The Swamp Dwellers (TSD)

Well, the weekend went past like a whirlwind and we had the Tandak Dance Ensemble creating the first scene for TSD, under the the able choreography of Guna..of the Bharatnatyam and other modern dance fame...and what a bunch of talented movers they are. Most of the students in thisscene are not dancers but they have good imagination to bring a scene alive. It is always fun to watch when actors do things on their own without being prompted!
Yatim now has most of his lines under his belt and is not spluttering over them anymore and as I said in the last blog..Zaifri is the man to watch for. He rehearsed many ways of playing his character...funny, clownish, like a YB visiting his kampong..it was really hilarious. He hasn't decided what he'd like to do but it is always great when he tries something new. Even Yatim could not keep a straight face when talking to the Kadiye, Zaifri's character!
Soemhow on Sunday things didn't work out so well for Soon Heng who could not find his usual rythm. It was really uphill for him. Yeah..it happens. Sometimes rehearsals can be so good and some, reallyfrustrating.
BUT most importantly we worked the rythm of the scene in the end and had to send everyone home just before 3pm..we were all getting tired. But all was not over for Soon Heng who had to practice with our ensemble for the first scene. We finished up at 4pm. We have alot of work to do yet.
Sabera

Nightly rehearsals of The Swamp Dwellers

So do you all know that we have another project up our sleeves? No not another 24 hour theatre project..boo hoo...but a full play to be staged at the Panggung Bandaraya from May 7 to 11th. It stars Ahmad Yatim, Lim Soon Heng, Tania Zainal, Zaifri Husin and Lim Kien Lee. The story? Huh so relevant to our times you won't beleive it! No I didn't write it..it's by Nobel Laureate for Literature, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka.
Some nights rehearsals are really great..actors come in with fresh ideas and two nights ago Yatim who is always afraid of not remembering his lines just was so wonderful it was a treat to watch. He and Soon Heng could not get a connection as Soon Heng plays the blind beggar..so they did some exercises that brought some nice, subtleties that were not there before. We have quite some time before the show so actors are encouraged to do just about anything to help them get their characterisation right.
Last night Kien Lee and Soon Heng rehearsed.. a long scene they have together. Again the same exercise was done and if an actor does not feed off the other's energy it becomes hard going for the audience. Making Kien Lee laugh is hard enough but when he got going...wow! the scene came alive and a once dreary scene which I swore I would kill myself if it became so was a delight to watch. Tonight we shall have Zaifri and Yatim too and I am looking forward to 3 hours of fun as Zaifri can be a clown and works his body really well. Tell you all about it tomorrow!
S

The 24 Hour Theatre Project

Masakini had just finished the 24 hour theatre project where about 44 young and experienced theatre enthusiasts took part. It was really heartening to watch people who have just met sit down to discuss, argue, lose a little bit of their cool while trying to devise a 10 minute play!
The culmination of the whole exercise was Sunday night's show open to the public..and they loved it!
Shall we do it again? What say you all out there?
I would like to do so if only the Ministry would support us or some kind corporation for that matter.
We are hoping also to print the best plays as one-acters and later on develop them with the writer into full length plays to be produced in the near future. How about that?
So those who took part and had a good time, tell your friends about it and do look out on our website:www.masakinitheatre.com.my...who knows we will be able to do another one this December!!
Sabera