Friday, March 31, 2006

3/31/2006 12:41:00 AM - A Street Car Named Desire

In this play by Tennessee Williams, the reader and the audience can see clearly how an individual who can't accept changes around her eventually breaks down mentally. The character I m referring to would of course be Blanche. At the start of the play we can see how she lies about numerous things to cover up about her past and also to create a life which she things should be and not what it really is. She drinks to create an illusion where she will drift into. What stirs my feelings would be how Blanche deals with the darkness in her life now. She does not know what to do in order to survive in the new America other than longing for sympathy from other people especially men. It is a pity to see someone getting drunk to the extent of not knowing what is fantasy and what is reality. Upon finishing the entire play, I can't help but feel that this play by Williams actually mirrors a lot to our daily lives. Although we may not do what Blanche did to get over our problems, I strongly feel that some of us might have had the same thoughts as Blanche did. Perhaps some of us did create our own illusion but we managed to get out of it. One thing I learnt from this play is that, we shouldn't let problems overule us. That is a fact!

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

3/28/2006 10:33:00 PM - 1st theater experience

On the 25th of March, I had the chance to catch Harold Pinter’s play “Homecoming” life in Kuala Lumpur Performing and Arts Center. It was the first time I watched a theater life on stage. Indeed it was an enlightening and learning experience for me. I was amazed at the way our local actors managed to portray what Pinter wrote in his play. It was like watching the original but of course with some Malaysian flavour in it. The script was maintained as close as possible to the script written by Pinter. Throughout the 120minutes in the theater, I had learnt a few things concerning performing a play. First of all, it would be through the usage of lighting to show which character is speaking and also to show the passing of time. In the performance, the director used moving shadow of lights to show the passing of night to morning. This gives audience the visual cue that the imagined time in the play is changing which I think is vital to prevent audience from feeling lost. Besides that, another thing that interests me is the usage of sound effects to show the different situations in the play. In this play by Pinter, the sound effects played a vital role because there are situations in the play when it is tensed and changes almost immediately to calmness. So, the sound sort of serves as guidance to me while watching the performance. I will certainly bear in mind the importance of these two elements when my group and I perform for next semester theater subject. In short, watching Homecoming certainly changed my perception on performing a play. What I used to think as boring now seems to be fun and exciting to me.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006

3/18/2006 12:45:00 PM - Pygmalion

http://www.loggia.com/myth/galatea.html

The play by Shaw, Pygmalion, interests me in a few ways especially how the characters are portrayed in the play and also the issues of how language can determine the perception people have of you. I think most of my friends that have read the play especially the girls will certainly disagree with the way Higgins treat Eliza right from the start of the play till the end. Higgins shows the displeasure towards women from the way he speaks to Eliza. He calls her names and does not treat her the way a gentleman should. And as the play heads to an end, we can see that Eliza finally pours out what she feels by throwing Higgins slippers at him. I feel that in this situation, Eliza is not wrong because she could no longer take it. I strongly disagree with Higgins actions in mistreating her. It shows that how an educated man looks down on someone who can’t speak proper English. As a teacher to be, I strongly feel that we should not judge someone on the way he or she speaks because the way they speak does not prove anything. It could be that they do not have the privilege to learn how to speak properly and just like in the play, everybody has a mind of their own. No matter how educated one is, one should never try to mould someone in our own liking. Each of us have the brain to think for our own, just like the myth of Pygmalion....

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Saturday, March 04, 2006

3/04/2006 09:44:00 PM - Shakespeare Wallah?

Recently I had the chance to watch ‘Shakespeare Wallah’ on DVD. As one can infer from the title itself, the movie concerns the great playwright, Shakespeare. However, it is not a biography of him but it is a portrayal of a true story of a theatre company trying to promote theatre in India, a country famous for Bollywood. What strikes me about the movie is the determination and eagerness of the theatre company to promote Shakespeare in a country whose culture is entirely different from Shakespeare’s. In my opinion, credit should be given to that company for its efforts. If only such efforts are put in teaching literature in school, I am sure that our Malaysian students would definitely find literature to be something enjoyable or at least comfortable. Efforts aside, I personally feel that the directors of the movie could have done a better job in portraying the real story behind the movie script. The movie was boring on a whole, not to mention the fact that the director decided to include romance in it. =( Not a good combination I would say. Comparing to the previous movie that I watched (please refer to previous posting) I would not recommend Shakespeare Wallah to those who are babies in literature or Shakespeare. The production by the Reduced Shakespeare Company would definitely be a better choice to be used to promote literature among students. Shakespeare Wallah does not have what I can adapt and apply in my future teaching courier. So, for me, the production by the Reduced Shakespeare Company would be a better choice for teachers to promote literature and also to adapt ideas on drama activities. Enough said. Feedbacks are definitely welcomed.

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