And so life begins ... "WORK" & "THEATRE"

hello all.

i'm glad to say that i've now officially finished one chapter of my life. a chapter i'm not very proud of - but happy nonetheless.

i've passed my law exams. i am now a 3rd class law degree holder - a graduate of the Uni of London External Programme. i'm not very proud of my results. i'm just glad its over. everybody says you'll look back and miss the good 'ole days.

maybe i will - however, at present, i certainly don't think so. the only thing i'm grateful for taking up the UoL External Programme at ATC is that the course provided me with a lot of free time to indulge in all the other activities that i'm very happy to have found.

THEATRE. KICKBOXING. WRITING. SINGING. etc ...

all those years ago, after form6, had i chosen to accept to go to USM in Penang and take up Mass Comm - (it was my 3rd option on my application form - my 1st 2 were to do Law at UM or at UKM) - would life be very diffferent? perhaps i wouldn't have picked up kickboxing then ... or maybe i wouldn't have had the time to really indulge in acting here ... who knows?

WORK:

ANYwho... if you've read the "24" post - you'd probably be thinking that i'll be hopping on the next wagon of life - that is to look for a job that'll lead to me being a "Producer".

an exerp from "24" -

"...i've decided that i want to be a PRODUCER. i will start with TV but i want to get to a point when i have the ability and know-how to produce anything from theatre, radio, tv and etc. i want to be someone who would be able to conceptualise new shows, combining all sorts of elements to blow people out of their socks.

yes, i've decided that i will take that plunge into the 'entertainment' industry. so now, i'm not just working on trying to get in front of the camera, but i will also learn to be behind the camera."

and i shall. even though i'm having some doubts about it at present - it could be just 'cold feet' - i need to do it. there's another option to continue studying (ovreseas....) - something related to media - my Father put it to me after i told him about my results. as much as i would like to go overseas ... the thought of putting off going to 'work' and figuring out what i want to do with the rest of my life is not very appealing.

that being said, i'm going to be sussing out some more contacts and details before i make my final leap and start working.

THEATRE:

but i've got something to keep me busy while i suss out my details. i've gotten a role - my biggest role yet - in Gavin Yap's next play. it's called FRANKENSTEIN in LOVE (FiL for short - click to get to the production blog).

FiL can be described to be a "play of dark, airless places taht have been long sealed from any hope of sanity". (cool right?)

below is an exerp from the production blog written by the director himself ...

" Inspired by Mary Shelley's classic horror story, Clive Barker has has taken the Shelley's tale and basically put his own spin on it. The result is a sort of 'what if' scenario. What if Dr Frankenstein had actually succeeded in creating a race of half dead-half alive creatures? And what if these creatures still had the ability to think and feel the way normal people do, but yet at the same time be very much aware of what they are and the fact that they have no real place in the world.....what would happen?

What happens is that it causes a huge uprising and there is a revolution. This serves as the backdrop for the play. The emotional core of the story is a tragic romantic triangle that develops between El Coco, the leader of the revoution (played by Rashid Salleh), Veronique, one of Frankenstein's creations (played by Melissa Maureen) and the good Doctor Frankenstein himself (played By Mano Maniam). Its a beautifully tragic relationship that doesn't just hint at the unimaginable but actually has the balls to go there, which is what I love so much about it. This is a play that truly grabs you by the short and curly's and dares you to try and run.
Aside from the three romantic interests, there is a host of colorful, equally fucked up characters that inhabit Barker's crazy world. There is Maria Reina Duran (played by Mary George), a dead fan-dancer who also serves as the play's narrator. Cockatoo (played by Michael Chen), a crazed revolutionary who loyally serves El Coco, all the while wearing a crazed broad grin on his face. Then there is Lazaro (played by Douglas Lim), a half-witted friend of Maria's. There are the two flesh-eating creatures Follezou and Mattos (played by Rauf Fadzilla and Bharani Rasaselvam) who assist Veronique in her quest for vengenance, first on the list is a faithless Cardinal (played by Reuben Arthur)! We have President Garcia Perez (played by Patrick teoh) the nation's current President that El Coco seeks to overthrow (amongst other things) and lastly the hilariously morally ambiguous duo of Camilo Bozuffi (played by Reza Zainal Abidin) and Dr Fook (played by U-En Ng), a tailor and pathologist who have a hideously amusing business relationship.

Indeed, this is a play that is designed to scare and disturb but trust me, it isn't without its share of good laughs. We had a our first reading of the play last night and there were points where we had to stop cos we couldn't stop laughing. We'll be reading through the play all this week (without Douglas, who's finishing off Broken Bridges and Reza, who's doing Second Link) before we start blocking Monday next week. As rehearsals progress, you can expect the usual input from the cast and crew. Only this time, we've got a lot more goodies coming your way as you'll be treating to previews not only of the set design but also the costumes and make-up, which I promise you, is going to be off the fucking chain."

as you can see, i'm in the company of players whom i have great respect and admiration for. hopefully, i can hold my own in their company. i am indeed very excited about this play because it's a f*cking cool play! and also, because it's the biggest role i've ever had!

so yeah ... it'll be staged in LATE OCT and EARLY NOV - so stay tuned!

once i'm done with the play - chances are - i'll start a job. so that's my life from the way it looks on this day.

sounds exciting...

signing off, the commonjack.