A visit to "Another Country"

A 2 and a half hour visit to Damansara Performing Art Centre for the show - Another Country was a brand new experience to most of us. Being the first time to watch this type of show, I have much more to say.

Firstly, this show actually did not fulfill my expectation. As what Kai Li suggested in class and agreed by the majority, I expected a 2.5 hours of story (comedy) with a single narrative, but it actually turned out to be 2 series of short plays linked together as a whole theater performed by 2 different teams from Singapore and Malaysia. Honestly, I did not achieve catharsis (satisfaction) because I feel that there is no connection between every former sketch and latter sketch. As a drama addict, I've had a mindset that similar to dramas, a theatrical performance should also has intro, climax and a proper ending to make it complete.

But on the other hand, I did enjoyed the performance, as in the casts' acting, the use of props, the lighting etc. The whole thing was grand and professional.

* I like how they could use just a little ans simple props to present different stories and create visuals.
* I like how they could make the flow that smooth between each of the story without much procrastination (especially the Singapore team as they only used the 15 minutes break time to rearrange and remember the transitions based on the sequence randomly picked by the audience).
* I like how they could act so professionally, naturally and emotionally.
* I like how the lighting is being controlled well.
* I like how the sound effects were able to penetrate my ears and even my heart, including the voice projection of the actors which were loud enough to grab audiences' attention.
* I appreciate the great effort put in by the Malaysian team on their clothing so to differentiate scene from scene, but quoting Dr Carmen's words, changing clothes not necessarily make the performance better.
* I admire their memorability.
* I like how they could all collaborate and cooperate with each other to make the whole performance a success.

I do not know anyone of them, the actors and actresses I mean. But if I'm to choose a favourite, Sharda Harrison will be the most impressive one. I just can't tell why I like her the most. Maybe it's because her natural acting skills? Dr Carmen said that actors have to inhabit different roles. I think she really did a great job! She fits in every role she takes. Of course, other actors did too.

Frankly speaking, I couldn't understand most of the stories, particularly those scenes that had a lot of dialogues (that's why I didn't do any notes). I could not follow all their lines. But thanks to Nisshanthi and Cecilia who were actually being my interpreters after the show where we discussed together about the messages and meanings of each play. Besides, thanks to Dr Carmen and Ms Edaline for the explanation during the second lecture and tutorial on Tuesday that I'm able to have further understanding on this show.

"You eat pork also die, no eat pork also die. Of course eat pork then die happily la."

"Life is like a dream. The moment you are awake from dream, that is the moment when life is over."

Those were the lines from Ang Tau Mui (according to what I remember). Similar to Dom and Ting Hui, Ang Tau Mui was also my favourite among all. I couldn't agree more on the embedded message of this sketch --- LIFE IS SHORT AND YOU SHOULD CHERISH EVERY MOMENT AND DO EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO DO. We only live once, so why don't we do everything we want first and end our life with no regrets? Once we are dead, we have no more chance to do it. The reality is cruel and frightening. You can't deny it. The shortness of 'LIFE' always tangling my thoughts terribly, so I can FEEL this sketch.

It was one of the sketches that I actually understood on the spot. Therefore it gave me deeper impression. Needless to say, Janice Koh's solo acting as Ang Tau Mui was totally to the point. She faced the audience as if to the manner born. COOL!

Another interesting sketch must be "Mama Looking For Her Cat". It was entertaining with the 2 skillful actors, Alfred Loh and Anne James communicating with each other about their lost cats using their own 'mother tongue'. The Hokkien spoken by Alfred and his nonverbal actions were epic. I could still recall til now. Even though I didn't understand what Anne James was saying, but the nonverbal signals were indeed powerful. I could still guess the meaning of the words. 

Personally, I think this sketch could be interpreted in two ways in the Malaysia and Singapore contexts.

1. The message of being able to communicate with each other even though using different languages (which you can consider is good. Maybe?).

2. The message of different languages actually leads to miscommunication, which has become a main factor that causes conflicts and even riots. 

Anyhow, according to Ms Edaline, it was a totally different story where the real story actually talks about the miscommunication between the older and younger generation. This reminds me of the current situations that the younger generation do not like to communicate with the older generation. Even they communicate, they do not show sincerity and empathy in the communication and therefore they do not really bother.

I think this is the main reason of the miscommunication occurred between both of these generation. If you are willing to listen to them, you would absolutely ask for clarification and miscommunication should not have occurred. The problem here is are you willing to communicate with them and listen to their HEART??

Finally, I'm ending my second post. "Another Country" gave me another point of view of theatrical performance. It is not necessarily to be presented in a conventional way (1 narrative), but innovations can always be made to make it more unique and memorable. Arts are to be creative. I'll try to accept it though. Looking forward to the next field trip, hope there will be more to come :)

- END -

P.S. Didn't expect that Anne James would be one of my secondary school teacher. Yeah, I'm from S.M.K. (P) Sri Aman. How come I didn't see her during my secondary school time or did I forget her already??? Haih...should've getting her signature few years ago...teehee