13 weeks of Drama class were great!

The class of EDU 3217 would be the best class out the six subjects that I had taken for the fifth semester. During the lesson, I do learn a lot of new things most for every lesson that I’ve attended. The thoughts that the class would be monotonous and dull, turns to be completely wrong. In fact, it so fun to be in the class, reading plays and analyzing the language of the plays guided by my lecturer, Dr. Edwin. Novelty always becomes the most influenced effect in the class as it gives me pleasure to really enjoy the class by getting new interesting knowledge thus, helping me in seeing things in different angle with wider perspective. There also few similar things that I have learnt in a play that is also being used in other plays such as the usage of the word “foolish” in both Antigone and King Lear and interestingly in King Lear, Shakespeare does use the phrase “foolish honesty” conveying that the one’s honesty will allow people to harm them. I was also exposed to new cultures as depicted the educated culture in Pygmalion and the old royal Malay culture in Anike. Ultimately, I would to thank Dr. Edwin who actually helps me a lot in grasping the better understanding of the plays during the class and asking the questions in provoking my mind to think better and to see thing clearly in certain view.

Simulated teachings for the set induction-there are still many things to be improved!

As the simulated teaching started I pitied so much on the few groups that have to redo their work regards to their inappropriacy of the content and the task given. I was quite anxious if the thing happens to my pair and me. As the lecturer comments on other group, I do reflect the comments and suggestions on my content and material for the teaching. Luckily, it fits what the lecturer wants; just a few minor amendments had been done before my turn to teach. The first session was quite pressurized as there to many major corrections need to be done and there are quite numbers of group the need to redo their works. In terms of the instructions, the ‘teachers’ did not give the clear instruction of what they students need to do. For instance, they ask the students to listen to a song and after finish playing the song; they ask questions regards to the song without any matter to focus on. They ask vague questions such as “What is the mood in the song?” without any specific focus on to the lyrics. There are some of them used video clipping and provides the lyrics, they ask the students to watch the video clip but they do not make any reference to the lyric to actually relates the lyric to their teaching. Some of the teachers do goes against “the nature of set induction” where the teachers speak more while the students speaks less. However, there are still some interesting activities done to triggers the students’ interest as being done by Nazmier. He used role-playing to portray two different characters successfully. For my group, we manage to get B+ as our first activities, using hi-tech (gazettes of important scenes in The Incredibles), but our second activity moved from hi-tech way to a very traditional way, using the white board instead of using powerpoint. Thus, I would say that this simulated teaching have actually gives a lot of new reminders to be hold on while conducting the stage of set induction in class.

Shakespearean tragedy, King Lear

My first further studies on Shakespearean play in my life would be King Lear which I feel quite “pathetic” but grateful to actually have the chance to read Shakespearean play at advanced level. From the information I had, the story is borrowed from few different stories; The True Chronicle history of King Leir and his Three Daughters, Chronicle of England, Scotland and Ireland, The Faerie Queenee, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia and A Mirror for Magistrates. Shakespeare creates King Lear out of the collected pieces of ideas from those stories. What I like most about King Lear is that the cursive point of where Lear plays a “childish game” inquiring this very important line to his three daughters, “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” Here, Lear goes against the nature and he is seen to be unnatural as for parent to ask their children to forfeit their love. Shakespeare has actually done well in depicting Lear’s tragic flaw – arrogant, which later brings him to the reversal of fortune as the two daughters who confess their to him have actually disowns him as the story unfolds. There are a lot of animal imageries that can be found in the texts represented by the scavengers animal(such as wolf, pelican etc) which reflect on the negative connotation and the regal animal(such as dolphin, dragon, eagle etc) represents the positive connotations. Apart from that, I am so impressed on how Shakespeare uses the word “nothing”. The line “Nothing comes nothing” from Lear implies nothing comes from nothingness where the “nothingness” is cynically addressed to Cordelia who can’t verbally show his love to her father. As I look upon the story of King Lear, I detect some similarity in King Lear with a classic Malay movie directed by P. Ramlee entitled Ahmad Albab. The match point would be when the father asks his children to show their love towards him in terms of material, the more expensive things they give, the greater their love towards the father. Anyhow, the most visible difference is that in King Lear the story revolves with a father between three daughters, in contrast to that, the story of Ahmad Albab develops between a father and three sons. It is so entertaining and enjoyful to actually see this story which is crated differently according to different culture with ending, yet illustrating the same issue.

4:48 Psychosis; Touching Death

“You witness someone’s mind spiralling out” This is the utterance from the director of 4:48 Psychosis, Gavin Yap which I read at the lobby of Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) 45 minutes before the plays starts thus, it gives me ideas of what the plays would be about. The play was scheduled to be at 3 p.m, but we have to wait for 15 minutes due to some technical problem. Anyhow, I was relief since it was overcame and I can watch the play even though it was a little bit delayed and luckily the excitement to watch the play is still there. 4:48 Psychosis shows the young talented director, Gavin Yap directs Samantha Schubert, Malik Taufiq and Susan Lankester and it is undeniably that these three outstanding actor and actresses have done terrific performance. The play takes one step closer to her inner feelings by allowing the audience a glance into what went through her mind as her depression sent her spiraling into self-destruction and eventual suicide. The roles of the three players represent facets of her mind which they are all just one person that resembles her life as dark, deep and intense. The play takes one step closer to her inner feelings by allowing the audience a glance into what went through her mind as her depression sent her spiraling into self-destruction and eventual suicide. The roles of the three players represent facets of her mind which they are all just one person that resembles her life as dark, deep and intense. Susan, Samantha and Malik characterize the same person yet with different intensity of how they deliver the dialogue. It is as if they resemble the different demons inside them that they had to let go of. As far I am concerns, Sarah Kane’s 4:48 Psychosis has a lot of repetitions of words such as the word nothing (surprisingly same as in King Lear), repetition of a interesting line which is “Could, would, should or will I?” The significance of “4:48” that it is the darkest hour of before dawn which at the end of the play one of the play said “At 4:48, I shall be sleep” and shows that “sleep” here refers to death as a “beautiful pain”. The play goes very well as those brilliant players completely engulf with their performance as if it really happen deep inside them. Dealing with darker side of the human psyche is not an easy material to work with, yet Gavin Yap does it perfectly especially on how he manipulates the element of aside in the play. In terms of the props, there are less props that had been used; basically stairs and doors which might symbolizes something. When we asks Gavin, on the less props used, he said that he want to focus more on the words on what is meant to said, the emotion and the gestures. Apart, so much of the play is in darkness and he says that “the less you can see, the more you think”. Well, I guess he is true, as the plays finish I feel quite tense to actually think of the issue of the tortured mind that “talks"



The place where the props are produced in KLPac

In line with the director of 4:48 Psychosis, Gavin Yap.

The ticket of the play