Sisa-sisa | Three Doors -- my interpretation

Sisa-sisa? The name of the play wandered in my mind. A collection of four plays, the name and the poster did not sound too happy. So I wondered how my Saturday evening date with the theatre would turn out. 

Sisa-sisa? What is it? The English translation came up as "scraps." The dictionary definition is "a small piece or amount of something, especially one that is left over after the greater part has been used."

Hmm....

As expected, the stories addressed the more distressing realities of life, Nevertheless, I went in with an open mind to observe the artistic and theatrical styles of telling the stories. I was thrilled to see that it was a full house in Pentas 2 of KLPAC (KL Performing Arts Centre). Claps for Malaysia's theatre scene.

Four plays: Three Doors (top left), Reservations (top right),
The Joy of Solitude (bottom left),  Blind Spot (bottom right)

Three Doors opened the evening. 

Faridah Merican plays a woman at the funeral of her husband. Though a sad topic, the play is humourous, beginning with two female neighbours, played by Douglas Wong (in wig) and Ho Lee Ching (in wig too), attending the funeral, unapologetically taking advantage of the free prawn bihun (rice noodles) served at the funeral, and then complaining about the coffee. 

The woman, instead of being depressed, shows off her fiery character by chasing away the obtrusive neighbours, and questioning the dead "old man" about leaving her there by herself to decide which of the three doors she should choose from -- the three doors being her three sons. With whom could she spend the rest of her life with?

Faridah Merican. Courtesy of KLPAC


Then, as she related how differently she served curry chicken to each of her three sons, a revelation of how different each relationship is, she moved three chairs for us to symbolize the three persons.

From left: Ho Lee Ching, Faridah Merican, Douglas Wong (Courtesy of KLPAC)

Douglas Wong's silhouette and voice becomes the dead old man, who is still having a conversation with his wife, albeit imaginary. 

Then he takes on the roles of each of her three sons, coming on stage as flashbacks of her conversation with each of them. The director could have cast 3 different actors to play each of the 3 sons, instead, he had Douglas Wong come on stage in 3 different personalities, which somehow differentiates even more how differently each feels about their mother. The character that struck me most was her eldest son, a health freak who ironically lives nearby to her, but distances himself from mother by only offering her brown rice and tofu... if she came over.

Ho Lee Ching and Faridah Merican. (Courtesy of KLPAC)

Ho Lee Ching also potrays several characters, one of it being a very blonde Chinese girlfriend of her second son who offers the old woman chocolate as condolences, which pisses off the old lady even more. This also tells that all is not well of her relationship with her second son.  Ho Lee Ching offers more comic relief as a dreadlocked vagabond, who meets the woman on the streets as she searches for her missing son. The vagabond then breaks into a funny rendition of popular Hokkien song "jiu gan tang boei bo..." (do you have empty beer bottles to sell), which is an iconic song of the poor who lived on the streets, as it is from a hit Taiwanese movie about a mute man who found a baby girl while collecting bottles on the streets.

Saturday night out at the theatre!

A rare photo opportunity with Datuk Faridah Merican

Three Doors' humourous presentation, with great acting in English and hilarious smatterings of Hokkien, was interesting enough to make it worth an evening drive out. 

The reason NOT having 3 actors play the 3 sons WORKS, because in the end, the 3 chairs that symbolize each one are still empty. As an audience, we also agreed with the old woman that neither of the three doors would make her ideal life.

Three Doors was directed and written by Mark Beau De Silva.

Celebrating Malaysia and Celebrating Malaysian Talent: WVC Live Concert

This poster is enough to grab your attention. 

WVC, a Malaysian Jazz Ensemble, comprising of jazz pianist maestro Tay Cher Siang, saxophonist Julian Chan, Bassist AJ Popshuvit, Drummer KJ Wong, presents a rare live concert at the KL Performing Arts Centre. 

At a time, when the economy is not invigorating and people are holding back spending money lavishly, some of them chose to spend Wednesday night at a jazz concert, which is sold out for 2 nights! 

The first time I ever saw Tay Cher Siang play the piano, I instantly named him the best jazz pianist in the world. It is really uncommon for people who see him play and not want to follow his career, unless you really don't appreciate music. Again, he wowed the 500-strong appreciative crowd with ironic precision of jazz music. 

