Wednesday, April 2, 2008
F for Female….feminism in Malaysia
Last week, I went to The Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Centre to watch a play that bought up feminist issues. Here, the plays are to show that women’s rights in Malaysia can only be achieved when everyone including women start respecting each other for whom they really are without being prejudice or discrimination. There were two plays. The first one is Anything for Love, where it shows the extend a women would do for love. Some marry for the sake of money and some on the basis of love. There were so many confusions and questions portrayed in this play. What does it take to be love? Money and power or just plain sacrifice? The battle of the inner voices. Do women often compromises with their needs in exchange for love? In this play, we can see how Datin Khatijah was not happy with her marriage as she married her husband for the sake of money. She suffered. Here, I amused with the way they play with the light to show the characters existence. The next play was Infant. Here it shows that one will be always be culpable for one’s actions, each person will always be judged for what he or she does…A girl’s life is shattered, her future bleak and hopeless because of another woman’s action. A pure irony of human life. All were revealed in this play. I really should give a standing for ovation for this play. The actresses were damn good. They acted it so real, as I’m the audience can feel the pain when Lisa tied the lawyer. Lastly, the ending of the play was unpredictable, as I was not expect that Lisa was the lawyer’s daughter. BRAVo!!
The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre presents….
Last two weeks, I have joined the ‘Taming of the Shrew’ group went to watch a play entitle Untitled, Uncut and Paperhouse at KLPac, Sentul. We went there by the UPM bus and the journey to the KLPac was such a bad trip, as some the crews just do not how to sit still and shut up! It was my first time went to the KLPac, as I do not know how to go there, and there was no public transport. First of all, KLPac was absolutely stunning. As I enter the main gate, I have imagined myself in Hollywood, with lighted tress bordering the road. Plus, we went there at night, thus it adds up the magnificence. Besides, the building itself was such splendor with red bricks and glass for walls and paintings and huge banners plastered all over…brilliance!
The play was splendid! What makes it so overwhelming was because the minimal used of props. For the three different plays, there were ONLY used boxes. They just had to move the boxes, and they just have to pretend cleaning, drinking, and watch TV. I should salute the casts, as they were so excellent, because the way they pretend to play with the boxes was such a real! There were three plays here. The Untitled and Peperhouse were so typical Malaysian Chinese, where we can sense the Chinese slang. However, in the Uncut, I had to give a standing ovation. Plus, it was played by my favourite actress, which is Aishah Sinclair and Hafizsuddin. I was so surprised to see the actor, as he always play in Malay dramas and movies, thus I did not expect him to play in an English play. The play was cynical, as the issue was fuhhh… for those who did those things, obviously could not sit still. In addition, they used vulgar language such as fuck off, shag, screw and bong. After finished watching it, I feel so proud that our Malaysian can produce such an awesome play.
The play was splendid! What makes it so overwhelming was because the minimal used of props. For the three different plays, there were ONLY used boxes. They just had to move the boxes, and they just have to pretend cleaning, drinking, and watch TV. I should salute the casts, as they were so excellent, because the way they pretend to play with the boxes was such a real! There were three plays here. The Untitled and Peperhouse were so typical Malaysian Chinese, where we can sense the Chinese slang. However, in the Uncut, I had to give a standing ovation. Plus, it was played by my favourite actress, which is Aishah Sinclair and Hafizsuddin. I was so surprised to see the actor, as he always play in Malay dramas and movies, thus I did not expect him to play in an English play. The play was cynical, as the issue was fuhhh… for those who did those things, obviously could not sit still. In addition, they used vulgar language such as fuck off, shag, screw and bong. After finished watching it, I feel so proud that our Malaysian can produce such an awesome play.
It’s time to judge people….
At first, I thought it was easy and fun to evaluate others and make some comments, and I was excited to fill the form that is provided to us by Miss Baiti, but when the teaching sessions start, I found it quite hard to evaluate my friends. I was not able to evaluate them based on what they are teaching but just based on my experienced of working with them. This is basically because it was so hard to evaluate and listen to their instruction and pay attention to their teaching at the same time. Then, I decided to do it later and pay attention to the teaching session, but after they finish their teaching session, they quickly asked for the evaluation form back, thus I have to hurriedly finish it. As a result, I did not give a proper evaluation to my friends. Besides, I tried so much to give good comments towards my classmates, as I do not want them to feel offended. Even though, we need to be genuine in our evaluation, but some people just cannot accept when people critics on their work.
