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I can see, I can listen, I can speak
I love photography, singing, music and theatre. I write my own lyrics now and then. I think they're alright but I'm not here to sell myself. Why are you here in the first place? You wanna visit my
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Playmates and StrangersAbd Afina Ain Amirah Athira Aqilah Darwita Dawn Diyanah Edwin Fahmi Farah Fazuan Fazwin Filzah Gopal Samyvelu s/o Bashkaran Haddad Hamaiza Hidayat Iffa Ili Jacqueline Jing Hui Joey Kah Jen Kevin Lee Shen Mahirah Mira Nana Nasyithah Nisha Nurul Raihanah Rashidah Rusydiah Sammy SangSingaPurba Suhaina Syafiq Syafiqah Wahidah Wano Wiwi Xiu Wei YiHan Yin Qing Yusuf Zulaiha |
Typewriter16:41 - “To those who leave their homes in the cause of Allah, after suffering oppression, We will assuredly give a goodly home in this world: but truly the reward of the Hereafter will be greater. If they only knew!”Sunday, June 7, 2009 I saw and I shall speak / 2:38 AM
Manifestasi 2009: Kibaran Samudera Senja Merah Manifestasi is a recurring event hosted by Tampines Junior College. This year, their play beautifully entitled “Kibaran Samudera Senja Merah” circles around two families who were struck by the trials of war and the soldiers of ‘Pol Pot’. The play was in a 1970’s Cambodian setting. I find that this in itself was a very ambitious idea, especially when I heard that this year’s cast did not get as much practice as last year’s cast. I gather that the message behind the script was preaching perseverance and strength in bad times amongst other similar messages. Okay, let’s recap. After knowing the above, one would expect a totally Cambodian family with a very 1970’s setting and music. However, I find that the setting was fit for a Malay kampong setting. The clothes worn by one of the mothers was the one that I felt more closely related to a Malay mother. The music was something else that I feel was out of place. The music and the songs from the entire play failed to portray any elements of Cambodia in the 1970’s. In fact, if I were to close my eyes, the name that would pop up in my head is Imran Ajmain, Singapore’s modern Malay pop singer. Thus I conclude that they failed in terms of music and song composition because it turned out to be like a concert hosted by Suria. One thing I learned about acting and theatre is that it’s not about capturing the limelight. It’s not about looking good in that spotlight and in the pictures taken for the school. I find that most of the cast members were practising that particular habit to step out of character and be their own self. I was very annoyed to actually see ‘Sokhem’, acted by Azam Othman smiling at the camera just as his picture was taken. I’m sorry to say that he was one of my least favourite on stage that Friday night. The way he walked, talked and his expressions did not resemble that of an admirable father who is strong willed. He seemed like a teenager more than a man. Another thing I felt could be improved was his delivery of lines and how he responded to the other actors. He delivered his lines so fast that I couldn’t catch what he was saying and there were parts when it was so obvious he was out of character. I could see he was just waiting to say his lines. Overall, I felt that most of the characters were reading off their scripts. It felt like they simply memorised the script for an exam and thus it felt very unnatural, unreal and sadly unconvincing. The energy levels were very low and I couldn’t feel the emotions they were portraying. Out of all the scenes, there was only one scene in which I could feel the emotions being brought across which was the scene where ‘Rom Chang’, played by Hazimah Hanafi cried over her dead husband’s body. I find that she was the only one who was almost portraying her character good enough. Her actions were quite big in portrayal of her denial and sadness when her daughter was taken from her and when her husband was dead. However, she too tended to come in and out of character and her energy level dropped here and there. Another thing I was irritated about was the soldiers. I seriously had the urge to shout: “Lu mat ke soldier sia?!” (Are you a mat, Malay equal to the Chinese Ah Beng, or a soldier?!). The way they walked, talked, their expressions and the things they do gave me the image of a modern Singaporean ‘mat’, those clad in colourful skinny jeans, dyed hair and annoying language. However, ‘Ta Mok’, the leader of ‘Pol Pot’ acted by Shahrudin Johari did bring across the fierceness of an unforgiving and unmerciful soldier. Also, I feel that ‘Sophea’, acted by Zahirah Lyana pulled of the childish little kid in some parts but when she’s trying to emphasize on the important lines, she starts to sound like a teenager again and a lot like an info commercial on Suria. Actually, I think this is a problem the entire cast faces. They like to sound like the hosts of informative shows on Suria when delivering the important lines, especially with their thick ‘baku’ Singapore which had no elements of any Cambodian accent. Other than that, I felt that the director failed to make full use of the stage. Throughout the play, the cast kept using the front stage. I am sure there are spots on the stage which were left totally empty. The stage balance was also a little off because there are times when the most of the characters are at one side of the stage. Also, the lightings were not really enticing and there are times when the stage is quite dark. Furthermore, some parts the characters who were speaking couldn’t be seen. The flow of scenes was also not too good. This is apparent in the scenes where the two ‘angels’ who sang to the mothers and fathers as I find that it was pointless for the characters to exit when the scene could have made greater impact with a fading of lights. I think the play was full of people doing things just for the sake of moving the character there; there was no purpose to why the character would move there. For example, one of the final scenes, the 'Rom Chang' was at the front stage, then she suddenly moved to the middle of the stage then move back to the front. Basically, it was weird to see her moving all the way back then moving forward again when there's no reason for her to do so. In general, I think the actors need to work on their voice projection because they were too soft in a lot of parts and I was sitting five rows from the front. Furthermore, I could tell some of the characters like ‘Nimol’, acted by Shafiq Hashim were not at all using stage voices because his voice sounded sore in one of the scenes. Also, they have to work on their singing because other than the two angels, everyone else was flat. Furthermore, they need to work on how to make full use of the props. Most of the time the props are just left alone and I find it funny that the props that the actors could make better use of like family photo and ropes when ‘Ritishak’, acted by Nasri Zainol saved ‘Sokhem’ were not present. Also, they need to learn to build up their emotions and not be so monotonous. Other than that, they shouldn’t be delivering their lines when people are laughing because then people cannot hear what they’re saying. This is apparent when ‘Arunny’, played by Zuhairi Asy-Syahid was delivering his lines when he was separated from ‘Sophea’. He should have stalled until the crowd had more or less settled down. On the logistics side, the movement of props took too long and left people bored and restless. And the saddest part is that I couldn’t feel the fear of the captivity, the sadness of separation and death, the tension of wanting to escape and also the happiness of reunion. The only things that saved the show for me were the dance and the dikir barat. These were the only parts that were executed quite well although the male ‘tukang karot’ and ‘juara’ were straining their voices. I’m not sure if the dikir barat performances in between the scenes played to the play’s advantage though because I find myself lost and totally losing the mood of the play. ____________________________________________________________________________________ On a more personal note, I would like to congradulate the team for putting up the show and hope that they would keep trying to improve. I would love to come back next year to watch their dikir barat, insya'allah. And for the sake of freedom of speech, tag if you want about this and I shall reply. |
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