Playing puppets on Jinggo & Friends

Some past few days, and some other days before that, had been spent with most interesting company - the big-brotherly Jinggo, the extroverted Didi, the blur Baba, the sweet Lolo and the cheeky Tamtam. As you may have gathered from the title, they're the names of the puppets on the show I've been working on.
About

Jinggo & Friends is a children's show in English that will run on RTM sometime. It's got good stuff- spiffed up nursery rhymes (the tunes are still running in our heads), positive words of the day and stories told with kids interacting. Produced by Penumbra Productions, with the puppets' voices provided by Yusmal Ghazali, Nina Sharil and yours truly.

Children

We spent 3 days working with children averaging 8 years of age. The segment is only 2.5mins long, and it's just storytelling with audience (the kids) participation at the end. It was absolute torture.

6 kids - 3 boys, 3 girls. Frankly, the boys were the ones who drove me raving bonkers. Whether it was because they were boys and that's just their nature, or because of how they got involved with the show (decided by their parents who are somehow related to the production) I'm not sure. What I do know was that they didn't want to be there but yet they wanted to be given the spotlight, or the best seat, or whatever.

I had never so felt like smacking anyone before, but there were moments when I was ready to tell them off and slap them silly. Especially on Sunday, when the air conditioning wasn't working - no joke man. Thankfully it was only the 3 days out of 6 or 7.

Cast & Crew

The fellow puppeteers were wonderful to work with though. And the crew - the director and her team are fantastic. I'd happily work with all of them again.

I discovered that I can't work too long with promoter characters. All that scattered energy and self-centered focus just annoys after a while.

Singing songs without the pressure of excellent on-stage one-off performance is good, too. Makes a nice change, though I did have to cringe and let go when songs didn't work too well. The legacy of Mervin Peters, I guess.

Learning Malay

I'm glad to have basic Malay - this production gave me a great opportunity to improve it. I learned that I need to let go of my high standards of language, otherwise I'd never let myself be understood.

Puppetry in Malaysia

Working with puppets has been fascinating. We so don't have a puppet culture here, that technically we can get away with anything. We bashed arounds lots of ideas of the kinds of shows we could do with puppets. An adult puppet show could be hilarious and amazingly good.

We used hollowed-out dolls for some of the puppets, which made for cute characters but very sore forearms. That could be something to develop if more people get interested in using puppets to tell stories or make pointed messages.

Toys in Malaysia

Which segues into another subject that came to mind - the lack of a toy culture in Malaysia. Or a toy industry, to be exact. Kids spend so much money on toys, games, cards and whatnot - why don't we do stuff like that in Malaysia?

Boardgames. Collectible card games. Puppets. Puzzle toys. So many things - anyone interested in taking it up, give me a yell. Lots of ideas to share.


Thank you, guys from Jinggo & Friends. Thank you, guys from Penumbra. It's been a real pleasure and a great honour.

Interim post-mortem of Uncut Untitled Paper House part 2

We recently got interviewed and filmed by Japanese TV crew, in a project funded by Tourism Malaysia Japan. Met the beautiful Miki Mizuno and her team who, in typical Japanese fashion, were so eager to please and were so willing to try hard to understand and communicate with us. No idea how that show's gonna turn out as they shot lots of footage and I really doubt they'll use everything. Anybody in Japan wanna tell us once it's done?

Value of great marketing & publicity

I have to say that the publicity for UUPH has been the best I've seen coming out of KLPac so far. The frequency we've appeared in the mass media has been amazing. The number of sold tickets is testimonial to their excellent work. I suppose having sexy mama Aishah Sinclair helps quite a bit as well.

Think about it - 3 of us nobodies (with the exception of Mark) writing and directing a triple-bill. The only big names are from TV. Of course, that in itself could be a strong sign of how to market - using mass media celebrities.

Whatever the cause may be, on a personal level it's awesome news. Having my face semi-regularly exposed to the public consciousness with a different take (ie not just for my face or my big mouth) is an absolutely wonderful angle. Writing AND directing is a nice added two-pronged thrust, too.

Handling of reviews

The 'necessary evil' of doing anything creative. Or anything worthwhile. Reviews are fine - criticism for criticism's sake is painful. What happens when a show sells well is that many critics come out of the woodwork - everybody wants to have their say, and they want that say to sound clever. Check out the charming review of UUPH at Kakiseni, then scroll down for reactions to that review as well as counter-reviews.

It's quite a stinging piece, actually. I'm so thankful that I'm in this stage of my life now - I don't know if I had the mental toughness to handle so much shit before. Now at least I know the context that the reviewers/commenters/critics operate from, and allow their viewpoints in. Or leave them out, depending on how useful it is.

