Diary of A Mummy: perhiasan kaca

‘Perhiasan Kaya’ is adapted from a classic play ‘The Glass Menagerie’ by Tennessee Williams. ‘The Glass Menagerie’ is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on Williams himself, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister Rose. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of ‘The Gentleman Caller’.

The original work had been translated by Asrul Sani, an Indonesian dramatist. It was later adapted in Malaysia by Mustafa Noor for the theatre group, Drama Centre, Kuala Lumpur in the 80s. Teater Kami first staged 'Perhiasan Kaca' at Teater Kami Black Box (Singapore) in 2007. This 2nd staging is directed by Ms Atin Amat at Drama Centre Black Box from 2-3 Sep 2016.

Although the original manuscript was produced in 1944, the issues raised are universal and relevant until today. One of the issues brought up was the need to continuously upgrade our skills and knowledge so that we can keep moving forward.

Farhana M Noor’s first debut in Malay theatre is nothing short of outstanding. Having been a familiar face on Suria, especially since she clinched the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ and ‘Most Promising Actress’ award during Suria’s 13th Pesta Perdana, it was a delight to see how versatile she is as an actress. She was very convincing as Zahara, a girl with an inferiority complex due to a slight limp on her left leg. It wasn’t made easier for her character to learn and gather strength to overcome her low self-esteem as her mother was constantly doing everything for her, not even allowing her to do her own dishes. Zahara was slowly coaxed out of her comfort zone during the later part of the play and the audience is then treated to another layer of her character who can get excited and passionate when sharing about her hobby.

My favourite scene was when Aminah, played by Dalifah Shahril was having a tiff with her son, Taufik, played by Md Suhailmi Ruslan or more commonly known as Amy Kecik. The chemistry between them is needless to say. Their constant bantering was a joy to watch and I believe many of us would be able to relate as we have such conversations with our sensitive elderly mothers who are authoritative and can be quite fickle-minded at times. One moment, Aminah was furious at Taufik and before you know it, the very next moment, she was trying to cajole Taufik into matchmaking his sister with his colleague at the factory where he was working at.

Another memorable scene would be when Aminah got all excited at preparing the house for the coming of a potential suitor for Zahara, Johan, played by Norisham Osman. It was hilarious when Aminah stuffed handkerchiefs into Zahara's bosoms to make her look more alluring. Zahara almost fainted at the anxiety of realizing her potential suitor was in fact her old crush at school. Johan, the unsuspecting gentleman had no idea that he had been invited by Taufik for dinner only to be introduced to Zahara, his sister. Johan’s character was meant to be a charming young man who is a seemingly good catch as a prospective husband. The scene where he was left alone with Zahara in the room to chat and get to know each other better could have been better developed to lead the audience to feel as crushed as Zahara towards the end of the play when Johan declared that he was actually already engaged and getting married soon. The climax when Johan dropped the bomb that he was actually engaged did not really hit the correct note due to the flat tone in delivering the line. However, many in the audience definitely agreed that Johan played the role of leading Zahara on very well as I hear people cringing that their hairs were standing when Johan was staring into Zahara’s eyes intently and romancing her through his dance moves.

The audience sympathises with the broken dreams of Aminah to see her only daughter wed, being the only solution she could identify for Zahara to have a better future after she had failed to continue her typewriting lessons. Aminah and Zahara were left to fend for themselves as Taufik went off to be a sailor and chased his dreams, just like his father.

Aside from the storyline, the strength of the play is definitely in the language and delivery of lines. The script is so beautifully worded to make us appreciate Bahasa Melayu. I love the display of customs in the family’s daily routine as it educates members of the audience on the values of a family unit. The set design allows us, the audience to empathise and understand Aminah’s willful desire to break out of her poverty cycle.

I look forward to the next play by Teater Kami! It is a children’s play entitled ‘Buaya Buas’ or ‘Wild Crocodile’, directed by Saiful Amri Ahmad Elahi at Teater Kami Black Box from 26-29 Oct 2016. Check out Teater Kami’s FB page for more info!