the acting saga continues.

for those who give a damn lah - this is just an update on what i'm doing...

the acting saga continues ... if you've been keeping in touch with me - you'd probably realise that i've been in and out of 'acting workshops' since i was out of school. but of course - many of you don't know whether i've been in actual plays or mere acting workshop plays...

just to set the record straight:-

2002: i was in an 'acting workshop for beginners' under Christopher Ling in Actors Studio - the end of the workshop culminated in the whole group performing a series of 'Politically Correct bedtime stories'. if you attended this one which was held in Actors Studio when it was still based at Dataran Merdeka - and just to jog your memory - i did the story of "the 3 co-dependent goats gruff".

2003: i did the 'acting workshop for intermediates' under Christopher Ling again in Actors Studio. we did this really 'gila' play called "heart's desire". this was done during the earlier part of the year - before july if i'm not mistaken - heck, even i can't really remember. what i do remember was that it was a chaotic play - and the 'few' of 'my friends' who came to watch it would probably remember that it didn't make much sense.

and if i haven't admitted to you guys already - it didn't make sense because 'we ie the actors' f**ked up. we forgot scenes. and as a result we had to reverse back a few scenes just to play the scenes properly again. we forgot lines. sometimes all the actors forgot which scene we were supposed to be doing and every actor seemed to be doing a different scene all at the same time! which kinda led to even more confusion. you may not have noticed it - but i was getting increasingly frustrated with each passing scene! how we managed to bring it home and end the play in a 'somewhat' legible manner will be a feat i'll never be able to emulate and hope will never have to attempt ever again!

later part of 2003: i got into my first ever proper production ie it wasn't just a 'workshop' performance. it was called "Harakiri". this was a production by Chakra Works - with whom i will always remember for giving me my first ever break. they took a chance on an entire cast of 'newbies' and for that i will always respect them as well. and they went full-scale by staging at Actors Studio, Bangsar giving us full publicity by holding press-interviews, they lined up radio interviews and some tv interviews as well. they didn't give us a half-assed attitude just 'cause we weren't famous. it was lovely.

even though, they managed to make a small profit - admittedly, the play didn't really make 'it' cause of all sorts of factors lah. it could have been because none of the cast were 'famous', we might not even have been 'that good'. the fact that the play was one that was 'absurd-ish' ie there are scenes where i fall off a building and then get blown back in by a 'strong gust of wind'. it was also bi-lingual and most of my lines were in Malay rather than English and some people thought i didn't play it too well and yet there were others who thought i was Malay! go figure...

end of 2004: i joined VTC - which has now gone defunct. it was nothing short of lots of ups and downs but it was fun. since it isn't necessarily *over yet...i shan't comment further. :)

July 3rd 2005: this is my latest endeavour in my 'acting saga' - i've joined Joe Hasham's acting class - in my attempt to get into the 'closed circles' of theater in Malaysia. it's being held in KLPAC which i think is an amazing place. i never thought there'd be a venue of this magnitude solely dedicated to 'theater' in almost every form from art to dancing to acting and etc so soon. the fact that there is such a place has strengthened my resolve to try harder to get into the 'acting theater' circles. i'll give it a few more years and as i like to say sometimes, "see how lah".

thus far, it's going well - i've only had 2 classes and Joe has said some really promising things about me (which was one of my goals ie to get someone like Joe - who for those of you who are not in the *know - happens to be akin to a mainstream bigtime director in hollywood for the Malaysian theater scene - meaning to say: if i get into his good books and move up the list - i may get more calls for more plays in the future! rather than struggling to get someone to notice me by going for endless auditions!).

X

thus - my acting saga continues...