Nervousness

And that sums up what my opening night nervousness was all about - what people will say. Well, not completely. Opening night symbolises the moment the director lets go completely and allows the actors to do their thing. And letting go isn't the easiest thing to do.

In the end, everyone wants the audience to take something away from the show. I remember having to steel myself for the absolute worst that Friday evening. Will the people enjoy it? What will the reviewers say? I knew I'd get shit - I think it's ridiculous not to expect shit. Not in theatre, anyway. I guess visualising the harshest criticisms leveled at me helped in handling it.

I'm ready to move on to the next show.

Cost of tickets & programme books

A possible big contributing factor to the success at the box office is the price. At RM25 for adults and RM15 concessions, it's a bargain that's probably too hard to pass up. I think we've gotten at least 4 busloads of students from various universities, and in total probably 300+ students throughout the run. More, I'd imagine - I feel we have a younger crowd in there than usual.

Also, at RM3 per piece, the programme book is selling well. I don't have the numbers and I have no idea how well these things usually sell, but I feel that every fifth or sixth person has one. If we have 120 ppl a show and every sixth has one... 120x9=1080, /6 = 180 books sold. Not bad.

The question then becomes: how do we keep the price this affordable to everyone?

Thoughts on Uncut

What I liked:
- starting rewind mechanism
- beautiful words that come back to haunt protagonist
- plays on words
- spoken-out thoughts
- "It was pornography, but with animals! Unfit even for animal consumption!"
- "Strange, this feeling."
- handling of twist of tale for both parties

How I'd do it differently:
- staging & set use - an idea I had was to circle the office like a sparring match (play with strong & weak positions)
- add more colour to Ning's character
- clarify who Zakaria is talking to (God vs audience)

Thoughts on Paper House

What I liked:
- sharing of great stories
- family tale that does have some sort of storyline

How I'd do it differently:
- more consistent use of boxes
- clearer, stronger emo-sharing moments
- shorter

More thoughts on Untitled

What I'd do if I were to re-stage it:
- rework some parts of the script (clarify and emphasize the sister's influence, show some semblance of possible change of heart in the mother, build and emphasize on the turmoil faces by the son; some possible ideas and options)
- work more and harder on the dance if it remains the finale scene
- play more with the set, maybe

What next:
- work on another script; practice practice practice!
- study playwrighting
- try my hand at directing someone else's script
- suggest another such collaboration for next year, or whenever
- focus on How I Learned To Drive by Paula Vogel, produced by The Oral Stage


What a ride. Last KL show tomorrow, and then a road trip for 2 shows in Ipoh and another 2 shows in Penang.

Interim post-mortem of Uncut Untitled Paper House part 1

Somewhere halfway through our run (including our Ipoh and Penang shows), I decided to record my thoughts on how the show's going. So I'm adding to this entry during the play, during Ky-Gan and Mark's plays. Probably to the irritation of everyone around me, with my PDA screen blazing brightly.

Making Mistakes

I've realised that Joe has willingly let us make our own mistakes. Of course, some of those things he pointed out but we ignored. For example, perhaps I wasn't stringent enough with handling the dancing- I sometimes forgot to ask auditionees if they could dance, and I did leave the choreography till quite late. Ky-Gan's direction, staging and use of set could've done with some experienced guidance. Mark's could've been shortened, the script could've been tightened.

All stuff that he's mentioned before. The obvious next measure for the next time we work with him (separately or together) would be if we've learned the lessons from this.

Script Clarity

I think my weakest point lay in my script. The purpose was not clear- the message undefined. Perhaps it was also the conflict of keeping the roles of director and writer separate. Or perhaps in putting too much energy into maintaining that separation.

Writing it was a huge challenge for me. I am so thankful that this first time's over and done with. The pressure of doing it 'right' and excellent the first time sucks. I've learned that I need to set aside a decent and uninterrupted chunk of time to write. And I should've spent more time on Untitled, though it couldn't become what it is now without the input and work from my actors.

I've heard this a few times already, but I still have problems accepting it. There are ppl who think my script's better than Ky-Gan's. Self-belief issues with my writing, how charming. It has its merits, I suppose - I just don't see how it stands up to any comparison. Anyway practice makes perfect.

Here's to the next one.

Audience Reaction

We've gotten a wide variety of audience, which is usual I suppose. From quiet laughers to laugh-at-everything characters. Most importantly, we've been getting decent crowds - hitting over 100 every night! Amazing shit.

