ok, i know i promised a day by day posting regarding each performance as they came. however, obviously that didn't happen. the primary reason for this is that the shows took more out of me than i thought as it wore on ... and as such - here i am.
honestly speaking - i might be able to give a day by day analysis of each show but i won't. simply because then this entry will be a lot longer than necessary and also because - You (*my dear readers) probably wouldn't give a shit about all the little details i'd be obliged to express in such an analysis right? :)
as such, i will now attempt to give you HIGHLIGHTS of the show - as i remember them ...
*note: this is my account of what i was aware happened during the staging of Julius Caesar (2005) ... and therefore it may not be absolutely accurate and i apologise beforehand should there be any inconsistencies with what actually took place ...
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HIGHLIGHTS ...
1. the Patrick Teoh 'moment'.
if i am not mistaken, the moment happened on Day 4 of the staging ... on a Tuesday. we had a break on Monday and came back.
what basically happened is that in one of the opening scenes between Cassius (Patrick) and Brutus (Ari) - Patrick forgot his lines in one of Cassius' long speeches and got completely stuck. there was at least 30 seconds of silence on stage. Patrick looked at Ari and Ari looked back at Patrick and they continued looking at each other.
*it is said that such black outs are known to happen to every actor at some point in time ... the best an actor can do is hope that he / she finds a way out by saying something else (similar) to what he / she is supposed to say and get on with the scene ... ie do some impromptu work lah ... but this would be tricky to do in a Shakespearean play (at least - i think so!)
it was a scary moment. it took a while before it sunk in with us back stage that Patrick, of all people, could forget his lines! you could see some of us backstage, hands clasped together, eyes closed and mouths mouthing the lines ... hoping that somehow Patrick would telephatically pick up the signal. Colin (who played Decius) was jumping at the side of the backstage trying to signal to Patrick what the next line was ... (ie, "He hath a fever when he was in Spain ..."), putting his hand on his forehead.
but of course, all this was to no avail for it was impossible for Patrick to hear any of us and with all the lights, it would be impossible for Patrick to see us backstage either.
so, the situation was finally resolved when the sound guys cued in a sound cue (which was supposed to come in after Patrick finished his lines) earlier so that Ari could pick up with his own lines. and then the play continued as usual.
of course the people watching the play all thought it was either the fault of the sound guys or Ari's. nobody thought it was Patrick! haha. funny how things work out.
so that was the Patrick Teoh *moment. :)
2. no difference if Julius Caesar is dead or alive!
i believe this happened on opening night. Brutus goes into the pulpit after the murder of Julius Caesar. he addresses the Roman public of why he, who loved Caesar as he stabbed him, did so. there is a part in his speech where he is supposed to say,
"Had you rather Caesar were living and die all as slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? ..."
and he actually slipped and said, "Had you rather Caesar be dead and live all as slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? ..." lol.
from what i heard, not many people actually noticed this. i thought it was hilarious though. *Grin.
3. the laughter in the audience.
there was one show in particular where a known local theater personality came to watch - and although i didn't see it myself (i only heard laughter coming from the audience) - i was told later that it was indeed the person in question who laughed out loud disrupting the *feel of the show.
you may be wondering why would this seem to be a bad thing? well, reason being, the laughter came at serious moments of the play and the laugh sounded more *malicious (as if scoffing at the performance) rather than laughter in appreciation of the play. (although i could be wrong ...)
further, it seemed that the person in question walked in and out of the theater several times during the show and the person did not seem to do so in a discreet fashion.
i must say that i did not see any of this happen as i was mostly backstage and even when i was out on stage, i didn't look out to the audience enough to notice such things.
i know not why this person behaved in such a manner for i remember meeting this person on several occasions when this person used to come to my school's theater club and conduct free workshops. this person would even recognise me if i were to bump into this person on the street and almost never fails to say "hi" or at least give a friendly nod of acknowledgement. i am therefore quite puzzled as to this person's behaviour during that particular performance.
*sigh. i guess it is one of those things that i'll never know about.
4. my shuffling feet and my soft voice.
a constant criticism i received most of the time before most of the shows was my volume during performance. during sound check, my voice would ring through loud and clear but according to the sound guys and joe and even faridah - my volume seemed to be lacking during performance!
fortunately not severely so...but there was a relatively marked difference between my own volume and the others i shared my speaking scenes with ... such as Brutus (Ari Ratos) and Portia (Samantha Schubert).
it troubles me for i've never had problems in terms of projection. i did manage to raise my levels as the shows progressed. i hope i don't encounter such problems again in future productions.
another problem i thought i was done with is my own personal trait that i've had ever since i was a small boy. i shuffle my feet and i look as if i am constantly moving even when i *Think i am standing still! even my first theater teacher (Ms Sukania) saw this in me way back then and every peformance i did for her, she had to constantly remind me to remind myself NOT TO MOVE! lol. (it's not immediately obvious, but because of my restless nature, i tend to shift my weight from one foot to the next even when i have to stand still...*grin.)
the rest of the cast all had their own little quirks and it looked as if i was going to be spared from *teasing since my role was relatively small and i didn't have much stage time to be teased about. however, towards the end of the production - i "kena" also lah. Gavin (who plays Marc Anthony) was the 1st to bring it up and everyone else keenly agreed that i did indeed have that habit. *sigh ... oh well ... guess i couldn't escape it.
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there are more 'Highlights' - i could go on and on ... but i guess this should be enough for this entry.
needless to say, this has been truly a great experience for me. to be able to act in a production with names i used to only ever read about - and never thought that i'd ever get a chance to be with on the same stage ... much less even perhaps label such people: acquaintances or friends even! ... i guess you *could go so far as to say ... it's like a dream come true.
but i wouldn't really say that ... i aim for greater heights. where that is exactly? good question. i'll tell you when i get there. *Grin.
for those of you - dear friends, who'd like to know more about my great experience, give me a ring, buy me a cup of coffee and we can catch up. for the rest of you ... i guess, some things you'll just never know about me. haha.
signing off, the commonjack.
p/s: click on the link below to read what other people thought about the play.
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