Laki Bini #3: Growing Old Together

True to the 'warning' issued to fellow patrons on their FB Page, KreatiV OutBox opened their doors at 7.40pm and the show started promptly at 8pm. There were some baffled audience as they had expected the usual 'janji Melayu' traits of plays which usually almost never start on time.

The show had me laughing right from the beginning as Cik Zakaria, played by Norman Ishak was singing and dancing to the song 'Cek Mek Molek' by M Daud Kilau. With his awkward movements and out-of-tune singing, he was believable as an elderly man who loves to joke around with his equally elderly wife, Cik Rahimah played by Izyan Mellyna.

For someone who was a first-time performer for theatre, it was a job well done for Norman Ishak. There were just a few faltering moments when there was mild inconsistency in his characterisation. When he got too excited, he sometimes went back to being himself and not Cik Zakaria but this was just for a few fleeting seconds before he realised it and then he will start transforming back to Cik Zakaria again.

If not for Laki Bini #3, many would not have known that Izyan Mellyna has such an powerful and beautiful singing voice. Now that we know, I look forward to seeing her in a musical next! Her comic timing throughout the show was too perfect. If you ever need someone for an anti-climax moment, she should be your first choice!

Hafidz Rahman who is most commonly known for his online persona, Bonda Bedah, played multiple characters in the show. His primary character was Hasif, the adopted son of Zakaria and Rahimah. He plays his multiple roles very distinctly and it was especially heartwarming during the scene when Hasif was in a tense argument with his father but when his father suffered a heart attack, he immediately dropped everything and rushed to get a glass of plain water and medicine for him. The unconditional love of a son towards his father despite being in the tense situation reminds us to be respectful of our parents no matter the circumstances.

After downloading the programme booklet through scanning the QR code on their publicity flyer, I realised that Hafidz Rahman was also the playwright for the show. I love how issues such as dementia and Alzheimer's Disease are discussed in the play. The set includes having post-it-notes around the house to remind Rahimah on simple routine activities that she might forget, such as turning off the stove when she is done cooking. The climax was when Rahimah went missing one day and Zakaria frantically searches for his wife. It was then that he opened up to his son regarding his biggest fear. He prayed that if they were to leave this world, may they leave it together as he cannot bear going through life without her or wondering how she was going to go through life without him. There would be no one to accompany him for his weekly dialysis sessions if she were to leave this world before him. And if he were to die first, there will be no one to look after her well-being and bear with her forgetfulness.

The play presents the reality of life as an elderly couple who has to support one another while struggling with their health issues. It is a story of growing old together and the never-ending ups and downs of family life. It also touches lightly on sensitive issues like infertility, homosexuality, interracial dating and civil marriage.

The light design by M Fadlin M Saffri was also beautiful. The lights added dimension and feel to the show as the space transformed into a fantasy concert for Cik Rahimah and then back to their simple home. Another element that had me captivated throughout the show was the live music and sound effects by the live band stationed at the back centre stage. The sounds of Rahimah cooking in her kitchen or accidentally dropping her pots and pans were made live by Musicians of Orkestra Sri Temasek and brings the audience closer to the show as if we were right there in their home, witnessing the episodes in their lives.

Laki Bini #3 has a nice blend of laughter, tears and tension. I dare to say that this is the best one in the Laki Bini series. Thank you Izad Omar, Noor Rahim and the production team of Laki Bini #3 for producing theatre plays that appeal to the masses. It is no wonder that both shows were completely sold out! I look forward to the next production by KreatiV OutBox.

Zakaria comforting Rahimah as she gets upset about her infertility issues Photo Credits: KreatiV OutBoX

Post-it-notes to remind Rahimah Photo Credits: KreatiV OutBoX

Rahimah in her fantasy solo performance concert Photo Credits: KreatiV OutBoX

My Story - Duo

Directed by Ms Atin Amat, who needs no introduction in the professional Malay theatre scene, ‘Gigi oh Gigi’ or ‘Teeth oh Teeth’ is such a pacey hilarious story that it is hard to watch it with a straight face at any point. There was always a funny event being introduced to tickle your funny bone. It also has historical elements such as the various campaigns held by the Singapore government ever since the launch of its first campaign ‘Keep Singapore Clean’ in 1973. Dalifah Shahril, the renowned theatre actress with more than 60 plays under her belt, is easily one of the most engaging storytellers around. 

The story, inspired by a true life event, drags the audience on a journey of chaos when Datin Lynn’s niece, Yani accidentally dispose of her newly-constructed dentures into the toilet bowl. As dentures take a considerable amount of time to be replaced, Datin Lynn racked her brain on alternative ways to solve her problem in the meantime. Her wacky ideas include desperately heading to a costume shop and buying the different types of fake teeth available to try them on. The story ends with Datin Lynn finally getting another set of new dentures after two weeks instead of supposedly a month’s wait. It was an important lesson for Datin Lynn as she realizes the importance of her teeth when she had to literally survive without them in that short period. She had been a heavy smoker and had to go through Gingivectomy, a type of gum treatment due to her poor care of oral hygience.

Although it was a monologue, the obvious transition of characters made it easy for the audience to differentiate between the main character and other secondary characters in the play. There was only one massage chair, a luggage bag and a mobile phone as props but those were enough to transform our imagination as the play progresses.

After a short ten-minute intermission, the play moved on to its second monologue ‘Sayang Musalmah’ or ‘My Dear Musalmah’ performed by Suryana Norddin and directed by Nabilah Moen. It was a stark contrast from the first play as it has a more solemn mood, starting off with the main character, Musalmah in a white telekong reading verses from the Yaseen after her mum’s demise. It is a story of love and forgiveness. A story about life and its final destination: death. As the main character deals with the grief of losing her father, she slowly matured and moved on to mend her broken relationship with her mother. As Musalmah’s relationship with her mother was just improving, she was delivered another blow when it was her mother’s turn to leave her in this world.

Suryana was able to emote convincingly enough and moved the audience to tears as we feel her devastation upon her mother’s demise. There could be a more distinct switch of characters although I can identify the different characters she played. The play has been cleverly directed such that the transition of a character occurs each time as the actress changes position e.g. from sitting to standing or from standing to moving to the chair. At some point, it was predictable when there is going to be a switch to the next character.

Since it is a double-bill of monolouges, I personally feel that it would have been better to have ‘Sayang Musalmah’ first so that the play would end on a ‘high’ with ‘Gigi Oh Gigi’. Both plays were performed in Malay with English surtitles at the Malay Heritage Centre Black Box.

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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