Khaleef’s 1st Theater : Roald Dahl’s ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’

I absolutely LOVE theater, plays and stage performances. since my school days, I’ve been staging plays annually for teachers’ day – as the script writer, or director, or actor – I’m just so in love with performing LIVE in front of anticipating audience. it was such a thrill.

click here to read about my theater craze!

 

I still keep a collection of my theater tickets!

 

staging the plays is just as fun as watching them. been to countless plays at the actors’ studio in dataran merdeka (closed after the devastating KL flood), in bangsar, istana budaya, and many other venues in between. I just LOVE it so much!

and now that I’m a mom, I’m hoping to channel that interest to my boys. starting last week when I took my eldest khaleef to see the staging of roald dahl’s ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ by the birmingham stage company. I was more excited than he was, I’m sure!

it was staged at centerpoint theater, DUCTAC (dubai community theater and arts center) at the mall of emirates.

 

 

fans of the masterful roald dahl should be familiar with the story of ‘george’s marvellous medicine’. a boy named george concocted a medicine for his cranky grandma using all sorts of everyday stuff around his house – shampoo, lipsticks, powder, and even paint! eww! when his grandma drinks the medicine, well, things starts to get pretty weird!

I am a huge fan of roald dahl – his children’s books as well as his stories for adults – always quirky, always witty and funny; and with an unexpected ending! so knowing that it’s gonna be staged as a play really gets me excited – how will they achieve all the visual effects on stage with a wonderfully weird story of george and his marvellous medicine?

 

(pictures are from google)

 

apart from the funny story, wonderful acting and adorable set; what I love about the play roald dahl’s ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ by the birmingham stage company :

• it’s interactive – in the story, the stove broke down and george needed heat to mix the medicine well, so he asked the audience to rub their hands together and channel the heat towards the pot of medicine. khaleef enjoyed this part very much! very good for restless little kids, and get them to move and do all sorts of hand gesture
• personalizing the audience – the character george started out his scene by speaking to the audience. khaleef was immediately hooked. george also kept asking the audience “in?” whenever he picked up some random stuff from the kitchen or bathroom to put in the medicine. nice one! this made the little kids very attentive to the storyline
• george and his family live in a farm. there are chickens, pigs and cows – the whole house, barn and shed done really well to appeal to the younger audience.
• the repetitive song or music in the play was not annoying, thankfully – in fact, khaleef liked it and everyone anticipated something funny will happen when that song went on

 

overall, a fantabulous first experience for khaleef, watching an awesome story like roald dahl’s ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ being staged and performed really well by the birmingham stage company. in fact, it was MY first children’s play. I’ve never seen so many little children in a theater hall before! haha.

kudos to the birmingham stage company! I look forward for more stage plays from them! click here to read the interesting interview with the play’s director, phil clark on time out dubai about this play.

 

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entrance of DUCTAC (dubai community theater and arts center) in the mall of emirates – there’s also a library at the red building

 

where we watch ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ come to life!

 

for mak & khaleef. yay!

 

we got the balcony seats as the seats down below are all sold-out! and this was already the last few days of performances. ingatkan dah tak crowded!

 

but the view was still good, as we got the middle seats. mind you, the cheapest ticket is already quite pricey, so settling with the balcony seats may not be a bad idea. view is still ok! maybe for khaleef’s next few theater and plays we’ll try and get the seats closer to the stage

 

love, love, love the set. adorable, quaint little farm house where magic was about to happen. really well done.

 

 

I can see a lot of MOMS bringing their kids to watch the show, and just a few dads. haha. and there are a few teachers too bringing in their little students in uniform.

really, this is the first time I’m in a theater hall full of little kids. and it was loud with laughter and sounds of ‘yessss!!!’ or ‘nooooo!’ whenever george ask them questions. selalu tengok theater senyap je, and you can’t even whisper without getting angry stares!

 

glad you enjoyed the show, my little khaleef! hopefully this is one of many, many more that you will like!