Theater Termites

my beloved theater booklet - infos on the peeps on stage & behind the curtain

this is my second installation of my list of collection.

1> tissues (have you read about it? well, go ahead then!)
2> theater tickets & booklet

i love the stage. i love theater. i love plays. i love everything about it. ergo, i collect every single theater ticket stub i've gotten - and the theater booklet as well.

..and like all of my collection, each tells a story...

theater ticket stubs

1> St. Michael's 'The Sound of Music' first - it was a day where a group of progesterone-high giggly girls went to an all-boys school. you get the picture. i was in form 5 and it was the cheapest stage-play i've been to - being a school production. i've always into school production as i LOVE to be involved in one, and imagine their blood-sweat-and tears of running their own school play. i had the best time with keet mei, kit yee, keat li, eric, irda, put - this was my *nasi tomato* gang. (nasi tomato in our school canteen that time was *expensive* and only served on rare days - it was a real *occasion* for all of us to be sitting down eatin a plate of nasi tomato)

2> the instant cafe theater staging shakespeare's 'twelfth night' watched this with yong and her then-boyfriend-now-hubby abg mat. in fact he was in my favor that time because he was the one who helped bought the tickets. biase la, bodek bakal adik ipar...the wonderful part of this theater experience is not just watching my first professionally-staged shakespeare play, more so as it was staged 'out in the open' (at night under the stars!) in
no less than carcosa sri negara!

3> siti zubaidah @ istana budaya the first malay play and the first play i watched in istana budaya. and well hey, believe it or not - yong, my bro-in-law and i wore full-fledged traditional garb - thai songket and top, and abg mat in baju melayu. haha. people thought we were under special invites! nways i remember a super-gorgeous tiara jacq and a rather stiff-acting halim othman.

all the world's a stage; and these are the three shakespeare play i've seen

4> royal shakespeare's company staging shakespeare's 'the merchant of venice' this was a big freakin deal since it's staged by the highly mighty acclaimed royal shakespeare company. if you're a shakespeare geek, it can't get ANY better than this. they don't even need fancy props - all they had was a couch and a couple of screeens for actors to go in and out - when you're good, you're good.

5> bell shakespeare staging shakespeare's 'twelfth night'
a biggie play that i caught when doing my masters in melbourne. saw it at the arts centre - much like our istana budaya. this one was a bit off for me as it modernized shakespeare. and it had a bit with an aging dude showin off his butt. yikes.

irda, put & me

6> countless of other unforgettable plays wif my loyal theater gal pals, put & irda like 'the importance of being earnest' with an ALL-MALE cast! hillarious! gavin yap in cutesy braid! also 'the three trials of oscar wilde' staged in the *range club where irda started her crush on rashid salleh..

klasik kontemporari or klasik mak yong?

7> konsert klasik for anniversary & my first mak yong show i actually did go for an instrumental *gig* at syuen hotel, ipoh when i was still schooling. i remember going with erika. but it was a small performance. during my anniversary, mr khairul treated me with a classy night of orchestral magic. it was OK but not my cup of tea...

mak yong was a completely exhilarating experience - the kelantan accent was enough to *amaze*. but at least i can tell people that i've seen one...

cintailah pentas bahasa ibunda kita!

8> plays in bahasa melayu : usman awang's 'uda & dara' & the long-winded extravaganza, 'merdeka! merdeka! merdeka!'
adlin aman ramlie is brilliant in this piece as utih. honestly i didnt know who he was when i watched him do his thang. it was staged in a simple setting - actors merely wore black and white.
the 'merdeka!' play was awesome for the sets. it's really a walk down memory lane (macam la penah actually 'walk' down that era!)

i used to browse www.kakiseni.com for updates. sigh. miss those theater shows and girls night out, put! irda!

here in dubai i have yet to experience any cultural aspect of it in terms of stage performance. the theater spot here is at the top floor or mall of emirates - the Dubai Community Theater & Arts Centre. you can visit http://www.dubaitheatre.org/ for more information.