Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Teater Ekamatra presents Baca Skrip: #AnakMelayu
In the second instalment of Baca Skrip, a monthly series of online readings of Singaporean Malay plays, Fezhah Maznan and Teater Ekamatra presents Noor Effendy Ibrahim's Anak Melayu.
I interviewed some of the actors involved in this read (Izzul Irfan, Rusydina Afiqah, Farah Lola, and Ali Mazrin) to find out about their experiences with performing via a digital medium.
Could you give us some insights as to what the rehearsal process was like?
Izzul Irfan: The rehearsal process has been very interesting for me as an actor because I sort of have to come up with a new vocabulary as a performer. You are playing the dual roles of both performer and technical team in a sense, because if you freeze or get cut off or your connection's down, it's on you to bring yourself back online and working well. So, there's that headspace that I have had to get used to. Other than that, I think learning to connect over Zoom has been interesting—I have always seen this mode as purely a communication platform and not so much a 'connecting' platform. But the process has really been about re-learning how to reach out to the audience (when you can't see them) and it's been challenging but rewarding.
Rusydina Afiqah: To start off, there was a read to understand the flow of the story and the characters. Then we went straight in to cover the play bit by bit, a little more in depth each time. Questions were raised as we understood this world a little better.
Farah Lola: All of the rehearsals were held over Zoom calls. Other than it being tricky tehnically, the reading and blocking was easy enough to do.
Ali Mazrin: Basically, we have been going through rehearsals online via Zoom. Which includes all the cast, director and also the crew. Having to pick a spot in my own house and making sure everyone at home do not interrupt the rehearsals is quite hard but fun at the same time.
What were some challenges you face, especially when you are not in the same room with the rest of the cast and crew?
Izzul Irfan: Honestly, it drives me crazy that I cannot 'feel' everyone's energy properly because we are not physically present together (which is something I really miss). So I think doing an ensemble piece where there is contant ping-ponging of energy on a virtual space has been difficult. With Anak Melayu, getting the tempo right is important and we're really working hard towards that.
Rusydina Afiqah: For me, understanding the story took a while longer. There were a lot more things to juggle than just imagining the world. There were five more tiny screens during rehearsals that I had to be aware of, all at the same time.
Farah Lola: Perhaps physical and eye contact. Our eyelines were a little different because we were looking at different points of the screen, and you really needed to refine vocal inflections to know who the character is addressing but we've managed to work it out. We also had to bounce off energy more vocally as there was no physical space with other actors to feel out.
Ali Mazrin: Because it is an online rehearsal, we face quite a number of technical challenges such as the connection of the internet and also capturing of the cast's voice. Being in a different space then the rest of the cast makes it more challenging in having the same energy as everyone during rehearsal.
Has this process made you look at the piece that you are involved in a new way? How so?
Izzul Irfan: Effendy's plays are always very physical, and as he told us about the past iterations of Anak Melayu, you can clearly see there is a physical vocabulary that he builds and it's beautiful. He always says he's not much of a 'text' person. But as I was working on this play on a virtual platform, his words really come to life – all the subtexts in all its glory, and three-word lines from one character hold entire worlds in them. While it has been close to 20 years since he created them, his characters are still very much alive and kicking.
Farah Lola: It is my first time familiarising myself with this piece, and my first time doing a play on camera in my own home! I think everything has been whittled down to the subtleties due to it being closer to the audience, therefore it would feel more intimate.
Ali Mazrin: It's amazing how we still manage to do rehearsals and shows live, online. But I definitely still wish that this was a staged show where everyone is together, so as to also feel the audience's energy when we are performing.
Baca Skrip: #AnakMelayu will be presented via Zoom on 26 June 2020 at 8 p.m. Tickets at $10 from Peatix.
[Theatre Review] Cycles of Violence
November 7, 2018 December 2, 2019 / Isaac Tan	/ Leave a comment
Cerita Cinta
akulah BIMBO SAKTI
Esplanade Theatre Studio
Violence is a very delicate tool to employ in theatre. If one is not strategic and very intentional in its employment, there is a risk of harming the actors and audience. Its presence also demands so much attention, that it risks eclipsing any other issues explored in a show.
In Cerita Cinta (Love Story), which was first staged in 1995, playwright and director Noor Effendy Ibrahim does not merely get his actors to strike each other, but he deploys the full arsenal of violence; the trauma from a mere threat or anticipation of violence.
Throughout the show, we see cycles of Roslan Bin Hj Osman (Shaiful Amri Ahmad Elahi) coming home and hitting, threatening, or yelling at his wife, Maslina Bte Abdul Samad (Dalifah Shahril). The children, Juliana Bte Roslan (Shafiqhah Efandi) and Zaki Bin Roslan (Al Hafiz Sanusi) helplessly watch on, and the latter even manifests certain impediments due to trauma.
On the flip side, we also see Roslan taking care of his father, Hj Osman Bin Hj Hitam (Joe Jasmi), by visiting his grave and tending to it. This is embodied through Roslan carrying his father and putting him to bed. To add a further complexion, Roslan also treats his dog (Kaykay Nizam) with affection by feeding and rubbing its body—a definite religious and cultural taboo for modern Muslims.
Is Roslan a complex man who is capable of immense love and violence, or is he a monster for treating the dead and a dog better than his own family members?
This is ambiguous, and I found myself constantly changing camps throughout the show.
The real value of Effendy's creation does not merely lie in bringing issues of domestic violence to light, but also to point out the various nuances of the matter. None of the characters are purely perpetrators or victims.
