The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion |
| Posted: Postcards From Rosa is a passionate journey of laughter, hope, tears and discovery. LOVE is leceh (a hassle). Nyonya grandmother Bibik Rosa sighs, as she relates it to the trouble she went through to make the pineapple tarts that she hands to the audience. But as the play Postcards From Rosa by Singaporean scribe Desmond Sim goes on, the difficulties Rosa faces in the name of love goes beyond baking cookies and spans four generations of her family over 50 years. The play is based on Sim's memory of his grandmother and the script pulled from postcards by the namesake character. Despite the expansive scope of the tale, it is told by a single actor. In its debut staging in Malaysia, the batik-mantle is taken up by Marina Tan. Postcards From Rosa was first staged by Singapore's Action Theatre in November 2007 with Neo Swee Lin in the title role. The Malaysian premiere is staged in conjunction with the Georgetown Festival 2013. Making its first stop at the Penang Performing Art Centre this week, the play has been fittingly localised to fit in the context of the Penang Nyonya. Director Christopher Ling said certain details like geography, folk songs, and even cuisine, had to be amended. Postcards From Rosa starts its four-day run on Thursday. It will also play at KLPac in Kuala Lumpur from July 11-14. Tan, who is not a Nyonya herself, describes taking part in the localisation as an excellent opportunity to delve into the intricacies of the culture she plays. And it shows, her Rosa is a riot as she makes cultural jokes about "pantang" and why one should never say "shiok" in front of the older generation. "More importantly, the struggles, situations and fears are universal, so the heart of the play is unchanged despite the localisation," states Tan, 38. Tan's interaction with the audience goes beyond keeping eye contact. Breaking the fourth wall, she picks the occasional victim in the audience to drag into the play, comparing how they're not as good looking as her cherished grandson Benny, or to offer them pineapple tarts. She also cracks the occasional joke to the audience through internal monologue, like JD in the medical comedy Scrubs. Postcards From Rosa is a whirlwind of history and emotion, somehow cramming half a century of a colourful life into just under two hours of stage time. Though the billing has only one actor, the show is no monologue. It starts with Rosa rushing to board a plane to visit her grandson Benny, after he stops sending her postcards. But the bulk of it is set in the past, slowly explaining why Benny, who works as a flight attendant in Australia, ceased sending her postcards from his travels around the world. Showing her skills at voice acting, Tan deftly voices the many, many characters, from Rosa's father, her children and grandchildren. Rather than changing outfits or actually playing multiple characters, Tan stays in the character of Rosa, recounting her interactions with other characters much in the way you would mimic others when retelling your stories. It very much shows that the story, especially from Rosa's youth, are based on the stories told by Sim's grandmother to him. Some characters who mistreated Rosa – like her (monster) mother-in-law and ill tempered husband – are made wicked villains, while the audience gets to see Rosa mostly through rose tinted glasses. "Desmond does try to be fair in the telling and is not entirely nostalgic about his grandmother. Especially in the later half, where its drawn from his direct interaction with Rosa," explains Tan. "She (Rosa) said she'd hate to be remembered as a cranky, sickly, old woman. The way Desmond tells both her highs and lows ensures she's remembered in a better way," adds Tan. That said, the scenes where Rosa lashes out against friends, family or foes make up the highlights of the play as Tan gets to show off her acting muscle. "Love is leceh, it is never easy. We do it in this time consuming way, because we know it's worth doing," sums up Rosa as the character tears ups towards the end of the play. Most of the audience members too were brushing away tears and clapping as the curtains closed that night. All it takes is one good woman to tell one good story. Postcards From Rosa will be staged at Penang PAC, Quay One, Straits Quay, Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Tokong in Penang from July 4-6 at 8.30pm and July 7 at 3pm. It will also be staged at KLPac, Jalan Strachan, off Jalan Ipoh in Kuala Lumpur from July 11-13 at 8.30pm and July 14 at 3pm. Call 04-8991722 or 03-40479000 to book tickets or check www.klpac.org and www.ilassotickets.com for more details. |