Me..being a teacher again..& again
We have to do simulated teaching again. Yeah, indeed we are going to be a teacher.. This time, I decided to do it in pair, and I have chosen to do it with Khalifa. We were working on the text Oedipes Rex, and Khalifa did the induction and pre-reading, while I did the while reading. Even though we might not have same ideas, but we managed to make our lesson perfectly. I mean..not so perfect, but Miss Baiti did not complain anything. So..it means good right? But this time, it was a bit different because we need to evaluate others and it was not Miss Baiti alone, my friends also have to evaluate my teaching. It was such an exciting experience, being evaluated by others, as I can know my friends’ view towards my style of teaching. From the evaluation forms that they have returned to me, I did not find any negative comments or errors in my activities. Overall, it was a positive support from my peers. Miss Baiti did not give any comments and she went on with next presenters. Hopeful I have done the right thing and did not miss any important points to consider in simulated teaching.
Adiosss…Cleopatra..hello Blanche..
After finish study Antony Cleopatra, I am so relieved to learn a new and a good play. A street car named desire is one of the best playwrights that I had learn throughout my course here in UPM. It was written by Tennessee Williams. What I like about this playwright is actually, the language and the portrayal of the character Blanche. Obviously, the language use is much more easier than Shakespeare and I could understand easily by reading it on my own. Not like Antony and Cleopatra, where I really need Dr Edwin help in class to make sure that I understand the play.
As for the character Blanche, it is the most important character in this play. And what I like about Blanche is that her character is very unique and also very complex. From our discussion in class with Dr Edwin, there are two ways in which we can examine character traits which are through action and speech. What I like about Blanche is that she is a type of character who is cannot accept the reality. She has the inability to accept changes in life that makes her become a pretender, liar and others.
Due to this also, she is having a lot of conflict with other people in this play. But, what really interested about Blanche character is that even though she is a well-educated people, she did not behave like one. For example, she lies to people, she's lying about the truth, and she’s hot tempered and others. Yes, she behaves like a lady even though and still retains her own values in a new setting, but to me, it does not correlate with her personal traits like liar, pretender and etc.
In a conclusion, I would like to say that I really like this play especially by the way the author portray the character Blanche. The play is so much interesting that makes me want to read the play over and over again.
As for the character Blanche, it is the most important character in this play. And what I like about Blanche is that her character is very unique and also very complex. From our discussion in class with Dr Edwin, there are two ways in which we can examine character traits which are through action and speech. What I like about Blanche is that she is a type of character who is cannot accept the reality. She has the inability to accept changes in life that makes her become a pretender, liar and others.
Due to this also, she is having a lot of conflict with other people in this play. But, what really interested about Blanche character is that even though she is a well-educated people, she did not behave like one. For example, she lies to people, she's lying about the truth, and she’s hot tempered and others. Yes, she behaves like a lady even though and still retains her own values in a new setting, but to me, it does not correlate with her personal traits like liar, pretender and etc.
In a conclusion, I would like to say that I really like this play especially by the way the author portray the character Blanche. The play is so much interesting that makes me want to read the play over and over again.
What walla….it’s Shakespeare Wallah!
The word “walla’ sounds like great to me even though I do not know the real meaning. But when I first watched the movie, I saw the name Shashi Kapoor and immediately I thought “what on earth is Shashi Kapoor doing in Shakespeare movie?” Only after that I discovered that the setting of this movie is in India, and so probably they want to get audiences’ attention by having an Indian actor as the lead actor in the movie.
From the movie, I understand that even though they are professional actors, Buckingham’s family live a hard life as they need to struggle for their craft as the English theatre is being replaced by the emergence of Indian film. After all, they are in India and they have to work very hard to win the Indian’s hearts. To me, it is like a meeting of two different cultures, English and India that have their own strength and weaknesses but at the end surely the Indians will support the work of their people. The company travel around the world to perform Shakespeare’s works such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet (the rest I can’t remember).
In addition, one thing that I don’t like about the movie is the part where Sanju and Manjula made a grand entrance in the middle of the scene and they received a lot of attention from the audience while at the same time Mr.Buckingham was performing on the stage! It is such an embarrassment for the actors when nobody is paying attention for their performance. Besides, Manjula has not only interrupted the plot of the story, she only shown up for a few minutes. However, at the end of the movie, I respect Lizzie for making a wise decision by leaving Sanju who is a playboy that has an intimate relationship with her but having an affair with Manjula, an actress, at the same time.
From the movie, I understand that even though they are professional actors, Buckingham’s family live a hard life as they need to struggle for their craft as the English theatre is being replaced by the emergence of Indian film. After all, they are in India and they have to work very hard to win the Indian’s hearts. To me, it is like a meeting of two different cultures, English and India that have their own strength and weaknesses but at the end surely the Indians will support the work of their people. The company travel around the world to perform Shakespeare’s works such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet (the rest I can’t remember).