Interestingly, most ppl are enjoying the show every night. It's usually the theatre ppl have problems with it, so there you go. It's also interesting to see how a vocal audience can really buoy up the actors' performance, from a director's point of view. That's something that I sometimes have difficulty with - isolating a performance from the audience's reaction, to give decent notes to my cast.

My personal 'mark of accomplishment' is when people say that they totally identify with the play, and that it's what they're also going through (or some variant of that). That is my main source of pride and pleasure.


That's it for today.
The next entry will be about money, the magic of good marketing & publicity, handling reviews and my thoughts on the other 2 plays.

Opening weekend of Uncut Untitled Paper House

Finally. The dreaded opening night is over, the dreadeder 2nd night show is done with, and the 3rd show has come and gone. It is with great relief that I can tell myself (and have me honestly believe it) that the show can and will run smoothly with or without me. Letting go is so hard, no?

I think a big part of it is opening myself up to whatever anyone will say to me: completely vulnerable to feedback of any form. Praying that it'd be good, or at least constructive; hoping that the bad's not so bad; and at the end of the day, people have something useful to take away from Untitled - a smile, thoughts to process, a feeling, whatever.

It's been a wonderful experience - not easy, not always fun, but so full of learning and growth. Things I'd do better, things I might've done differently, things that I can use elsewhere. I'm still not sure what I feel about my own play, but what I do know is that I have no regrets with it whatsoever - it's worked out better than I first expected, and it's been an invaluable journey. I am thankful for all the people I've worked with. And I've been damn bloody lucky.

So come for the show, and tell me what you think of it. How I can improve.

3 new plays by 3 contemporary voices...

The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac)

is proud to present

uncut untitled paper house

Honest, probing and emotive, this trio of short plays have a finger on the pulse of modern life. With tales of arts policing, family conflicts and spooky experiences, they are varied snapshots of what goes on in our own little worlds as we try to move forward with our pasts in tow.

*****

14 & 15; 18 - 22 March @ 8.30pm

16 & 23 March @ 3pm

Pentas 2, KLPac

(Click here for location map and public transport options)

25 & 26 March @ 8.30pm

Taman Budaya Negeri Perak, Ipoh

28 & 29 March @ 8.30pm

The Actors Studio @ Greenhall, Penang

*****

RM 25 & RM15 (students, sr. citizens & the disabled)

Uncut

Written & directed by:

Teng Ky-Gan

Featuring:

Hafidzuddin Fish Fazil & Aishah Sinclair

As he struggles to reconcile his moral and professional obligations, with his basic human instincts, Zakaria, the director of the Censorship Bureau finds himself spiralling out of control as he slowly learns that human wants often triumph over didactic logic.

*Please note that this play contains a scene which deals with mature content.

Untitled

Written & directed by:

Johann Lim

Featuring:

Fang Chyi, Alfred Loh & Amelia Chen

Ken has found his passion in dance but struggles to make ends meet and has problems being understood at home. The cost of chasing one's dreams, the conflict between living at home and filial piety, and the values of people are explored in this play.

Paper House

Written & directed by:

Mark Beau de Silva

Featuring:

Maybel Chan & Bella Rahim

Kim and Yen inherit their mother’s Chinese paraphernalia shop but while Yen has stayed in their small town to mind the shop the way her mother used to, Kim only returns once a year for their mother’s death anniversary prayers. One night, after the final prayers, the sisters encounter a lost girl outside the shop. Too late to bring her to the police, the sisters decide to shelter the girl for the night. As they decide what to do next, the sisters realise that they are lost in many ways themselves, and discover that the answers to the questions in their hearts are found in the paper house left for them by their mother.

Book now and enjoy our Early Bird Promotion:

Purchase 3 tickets and get 1 ticket FREE!

Offer only valid for

Ipoh & Penang, until 22 MARCH!

Friends of KLPac get a 10% discount for weekday shows (Tuesdays – Thursdays only)

(not applicable with the Early Bird Promotion).

Hurry, call (KLPac) 03-4047 9000 or

(The Actors Studio @ BSC) 03-2094 9400 for tickets NOW!

www.klpac.com

How...

... do I say get off your fucking arse and do the necessary work to shine?

... do I say forget your self-uncertainty and just do it?

... do I say you're never too old and cynical to learn more?

... do I say you can't always have things your way so fucking get over it?

... do I say I'll never understand you but I love you?

... do I say sorry I'll never do it again, and I'm ready to go now?

... do I say you're who I look up to, I respect you and I love you?

... do I say thank you to everyone who's walked with me along my journey, however brief?

