A Session with Kee Thuan Chye

Kee Thuan Chye is from Penang. A famous Malaysian writer is here in UPM, spends sometimes with the TESL students. What a great session with Kee Thuan Chye. He is a very nice person, very nice to talk to. Wow! What a great experience to meet, talk and ask him about his experience in writing.

I have read two of his works and the current one is ‘The Swordfish, Then the Concubine’. It is a contemporary or a modern play he wrote, so it is a lot easier to read and to finish reading it. I do admit that I love his works. He makes me think about my beloved country Malaysia, what is happening all around Malaysia. I am able to relate it to the current issues in Malaysia. It makes me more aware to my surrounding. As a good and responsible Malaysian, I extremely agree we should be more sensitive or aware to the events around me. That is how we show our responsibility to this country. ‘I don’t give a damn!’ we should avoid it. Show your responsibility towards your own country, if we the citizens of Malaysia ‘don’t give a damn’ to our surrounding, who else would do? Who else would care for it? This is the message that Kee Thuan Chye trying to tell us, the Important of being a responsible Malaysian. The readers are exposed to the current issues eventhough the setting portrayed the ancient time.

After the session with Mr. Kee Thuan Chye, I personally ask him about the surprising number of characters in ‘The Swordfish, Then the Concubine’. The version that I read, surprisingly, there are 63 characters in it. So, I thought about how they do it on stage. Are you going to pay for 63 actors for one single play? It is insane. He said to me, they were only 15 actors were hired for the play. So, they play several roles per person. He said it was difficult to deal with but they managed to do it well. Isn’t it surprised you? I do. 15 actors for 63 characters? Wow! A single actor should play at least 4 roles. How amazing it is? I wish I will have the chance to go and watch the play soon. Hope the ticket is not too expensive

or else I am not able to pay for it.

Last word from Kee Thuan Chye, BE A GOOD MALAYSIAN!

Kee Thuan Chye sharing his experience.

Kee Thuan Chye close-up

Me on his left with my fellow friends

my very first D.R.A.M.A class

Firstly, I am sorry to say that I don't really remember the date. Pity me. But I do remember several things. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Malachi Edwin Vethamani is the lecturer for 'Teaching The Language of Drama'.

At first, I thought that drama is something that I am familiar with, for example the drama on television as I watch it daily. When Dr. Edwin started to talk about it, the history, venue, the audience and more, it was totally out of my perception.

The drama that I am studying now is something different.It is more like theatre or play. During the ancient time, drama and theatre was one of the popular entertainment. Theatre in Greek is one of the famous theatre. One of the play I have read and learned about is Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Guess what, the Oedipus complex which is a psychological illness, the name is taken from the character in this play. Oedipus, the king who married his own mother and the mental illness Oedipus complex refers to a person, male who attracted to his own mother. Nothing to do with the play, but the fact really attract my attention. So, drama, theatre or play is interesting and enjoyable.

WHY??

I'm wondering why am I so lazy to update my OWN blog...I'm playing a role of an inactive blogger....

Maybe I'm new in this blogging field...plus i am afraid if there is no response or no viewer will read my blog..It is sad..so sad..

This blog matwafi.blogspot.com is a platform of expressing my opinion and reflection on my drama@theatre course...

I think I will survive.....I hope I will survive...I wish I could survive....

Movie vs Drama (theatre)

I would like to say that I love watching movie very much. I enjoy watching horror, animation, comedy, action and thriller movies. But sometimes they cost me a lot.
But, what are the differences between movie and drama(theater)?.In movie, the actors are not performing live in front of the audience. Their performance is delayed. They only record into film. There are no audience while they are acting, except the director and the crews. Drama@theatre is performing live in front of the audience. There is no such thing as pauses in drama. While the actors are acting, they cannot stop until the end of the session even though there are some mistakes or the actor forgetting his lines. Computer graphic image (CGI) cannot be use in drama because it is live. I would like to say that the audience in movie sometimes being fooled by CGI. It may sound harsh but, this is reality.
The director in drama does nothing during the show. He cannot interrupt and tell anything to the actors. On the other hand, the movie director is totally dominant. He may stop whenever he wants.
Whatever the differences are, they both are part of arts. We as a human being should appreciate the beauty of the arts and enjoy them.