A magical leap onstage
It’s a fairytale designed for adults, offering the magic of good storytelling. Subhadra Devan has the lowdown on After Earl: Before The Fall
“STORIES can do wonderful things for people. There’s a magic that happens when you can get lost in the world and take the time to understand the situation and problems that the characters face on stage.
“Sometimes if we are lucky enough, the parts all come together and you get a chance to hope, laugh, cry or just to simply be together. That is what theatre means to Kudos,” says Kudos Productions artistic director Jude James.
Offering an original story called After Earl: Before The Fall, the performance at Gardens Theatre centres on a fairy godfather, a princess in his charge, and a frog that would change an empire.
States the programme: There was once a frog named Earl, who lived in a small
pond in the grotto of a castle. Earl, was a frog of no consequence for he was simply, a frog. His name, in fact, was not given to him at birth because frogs have no need for names. His name was given to him by the princess who lived in the castle. Her name was Clarice.
Says Jude: “The idea for the play was conceived in 2013 and when Kudos Productions came to form in 2016, it was a chance to revisit the world of Earl and expand on it. The audience can expect a fairytale that was designed for adults and when we say adults, we mean anyone above the age of 14 simply because there is minor swearing in it but the themes, conflicts and situation that we are going to explore is something generational.”
With Jude, writer and director of After Earl, is executive producer-actor Nicole Yong and co-producer Josh Blake, also actor, acting coach and creative director.
After Earl is Kudos Productions’ third show. It was once called Kudoclasm Productions,but“were alis ed it’ s much easier for our audiences to pronounce and remember Kudos Productions,” says Jude.
Kudos Productions, built on a team of producers and actors ranging from 18 to 33 years old, is currently working on a horror show to end the year.
“Leading into the next two years, we have planned a set of stories to share on stage and hopefully a few short film projects.
As we are still introducing ourselves to the Malaysian audience, we hope to see them at After Earl: Before The Fall, and that they will give us a chance to get to know them better and for them to know us as well.”