Hashtag #SoSialManDinEdge

What is Social Media?


When you google it up, there are many different definitions but here's my favourite.
I personally feel that the ability to interact fuss-free with a wide network without needing to actually know your contacts personally when face-to-face has contributed greatly to the success of social media. Nobody to interview you for a magazine article? Who cares? You can do it yourself. You can take photos or videos and publish them online yourself. The trick is on getting an audience to actually pay attention to your 'publications'.

Lecture on Social Media

According to this tech website (http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media) which compiles computer terms, social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. 

Watching Teater Kami's double-bill play 'SoSial: ManDin Edge' is like going to a crash course on humanity and social media in today's times and how it has impacted our lives. ManDin  is a tale of two men of different social standing seeking for the meaning of life. Man is played by Aqmal N who is a prolific singer songwriter and a full-time musician. After winning a popular singing contest 'Anugerah 2004' organised by Mediacorp Suria, he has won other major competitions organised by mainstream media organization in Singapore. Though it is his first professional acting performance, he is comfortable on stage and it helps that the character he brings is a street busker who sings while playing the guitar. The guitar was not only used as a prop but as a musical instrument that sets the mood of the play. Heartstrings were tugged as the audience were drawn closer to the character when he opened up about his failed marriage solely influenced by his mother-in-law who turned her nose up at his choice of career. It is a sad reality for many freelancers out there as their jobs are often not regarded as 'proper jobs'. 

Aqmal N as Man

Din is played by Aizuddiin Nasser who is a passionate actor that has undergone training with the acclaimed Haque Centre of Creative Arts. His most prominent character is in the 2012 feature film 'Ah Boys to Men', where he played Recruit Muthu Shanmugam. Initially, his character  Din was quite a turnoff as he keeps blowing his own horn about his accomplishments as a writer and was constantly tweeting or updating his Facebook status with a hashtag #Dincakap or loosely translated to #Dinsays. He took a jibe at drama titles which are far from imaginative such as 'Suamiku Encik Perfect 10, Suamiku Encik Sotong, Suamiku Mr. Blind, Suamiku Ustaz, Sepupuku Suamiku, Dia Suamiku. His character began to mellow down as he began sharing about his mother who passed on after a battle with cancer. 

Aizuddiin as Din

There was a magical moment in the play as the two characters sang and recite lyrics from the song 'Bukan Kerana Nama' by Datuk Ramli Sarip. They were in separate realms but the lyrics were apt for both characters in their different situations. The play ended as Din crossed paths with Man who was busking and Din contributed $10 as a token of appreciation before continuing on his journey. The play presents real issues of the struggles freelancers face in their everyday lives.

Edge is a monologue presented by Adib Kosnan Siran, whose involvement  in theatre began in 2001 when he joined Dramaplus Arts Youtheatre. Since then, he has been heavily involved in Malay theatre with Teater Kami and also performed with numerous other drama companies. He currently freelances in theatre, writing, acting and directing, while teaching speech and drama to various levels. 

Multimedia projections add colours to the play

The story centralizes around a viral video of Johan who was caught standing on the edge of a building as if he was about to jump off. There were many speculations online on his action but no one actually extended help to him. The issues brought about from this play are very relevant and significant to all of us living in this age. As I write this blog post, I am reminded of one of the lines by Johan.

"Posts are a little bit of you that you are sharing with the world. Sending it out like a message in a bottle, drifting out at sea, and you hope someone finds your message, and reads it."

Everyone wants a voice. Everyone wants to be seen and heard. In the past, peer pressure to be hip and cool was an issue to overcome. Now societal pressure comes in the form of social media. Does your Instagram have any 'likes'? Does anyone 'share' your FB status updates? Are your thoughts retweeted? Are your videos going viral? Did your blog post have any views? Why did he 'unfriend' you or why did she reject your 'friend request'?

Some people crave for attention more than others and this is the case for Johan, the character played by Adib. A lonely polytechnic lecturer who craves for the attention of his students, he imagined himself to be a cool lecturer admired by his students. Things started going awry and churned a string of events after he took a video of one of his students being involved in an obscene act and then he went on to share the video online. The monologue performed by Adib is interactive and engages the audience throughout the play. It was supported by multimedia visuals of the character involved in different social media scenarios such as FB status updates, video blog and viral videos. 

The intimate setting of both the ManDin and Edge in Teater Kami's Black Box Studio have the audience close to the actors and allow the audience to be truly immersed into the lives of a street busker, a novel writer and a lonely lecturer. I feel that this play can be strengthened and achieve its full potential if played on a bigger scale and shared with a wider audience. I wish Teater Kami continued success and applaud its efforts on being more daring in recent times in exploring with different theatre genres such as experimental theatre instead of remaining in their comfort zone on genres they are familiar with.

Picture Credits: Teater Kami

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