Promoting patriotism through theatre
AGROUP of students from Taylor’s University American Degree Transfer Programme staged a 45-minute play titled ( at the university’s Lakeside Campus’ Experimental Theatre recently.
As part of the American Degree Transfer Programme, students are required to take up Foundations of Acting I and II, and put into practice what they have learnt; whether they major in communication, business, engineering, liberal arts or sciences.
Programme director Prema Ponnudurai said in the 22 years since the establishment of the programme, the theater courses were amongst the popular courses, the highlight being the annual summer theatre production.
“Not only do our students have the opportunity to express themselves and explore their inner talents, these summer semester students have the chance to express their opinions of the changing political landscape of our country.”
Setting the play in the post 14th General Election period allowed the characters to voice out their aspirations for the country’s future and for themselves. Using creative concepts and techniques to make the familiar strange, and to provoke a social-critical audience response,
aimed to make the audience aware of the thoughts and feelings of which the future generation of Malaysians have.
The play began in the present, with its characters at a typical mamak stall drinking Milo, watching football on the television, buying cheap watches from a petty trader and having conversations about everything under the sun, including Malaysian politics. Little did the characters suspect that the cheap watches they bought were actually time-travelling machines that enabled them to travel to the past and the future.
The cast of six — Johan Izmer Tunku Syed Razman, Mohamad Danniel Iskandar Abdul Rahim, Saad Ashfaq, Jason Yu Ching Yong, Ang Kai Bing and Nouran Nabil (the lone actress) — recreated each scene from Malaysia’s past, present and future to show the audience the country’s journey towards independence. The journey to the future was intended to make the audience see the possibilities that lie ahead.
“The younger generation is the future of the country and if they will not take part in making the country better in any way, then who will?” said Saad who plays Farid, the salesman and a stranger in the play.
was written by Ridhwan Saidi, 33, a novelist and alternative book publisher, who has written a string of short plays, such as and
Although he considers himself new in the playwriting scene, Ridhwan boasts a string of unorthodox and offbeat plays that surprise the audience with their unconventionality.
The play was coauthored and directed by Pat Chan Lai Ngo, who teaches Foundations of Acting at Taylor’s University.
“Being in between generations, not from the old neither the young millennials, my inspiration to drive the production and for my team to take up the challenges for five weeks was dedication, passion, sacrifices and perseverance. I wanted my students to flourish and shine,” Chan said.
“They are the true warriors of today and will be the future of Malaysia. Malaysia is going through challenging changes. Let’s keep an open mind.”