| Posted: The magic of young love transcends generations. PROFESSIONAL dancer Jack Kek has always been intrigued by the idea of how his parents met. "Growing up in a Chinese household, I noticed that my parents rarely talked about their lives before they had children. So we would always look at photographs and kinda imagine how it all happened – meeting for the first time and going about a relationship," said Kek during an interview at his dance studio in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur. Kek, 36, has had an illustrious dance career. He graduated with a degree in dance from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and has performed in Europe and China. He also had a stint as a professional dancer with renowned Taiwanese modern dance group Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Under the direction of noted choreographer Lin Hwai-Min, Kek starred in seminal contemporary dance pieces like Oculus and Songs of The Bird. He says he owes it all to his parents. On July 5–7, don't miss the opportunity to catch For My Parents; a full-length dance theatre piece cheoreographed by Kek. The piece is based on various stories of how Kek's and his fellow dancers' parents met during the 1970s. "For Our Parents is generally focused on when our parents first met, how they get to know each other and staying together in marriage after that. It's a kind of simple relationship that is almost unheard of in today's modern world," added Kek about the stories weaved into the dance piece. Kek explains that he wanted to explore each stage of this nostalgic relationship through various theatrical dance aspects. By understanding the emotional aspect behind each stage of a relationship, he was able to choreograph dance movements filled with purpose. "I explored more about how our parents used to think back then." Kek believes audiences will find the answer through the dance segments in For Our Parents. The dancers will duet to a 1970s song in each segment. The songs will be brought to life by vocalist Will David and violinist Brace Soon. "Audiences can look forward to songs by Teresa Teng and Liu Wen Zheng. There will also be dance segments accompanied by classic songs like Over The Rainbow and The Very Thought of You." For Our Parents will also feature award-winning dancer Steve Goh (Sabahan-born Goh won Best Featured Performer and three other mentions at the 2008 Boh Cameronian Arts Awards) and Miruko Huang (Kek's fellow dancer from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre) from Taiwan. Kek also hinted there will be a "huge" wedding waltz scene. "For some of our dancers, it was a challenge because they are more familiar with contemporary dance genres. I had to choreograph some dance segments to make them more contemporary in feel," said Kek. For Our Parents is also Kek's tribute to his own parents who have supported his dance career. "They've been very optimistic of my career in dance and I just wanted to do something for them. For Our Parents is a way of showing how our parents stuck together." Catch For Our Parents at Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPac), Empire Damansara, Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, July 5–7. Tickets are priced at RM48 and RM38 (students/senior citizen/disabled). Call DPac box office at 03-20540960 or log on to www.dpac.com.my. |
| Posted: The latest art exhibition at interpr8 promises an exciting and interactive journey for visitors. WHAT if art spoke back to you? Even better, what if you can actually have a "conversation" with art, instantly? Sounds like a new sequel to Night At The Museum? Well, if you walk into the interpr8 Art Space gallery at Publika in Kuala Lumpur, you will be able to do just that … and much more. Now until July 14, interpr8 will play host to a most ingenious and imaginative collection of contemporary artworks by seven of our local artists. Aptly named Art In Search Of Words, the exhibitionis part of the annual Cooler Lumpur Literary Festival, a multidisciplinary cultural festival, and the theme of the festival this time around is word. The seven artists whose works are currently on display are Chi Too, Halim Rahim, Haslin Ismail, Lim Keh Soon, Shahril Nizam, Sharon Chin, and Zedeck Siew. So, instead of the usual run-of-the-mill paintings and drawings art visitors are accustomed to, gallery curators, Sharmin Parameswaran and Rachel Jenagaratnam, asked the artists to produce artworks that are interactive. That is, it allows and encourages visitors to respond to the artwork on the spot. In fact, this was precisely the curatorial direction Sharmin and Rachel decided to take. Often times, they said, the journey down the gallery ceases with the thoughts of the visitors remaining as, well, just thoughts. Discourse is not so commonplace, if not non-existent. "We sat down and talked and decided to bring art and word together. And I think it was a debate between us on how we can get people to react to an artwork. For instance, when you visit an art gallery, you have a piece of work there and you look at it and if it speaks to you, you think about it and nod about