... do I say we never talk but I love you forever?

... do I ask for help?



Am I too demanding? Do I have too high expectations? Is it too much to ask for the very best of people, even if they themselves don't know what that is, don't see it in themselves?

What do people see in themselves anyway?

Quotes of the Day

Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice.
~ George Jackson ~

To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.
~ GK Chesterton ~

The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly. It is simply indifferent.
~ J H Holmes ~

And the voice roared!

Hidup Malaysia!

Momentous times these are - no single party has the two-thirds majority in Parliament to amend the Constitution at will, for the first time in the history of the country. Of course, that statement discounts 1969, in which that did happen in terms of votes but it was not realised in terms of reality (Wikipedia has an entry on what happened, but like any other information about that time its accuracy is questionable). It's also the first time that so many states will be run by Opposition state governments.

Look at the map above: the north are not pleased (with the single exception of Perlis). To my current understanding, Penang will be run by DAP, Kelantan by PAS, Kedah by both PKR and PAS, Perak by all 3 and Selangor by PKR and DAP. Talk about opportunities for experimentation - we are going to have very interesting times in Malaysia indeed.

Check out Malaysiakini (Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Mirror 3) for further information as it comes in.


8 things the Opposition now have to do:

a. NOT throw a massive celebration party. Treat yourselves to a good teh tarik (so you know how much it should cost and stay), have a good laugh and get on with it.

b. Thank the people. You're welcome.

c. Form a true and viable Alternative Coalition. Make it a clear party, with a vision, a real stand on things and goals that it wants to achieve. They need to set systems as to how to make decisions and who does what.

d. Get together and seriously plan the next 4/5 years on what to do. Make firm decisions on very important issues, try and decide on the not-so-important ones.

e. Form a Shadow Government. Shadow PM, shadow Finance Minister, shadow Whatever. Play pretend. In fact, maintain a blog for every position on what you would do and your opinion as shadow Whatever - best case, you become Whatever because you're so good and the people have to vote you in, or at worst your good ideas get stolen by the current Whatever. So what? Betterment of the country, neh. Ain't that why you're running for Whatever?

f. Publish an Alternative Coalition (or Opposition) newspaper. I'm not joking. Get the best editor, best writers, best brains for the various fields; and make it the best damn paper in the country. Make sure it does report news, and not function as a government-bashing paper. Put up the blogs of the Shadow Government (above). And when it comes to the last quarter of its expected lifetime, send it online. If it's that good, the people will complain loudly and this new government may have to listen - otherwise, online's where it's at.

[Note on "expected lifetime": Malaysia has a Publishing Act of some sort where the licence to print a newspaper or any other publication has to be granted by the government, and this licence lasts ONE YEAR. So yes, if the government doesn't like it, it doesn't last past that year. And yes, it explains why our papers are so hopelessly biased. And why our magazines are quite intellectual-content free.]

g. Make sure all their States do good.

h. Do a damned good job.

One Vote One Voice

One vote one voice,
Each cross a choice,
They'll hear the people,
Our voice will ring far.

One vote one voice,
Cross your choice,
For some real promise,
That's too good to miss.


The former's the earlier version of the lyrics to The Voting, which is Song #19 in Tunku the Musical whilst the latter's the final version we performed on stage. Sillily (what a word to make up) enough, I was humming that tune as I walked out of my primary school today after I had cast my vote.

And now, 12 hours after I had committed that momentous act, I sit in front of my TV anxiously following the results of the counting. Putting together a jigsaw puzzle, to keep my mind and hands occupied. The results are absolutely exciting so far - BN has yet to get the simple majority (though there's little doubt it will), and the opposition parties are making serious headway in getting Parliamentary representation. It's an excitement of such deep weight and importance, a clear view of the zeitgeist of the nation. And hearing the news as it breaks makes it all the more fun. Of course, there's also an element of wariness in why I'm doing this - there's a possibility of results being changed over the next few days, or worse - trouble afoot. Scarily, only 6 State results have been tabulated for Selangor. I suspect that it's a significant upset that the incumbent party's desperately trying to salvage. We shall see.

Exciting news: Samy's out, about bloody time. Sharizat's out, lost to Anwar's girl. Penang's out. Kedah's out. Crikey.

Most exciting update: a blogger, Jeff Ooi, has WON A PARLIAMENTARY SEAT. Check his blog out at www.jeffooi.com - looks like we'll be having a most fascination insight into our Parliament over these next 4/5 years.


Fear not, dear Malaysia, for there is hope yet.

Election Day!

