Last Sunday (21st Sept 2008) was our last show. Part of the T4YP ensemble comprising of:
1. Alfred Loh
2. Kimberly Mehta
3. Farah Rani
4. Gowri Paary
5. Johann Oh
6. Marvin Wong
7. Oliver Johannan
8. Ivan Chan Atienza
9. Gadiy Lim
10.Iedil Putra
And of course not forgetting our wonderful 'panelists' who without them we would've paid a bunch of poor kids some amount lower tham minimum wage and be put behind bars for child labour!The amazing panel operators are:
1. Sharon Lam
2. Hana mazlan
3. Ujval Sidhu-Brar
Love & Beauty: The Sonnets of William Shakespeare ran from the 18th of September to the 21st of September 2008 in pentas 2 of the KL performing arts centre. Besides sonnets from Will (yeah, we're buddies now), the show was entwined with poems from Alex Broun (Australian playwright) and Klpac's very own director-in-residence Helena Foo's poem,Let Me Love You. that would melt even the coldest of hearts!
The duration of the play was about one hour with no intermission. It had elements of courting, sex, morbidity and comedy from t4yp's very own comedy kings with god given comic timing, Iedil and Ivan. Ivan went even as far as wearing a dress of one of the scenes!
Love & Beauty had a great multimedia team who took amazing pictures (actually making me look pretty in pictures, for once!), and perfect video footages on the beach and in Klpac. Love & Beauty would have been incomplete without the amazing team and the man who brought LIGHT to our play Kwang Han (hope i spelt it right). Never forgetting our stage manager Ms.steph-awesome-nie and Mikey our dearest ASM! love 'em! Can't thank them enough!
Being a part of this production was an unexplainable experience, nevertheless I will try explaining the unexplainable! We were divided to small groups of three and Chris Ling (yes, our amazing director) handed us our sonnets, we got to pick the ones we liked (yes, initially it was all greek to us) and leaving Will's sonnets at our liberty (which is terribly dangerous!), told us to come up with ideas of how we think the scene should be. Some of us threw in ideas, some wrote scripts, and some ideas got rejected. We then acted out our version of how the scene should be (which were later used against us as a tool of embarassment after performance). From that, the idea bloomed and we gave to the Malaysian theatre scene: Love & Beauty.
The joy of seeing our ideas and work out there was such a great feeling to experience. Even thought the tech runs were nerve wrecking, the finished product was so amazing that I wouldn't mind doing another few tech runs (ok so i'm lying...). It was sad that this is sort of a last production for all the T4YP members and ensemble training time will be reduced after this production. Nevertheless, we've learnt so much from just doing Love & Beauty.
Sweet memories of wearing a tudung (AGAIN!), dancing with four boys on stage who are supposedly fighting over me (hah, at least it happened, even though its on stage!) and running like a crazy cow to the dressing room to help strip Kim (nothing kinky fellas!), cling wrap her (ok, it isn't what it sounds like!) and smearing fake blood (mixed with chocolate) all over her torso in 30 seconds, seeing mikey do the mickey mouse dance after every show, singing sonnet 18 in off key coupled with boy-band like movements and the final scream at the grand finale! ah, such bliss! Now, thats what I call Love & Beauty!
I would like to thank each and everyone who made this possible, especially to our audience! Thanks a gazillion for the support. For those unfortunate enough not to watch it, this is all i have to say "You missed the coolest version of shakespeare you'll ever get to see in Malaysia! Too bad buddy!". To my lovely ensemble, I HEART U GUYS!
Two of my favourite sonnets :
SONNET 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
SONNET 138
When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.
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