it and then you walk away. Your thoughts don't come out. "So, Rachel proposed an idea about putting another dimension to it so that people are able to react to the work and I think that's where the feedback mechanism, be it written or drawn or what have you, is important," shared Sharmin. Acceding with Sharmin, Rachel noted that when it comes to the "power relation between the audience and the artwork, the audience generally have no say. So, we wanted to give audiences a chance to speak back to the artworks." No sooner had she finished her sentence than she pointed to a basic, white-coloured handphone on the table and casually said, "this is just sitting here but it's actually one of the artworks on display!" Cynically named iPhone Envy, it is a work by artist Chi Too. "There's a whole background story to it, about how he's single and he wonders if it's because he doesn't have a smart phone since every girl asks him, 'Do you have Whatsapp?' and he doesn't. But basically, this work is about loneliness and looking for a life partner. "What you're meant to do is read the text messages and reply them and he'll have a conversation with you. If it rings, you are also allowed to pick it up and have a conversation with him. This is what I mean. You get a very direct involvement with the artwork," said Rachel, an independent art writer. Resisting her laughter, Sharmin was quick to confess that she was, only moments ago, having a conversation with Chi Too via the hand phone. "I was literally sitting here and laughing to myself. And it sings this Al Green love song when it rings and that caught me off guard!" Sharmin said one of the objectives of the exhibition is to tell visitors that there is the kind of art that you put on the wall to adorn your home but there is also the kind that is "conceptual and makes you think a bit differently." Moreover, she reasoned, "we wanted to show that people who come from the literary side that you can use words to appreciate art forms and installations and people who come from art side to see that how it can bridge with the literary and the conversation you can have with the audience." How important, then, is this element of discourse and conversation happening in the gallery? "That 'dialogue' happening in the gallery actually relates to the bigger picture. More conversations mean more debate and discovery, and this will eventually translate to better art being produced because the onus will then be on the artists to create more and more challenging artworks. We've certainly not reached this stage yet. People forget that our art scene is still an infant compared to many other countries. "Art In Search Of Words is one step forward in the right direction, though. The hope is that this show gets audiences, especially those less familiar with art, to trust their instincts more. The artists have provided all the necessary tools for audiences to respond and no one's going to be judged for what they say," Rachel asserted. Sharmin believes that the key to any art form is the manner in which an audience reacts to it. And with an exhibition such as Art In Search Of Words, they can do just that directly. But more importantly, she noted, the works on display are thought provoking. "Take for example this work by Sharon Chin. It's called the Portable Sensors," said Sharmin, pointing to a row of installations that are essentially sensors. "What she's trying to highlight is how in Malaysia we actually have words that do not come to our shores because there are books that are banned, especially on topics which are deemed sensitive, like sex, religion and so on. What she has done is that she has built a graph on the number of banned books per year and you are supposed to interact by moving the hoop along the buzzwire and if it touches the wire, it buzzes. As you can see, the buzzwire is shaped exactly like the graph behind it. "The more books that are banned in respect to a certain topic, the more spikes you see in the graph and this makes it even more difficult to move the hoop. And then it will hit you that graph has huge spikes because it's about that particular topic. So, these are the things that will keep you thinking," explained Sharmin. Noting that people are generally intimidated to visit an exhibition, let alone enter an art gallery, Rachel concluded by saying "it may be intimidating at first but as the show is very inclusive and participatory, I think it will prove to be a lot of fun. There is no right or wrong and it is very accessible." Art In Search Of Words is on at interpr8 Art Space. Lot 20, Level G4, Publika Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Solaris Dutamas 1 in Kuala Lumpur till July 14. Exhibition is open 11am to 7pm daily, except for Sundays by appointment only. Free admission. More information:www.facebook.com/interpr8 or www.coolerlumpur.com/word. |
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