Maslina does not take her abuse lying down, but fights back in any way she can, even if it is something as feeble as only cooking leftovers for the family. It is also crucial that the only other person that she displays aggression to is her son, despite him being the most sympathetic towards her.
Juliana may have kept her head down and focused on taking care of her brother throughout the whole ordeal, but she is quick to unleash a torrent of smacks on her boyfriend, Rizal Bin Hashim (also played by Kaykay Nizam), when the relationship sours.
Through these quick exchanges in a tightly-paced show, one gets the impression that domestic violence is borne out of intergenerational violence. One also wonders what sort of man Roslan's father is that might have made Roslan that way.
Furthermore, the violence enacted can be, in a certain sense, reciprocal. This seems to echo family care activist Erin Pizzey's view that domestic violence is perpetuated through cycles of violence. And while some of the most violent acts are done by men, women are not entirely blameless.
Effendy's grip on the play also extends to his set design, which looks like a chicken coop being rendered as a HDB flat. With the audience surrounding the set on all sides, we are forced to be voyeurs as we look into this chaotic household. Despite the porousness of the set, the inhabitants cannot seem to leave the coop, nor could they see a way out of their situation.
The cast is uniformly excellent, and is unafraid to be vulnerable, yet intense when it comes to the movement sequences and violence. Top that off with the conscious choice of taking away proper chairs and making the audience sit on hard surfaces, we have a play that is also cruel to the audience.
While it is not healthy to indulge in the world of the play for too long, one cannot help but be compelled to watch the show multiple times while sitting at different sides of the room each time, just to see how different the show feels from different vantage points.
It is rare for a play to hurt, provoke, and confront its audience at the same time, while making this reviewer wanting to revisit the show. But given that the company's aesthetics are inspired by sadomasochism among other things, only akulah BIMBO SAKTI can achieve that in a play.
"Family stuck in violence" by Akshita Nanda, The Straits Times Life!
"A History of Violence: The Sharp Edges of 'Cerita Cinta'" by Nabilah Said, ArtsEquator
"Review: Cerita Cinta by akulah bimbo SAKTI" by Bak Chor Mee Boy
"Saya Tak Sihat!" by Dumbriyani
[Theatre Review] Dark Room Sheds (More) Light on Prison Life
April 30, 2016 December 2, 2019 / Isaac Tan	/ 1 Comment
Photo: Crispian Chan
n.b. I would like to inform my readers that I am currently a project-based intern with Checkpoint Theatre for their upcoming production, The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco. However, I strongly believe that this does not affect the integrity of my critique. Views expressed are my own.
Edith Podesta
28 April–1 May 2016
Two years ago, I was profoundly affected and had my pre-conceptions about ex-prisoners challenged by Dark Room x8.
The memory of its impact makes me apprehensive about watching this iteration. What should one expect of this second staging? More importantly, having been made aware of my prejudices, will Dark Room still have an impact?
I am happy to report that most of my impressions of the first iteration apply to this one as well.
In the midst of my apprehension, I forgot a simple truth. Regardless of what one knows, there is a sort of power in having someone stand in front of you and tell you a story. And the stories told in Dark Room—that of the prison system, and how it affects the individuals—need to be retold again and again.
While there are some changes in the main ensemble (Nelson Chia, Timothy Nga, Erwin Shah Ismail, Ian Tan, Mohd Fared Jainal, Noor Effendy Ibrahim, Oliver Chong, and Pavan J Singh), the performances by this batch of actors are equally stellar. The complexities of script are deftly handled as the show organically shifts from poignancy, to hilarity, to the downright painful.
Chris Chua's set, which consists of three structures that can be cleverly configured into the prison cells and walls, is a much welcomed addition. It vividly impresses on the audience the small space that the prisoners inhabit, and its possible psychological impact.
That said, this fuller rendering also has its excesses.
Director and writer Edith Podesta took on the audiences' earlier feedback by introducing the perspectives of a female inmate (Shafiqhah Efandi) and the parents (Lim Kay Siu and Neo Swee Lin) of the prisoners. However, they are tokenistic at best.
Apart from learning two new facts,—female inmates man the call centre, and yard time is not a regular occurrence—the female inmate does not add anything to the show. Podesta also does the character an injustice by not giving her an identifiable personality which is present in the male characters.
Similarly, the parents' perspective only focuses on their sadness, and the difficulties of visiting their child in prison. All these are not really new insights and could be easily imagined by the audience.
Additionally, certain sound effects by Darren Ng—such as the banging of the judge's gravel— are too literal and gimmicky. This takes away the gravity of the text which can be competently conveyed by the actors.
Finally, the ending which has the characters repeatedly imploring the audience not to judge too quickly risks being overbearingly didactic.
Despite all that, the beauty of Dark Room is that the issues raised in the piece will always be pertinent. This gives Podesta countless opportunities to re-stage it, and find the right balance for the show. What remains is for her to trust her artistic instinct and be very selective of which suggestions to bring on board.
Resources on Dark Room
Dark Room in residence @ Basement Workshop, Centre 42
"Edith Podesta and The Studios' Dark Room is an immersive and intimate retelling of life in Changi Prison Complex" by Karin Lai, Today
"Prison Tales Retold" by Akshita Nanda, The Straits Times Life!
"Struggling with the Outside from the Inside" by Alisa Maya Ravindran, Centre 42 Citizens' Review
"Chained and Connected" by Beverly Yuen, Centre 42 Citizens' Review
"Dark Room by Edith Podesta at The Studios" by Corrie Tan
"Architecture of Empathy" by Dumbriyani