In addition, one thing that I don’t like about the movie is the part where Sanju and Manjula made a grand entrance in the middle of the scene and they received a lot of attention from the audience while at the same time Mr.Buckingham was performing on the stage! It is such an embarrassment for the actors when nobody is paying attention for their performance. Besides, Manjula has not only interrupted the plot of the story, she only shown up for a few minutes. However, at the end of the movie, I respect Lizzie for making a wise decision by leaving Sanju who is a playboy that has an intimate relationship with her but having an affair with Manjula, an actress, at the same time.
Blood..blood..in Macbeth
When we were assigned by Dr Malachi to watch Macbeth, I thought it is going to be a boring story. But I was wrong. I found out that Macbeth is a very interesting story but the only problem that I face while watching that movie is the language used. To me, the language used appeared difficult for me to understand. In the end, I was able to understand the whole story by reading the simplified version of Macbeth. So, Macbeth is basically the last of Shakespeare's four great tragedies
The film started with three witches conclude a meeting. They decide to meet the on his winning return from a war between Scotland and Norway. The Scottish king, Duncan, decides that he will confer the title of the traitorous Cawdor on the heroic Macbeth.
Macbeth, and another General called Banquo, happens to meet the three witches. The witches predict that he will one day become king. They also predict that Banquo will create a line of kings. King Duncan arranges to visit him at his castle. Macbeth cannot stop thinking about the witches' prediction that he will become king and decides that he will murder Duncan. Macbeth's wife agrees to his plan and she is the one who supported Macbeth.
He then murders Duncan assisted by his wife and Duncan’s body was discovered by Macduff.. Macbeth also killed the guards before the investigation took place. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, do not believe their father had been killed and they made a decision to run ayay. Due to that, the crown was passed to Macbeth.
He remembers the prophecy of the witches that Banquo will create a line of kings. So, he decided to murder Banquo and his sons Donalbain and Fleance. Fleance, is the only one to escape with his life. At a feast the bloodied ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth but to no one else causing Macbeth to act and speak strangely. His wife sends the guests away.
Macbeth was afraid that his crime was revealed and to suspect that Macduff, a nobleman who refused to attend the feast suspects him. He then meets with the witches again and they confirm that he has good reason to fear Macduff but they calm his fears by telling him that no born of woman can kill him.
After meeting with the witches he found out that Macduff is urging Duncan's son, Malcolm, to reclaim the throne. Due to that, he commands his guards to kill Macduff's wife and son. As a result, Macduff organized an army to bring down Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth's conscience now begins to torture her and she imagines that she can see her hands covered with blood but in the end she commits suicide.
Macbeth then decided to meet Macduff in hand-to-hand combat confident that he will win the day because ''none born of woman'' can harm him. Macduff then reveals that he was not ''of woman born'' Macduff kills Macbeth and the witches prediction proves true. Malcolm becomes king.
The film started with three witches conclude a meeting. They decide to meet the on his winning return from a war between Scotland and Norway. The Scottish king, Duncan, decides that he will confer the title of the traitorous Cawdor on the heroic Macbeth.
Macbeth, and another General called Banquo, happens to meet the three witches. The witches predict that he will one day become king. They also predict that Banquo will create a line of kings. King Duncan arranges to visit him at his castle. Macbeth cannot stop thinking about the witches' prediction that he will become king and decides that he will murder Duncan. Macbeth's wife agrees to his plan and she is the one who supported Macbeth.
He then murders Duncan assisted by his wife and Duncan’s body was discovered by Macduff.. Macbeth also killed the guards before the investigation took place. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, do not believe their father had been killed and they made a decision to run ayay. Due to that, the crown was passed to Macbeth.
He remembers the prophecy of the witches that Banquo will create a line of kings. So, he decided to murder Banquo and his sons Donalbain and Fleance. Fleance, is the only one to escape with his life. At a feast the bloodied ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth but to no one else causing Macbeth to act and speak strangely. His wife sends the guests away.
Macbeth was afraid that his crime was revealed and to suspect that Macduff, a nobleman who refused to attend the feast suspects him. He then meets with the witches again and they confirm that he has good reason to fear Macduff but they calm his fears by telling him that no born of woman can kill him.
After meeting with the witches he found out that Macduff is urging Duncan's son, Malcolm, to reclaim the throne. Due to that, he commands his guards to kill Macduff's wife and son. As a result, Macduff organized an army to bring down Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth's conscience now begins to torture her and she imagines that she can see her hands covered with blood but in the end she commits suicide.
Macbeth then decided to meet Macduff in hand-to-hand combat confident that he will win the day because ''none born of woman'' can harm him. Macduff then reveals that he was not ''of woman born'' Macduff kills Macbeth and the witches prediction proves true. Malcolm becomes king.
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