The night was filled with some surprises. Other than the usual jazz band, they added a string orchestra called Arioso Sinfonia, whose members ranged from ages 12-18. Thanks to my wonderful friend Pearlly, I got a good seat. But why is it there is an uncle who insists to sit upright with his very round head blocking my view?!

In some songs, ballroom dancers, an Indian traditional dancer, a Chinese theatrical performer, a modern contemporary dancer and even a calligrapher lent their grace to a celebration of Malaysia's diverse cultures and unity, which Cher Siang so emphasised on the night.

Yudi's second song with the band, Silence of The Night, a song that she composed together with Cher Siang for her Shades of Passion album, had a warm tune and was soulfully delivered.

Winnie Ho, was a refreshing surprise as she gave such surprising jazz dynamics to the old Chinese favourite Girl From South Sea (南海姑娘）。

With Winnie Ho who sang
with good dynamics

In the year 2000, I produced Astro Talent Quest whose winner was a pint-sized freshie, Winnie Ho. I knew she had continued singing and went into jazz, but have never attended any of her shows. It was a nice reunion and I laughingly told her that she had improved a lot! So proud of her.

my most favourite jazz pianist in the world

When I first met Cher Siang, he was a young and shy guy. He promptly said he was old already and had become more "thick skin." Tonight, he led the audience with his charming Malaysian humour, and had them eating out of his amazing, piano-playing hands. I thanked him for his performance and congratulated him for having improved his showmanship.

With Yudi, songstress friend, Tay Cher Siang, and the talented and dynamic Pearlly

9 Plays In A Night

 

If you have never attended any plays at the theatre, an anthropology like this KLPAC TURNS 10! should be your start to your theatrical adventure. 

With some theatre directors & actors in my circle of close friends, I am often privileged and invited to watch their productions and performances. Malaysian theatre scares me, though, as they are often considered a playground for productions that have very little budget that actors or crew are often not paid. 

So I enter with caution, as this also leads to the question of the quality of the performances (never mind the production as there is often little budget anyway).

For this event, there were 9 plays by different directors, each lasting about 10 minutes -- 2 in Bahasa Malaysia, 3 in English and 4 in Chinese. Some plays were performed by a solo actor and the most number of actors was 5. 

So, it was a great opportunity for us to compare the difference between each play, and as the 9 plays span a variety of styles and stories, therefore they are bite-sized pieces that are easier to swallow.

Death seems to be a popular topic -- it was the central theme  of plays #3 The Sea, #6 Messy Water, #7 Bebas, #9 Three Doors.

#6 Messy Water - directed by William Yap

What happens when a bunch of lovers die together? The plot already establishes the comedy arising. and had audience laughing from beginning to end. The character actors manage to deliver not only the humour of their awkward situtation, but also establish humour in their characters itself. It was also one of the few plays that took the time to ponder on making an impact with the script and to choreograph the actor's movement. 

#9 Three Doors - directed by Mark Beau de Silva

Again about death, this time of an elderly man, but the focus was on his wife instead, played by Faridah Merican. The audience sympathizes with her, a surprisingly adorable, witty character, who turns pensive, speaking in a tone of voice that plays tunes to our ears. The play moves smoothly with 2 other wonderful actors, Douglas Wong and Ho Lee Ching, who brilliantly slips into several roles each and also provides the comic relief as the lady deals with being alone while pining painfully for her 3 sons.

#1 Airmata Waris - directed by Zamzuriah Zahari

This started off the interesting night, as it showed real skill of the dying Wayang Kulit, fused into a modern play. The female actress that plays the puppet that came to live, for once, showed me why theatre can be so much more interesting for us than a sci-fi blockbuster movie. She showed trained performance skill in traditional dance, mixed with modern-day humour, which the modern-day audience digs. This is one play I would like to see continue.  

#5 Aku Nak Jadi Bintang - directed by Faridah Merican

This was quite a stand out. Even though a few of the other plays featured solo performers, which is always a challenge to captivate the audience, Ho Lee Ching on the other hand, was fluent in delivering her lines in Bahasa Malaysia, and drove the audience' imagination wild with her body language!