Election day,
It's election day,
Today is the day- and the stake is vast!
We may be thirsty,
We may be sweaty,
We may be hungry,
But he we will stay till our votes are cast!

Who are you voting for?
Who are you vouching for?
Who are you betting on?
Who are you bending on?



These are actual lyrics from Tunku the Musical, that got cut sometime during the rehearsal process (pretty much the first time the director heard them). The reason was quite mundane - the tune didn't quite fit into the mood of Act 2. Of course, if you saw Tunku, you'd know that the elections they were singing about was in 1969. Do read up on what really happened then - quite an interesting part of our history.

Later today, I perform my civic duty as a citizen of Malaysia. One vote, one voice. Will it make a difference? Who knows, but I must believe that it does. At the end of the day, my only prayer for Malaysia is that the powers that be wake up and see what they can truly do with this beautiful gem of a country. So much potential, so much waste.

On Thursday Shamsul Amri Baharuddin wrote a great opinion piece for the NST entitled "Why 'the opposition' remains a pipe dream" - check it out (link may die eventually). The way things stand today, he speaks truth; and I pray that 'the opposition' wake up and see what they can truly do.


For Malaysia, negaraku.

So I'm having a crazy year (and it started with a play called Untitled)

I actually have a resolution to post 3 times weekly here. So far, I'm not doing too well, I know. Technically it's a good thing, as I'm busy doing the things I wanna do in life. I'm not complaining, no sirree, but it's about danged time I started noting all these things down again.

Highlights of the past month:
- Uncut Untitled Paper House (UUPH) directing
- UUPH publicizing
- Jinggo & Friends
- The Oral Stage's upcoming Biggstage (June '08)
- getting back into Agel
- performer's database project
- auditioning for The Amazing Race Asia 3

Books:
- Allegiance
- Birds Without Wings
- Acting: The First Six Lessons
- A Sense of Direction
- Freemasonry
- The Tipping Point
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- Lords of the Bow

Movies / Series (worth mentioning):
- The Tudors
- Alone
- Apocalypto
- Sweeney Todd
- Saw 4
- The Office (both UK and US)

Okay so the books and shows aren't all in the past month, they're stuff that I've been meaning to talk about but haven't gotten down to just yet. But something happened on Monday night that brought a massive smile to my face. Well a couple of things happened, but anyway at the mamak, chatting with my Untitled cast as well as some other friends of theatre etc, some people talked about auditions and my initial reaction was being upset - how'd I miss that??

Then it dawned upon me. I was too busy doing what I enjoy doing to notice.

Wow. Awesomenation. Three (million) cheers for The Secret, positivity, absolute tons of self-belief and a healthy wallop of luck. Theatre-wise, I'm covered until September. Ain't that just a friggin' cool statement. Woo hoo!


Anyway enough joy for the moment. The main point I'd like to make this post - no, not point, but note - is just a progress report on the behemoth I took up called Untitled. Yes, it's just 22mins long but as a playwrighting and directorial debut, coupled with the combination of a non-certified dancer and a differing range of experience in the cast, thrown into a production with 2 experienced and rather good writers; it was fucking gargantuan. Is.

Last Monday started with me expecting a normal rehearsal for the 3 of us: we start warming up together, then we separate to our individual studios to rehearse our respective plays. But no. 10 minutes before rehearsal begins, I discover that we're doing a full run of the play for the benefit of the set designer, the lighting designer and the artistic director. I, of course, shat bricks.

No, they're not ready! We're not ready! We can't do it with Ky-Gan's bloody beautifully-wordy script and Mark's charmingly ghostly story! Our dance isn't quite ready! My cast need more time! I need more time!

Several bricks, a sore ass and some good laughs later, I was a happy chappy. Not only did Untitled pull through decently well, it fared well against Uncut and Paper House. My biggest fear, of course, was that my inadequacy as a writer/director/wannabe/rising-star would show up glaringly when it came down to showtime, that I'd be beaten down for reaching so high so fast. Thankfully, not so.

Thank you so much, FangAlfredAmelia, for giving so much. Thank you Joe & Faridah, for your belief in me that I didn't quite have myself. Thank you Mark & Ky-Gan, for your faith. You all made Monday night a truly special experience for me, and I shall not forget that.

I am eternally grateful even now, that things are shaping up even better than I expected. The choreography is coming out wonderfully well, with the amazing Marcus Tucker putting his brand of magic into it that further builds on my belief that 'there's no such thing as coincidence' (that's a whole nother story right there). My dancer's working out better than I could hope for. I think Untitled's something I'm already proud of and happy with.

And you know what? That makes it all worth it.