did not have the drive to really finished reading Antigone. The book actually became mere purple-dull object on my study table in my bedroom. Thus, this is definitely one of my great accomplishments of the year.
Now, I realized that Antigone is such a truly great masterpiece has ever written and reading a classic play as such is not that painful. Of course, I come across truckloads of “alien” words and phrases but I forced myself to just continue reading the drama in a day. (I actually got the motivation by Dr. Edwin’s advice of finishing it in a single seating.) To the very least, I managed to get the overall ideas of the play. Well, reading Antigone for the first time really gives me enlightening views towards plays. I had overcome my fear and problems to classical plays especially because of the lengthy and flowery words, weird pronunciations and difficult words. I realized that reading a play can be as fun as you read other genres of writing. It is just that in a play, the playwright used long and flowery phrases to convey an idea. Therefore, it depends on our wits and wisdom to determine the underlying meanings. For instance, when Creon said “My life’s work there before me lies. My folly slew my wife, my son. I know not where to turn mine eyes. All my misdeeds before me rise. Lead me away, brought low, undone”, the basic idea is that his life is meaningless after the death of his son and wife. Simple, isn’t it….?