Bye Bye Bye...

The semester has come to the end. Time does not fly anymore, it flashes in a way our eyes can no longer detect it. Overall this subject has been providing me with great knowledge. The four plays that I’ve learnt have brought me much insights and exposure on conflicts and cultures. Oedipus gave a huge impact of how much our life is not in our own hands. I now truly realize that in the process of achieving something, one must have faith in the Almighty and be prepared for whatever is written on our sleeves. Then Antony and Cleopatra injected the sense of much-rejoiced love in the land of Egypt. Technically this play provided me with knowledge on the Roman Empire because previously I only know one Caesar = ol’ Julius. Little did I know of his son and the affair he had with the Queen of Egypt. A Streetcar Named Desire was basically about a promiscuous fidgeting Blanche whose life was doomed with the help of her brother-in-law. The story gave a glimpse of life in 1950s New Orleans. Lifestyles and languages really do affect people’s way of thinking. But then we were taken back closer to home in reading an Indian play, 30 Days of September. Amazingly the issue tackled was by far the most interesting from all – child sexual abuse. Those who do not have any dark experience wouldn’t have the slightest idea of the feeling that empowered those who have. It is a feeling when you know you are doing something wrong, your heart tells you so, you don’t find doing it comfortable, you feel awfully bad for doing it, but still you do it because someone tells you to. It is a feeling of being trapped…Thus, Teaching The Language of Drama may have come to the end, but this Drama Shrine will still surges on and on…

The WOMAN in me...

Taming of the Shrew might be over but my passion for theatre acting can never end…can’t wait for another but is praying for less pressure next time. The last assignment required us to analyze the portrayal of themes or characterizations in either A Streetcar Named Desire or 30 Days of September. I haven’t had any chance to mention about the latter in here and it is also yet to be discussed in class with Dr Edwin. 30 Days of September is a play by Mahesh Dattani in which he tries to bring to audience the reality of child sexual abuse issue. The play reminds me of the movie ‘Seven’ where little boys were sexually assaulted in the juvenile prison they were put in. As a result their behaviour changed and it affected the way they see things after that. The same goes to Mala, the protagonist of 30 DoS. What her uncle did to her when she was little turned her into a sex-driven femme fatale who uses sexuality as the base of her existence. I really do wonder how she exactly feels…Childhood years which supposedly were the period of innocence are robbed away by a man she put her trust in. That must be very depressing. And to accept the fact that the man will always remain a big name in your life must be pretty mortifying. But for me the most interesting character is Shanta. She represents a tortured soul who wanted to escape her past but still seeing it in her own daughter. What’s troubling her is that her daughter channels her frustration into sexual exploitation and not into praying like herself. And the praying itself doesn’t seem to be helping her to get rid of everything. I am quite pissed at Shanta in the scene where Mala seems almost like begging for her mother to acknowledge what had happened to her. But her mother still refused. Living as women surely takes a whole of bigger guts than men. Men can stick it and leave it but the scar that remains on women will shame them forever. And this is me being dramatic. I told you I like acting so much. Who is there to blame? I am a woman.

Horribly excited…...

Tonight is the big night where Taming of The Shrew will be performed.. I’m so nervous that my whole body is shivering. I know that things will go just fine but still, I have never work with a big production before – (not if you consider the acting we did among ourselves is big) And it is a chance to actually play out Shakespeare’s piece of work – something that has been part of my study since 4 years ago. This is what I’d call a golden opportunity. Sure, the production consists of only students so there were problems here and there. But so far the journey has been a great experience. We get to work with foreign students which are by the way, totally great actors. Also get to work with students from other faculties. But for me, the most interesting thing is that I get to try acting again. I really enjoyed the ‘midsummer nite’s dream’ we did that I longed for another similarly great experience. It would be a marvelous thing if Oedipus Rex and Antony and Cleopatra be put into productions in campus as they will become grand events. And if this truly happens, I’d sign up for auditions in no time. Whatever role will be perfect for me….

A Streetcar Which Runs Out of Gas...

No offense to Tennessee Williams but i personally think A Streetcar Named Desire is kind of a slow drama. And I don't really feel the conflict budding in any corner of the box. But Blanche is what i call a 'bombastic' character to play. All the tense and insecurity within her are real thus, making them believable. Playing her will be like playing the character of almost everyone in this world. But the traits that Blanche carries are the traits which everyone hides. In my opinion, Blanche and Stanley are two asymmetrical people. They got a fiery connection (and I don't mean love here ladies and gentleman. hold that thought) that audience might not notice because it is shadowed by the matrimony knot between Stanley and Stella. When Blanche shows up at her sister's house, people can see how 'excited' Stanley is. Blanche's present gives a kind of reason for him to be alive again. She symbolizes a spice in his boring, everyday-is-the-same life. He finds Blanche's agitation and flirtations somehow amusing and he provokes her for more. It's like watching a baby cry and you find it to be very cute - i know, that's a bit weird but i do. Reality is, somewhere in the middle of the story i began to lose my concentration on the story. Stanley machoism charm begins to wear off and enough with the innocent sweet naivete, Stella. The play is strongly supported by the characters but towards the end they are like something that I have had enough. But seriously, this is only a piece of my tired thoughts. Tennessee Williams, please don't sue me...i'm just a girl with no knowledge whatsoever.......

all about being the teacher...

microteaching is fun.....even though it can b a nightmare sometimes (especially if dr Edwin is in the house.) The other day, me and mel get to show the video we found on the Net that showed how curious people got busted. And it was indeed a funny video. What made it funny was the language because the video is in Portuguese or something. But still we can understand what was happening. It felt really good to have your students laughing at the thing you have forked out to show them. Now i know what it feels like to be a real teacher. Just hope that my real students are like my 'students' now.....

I'm teaching here....

microteaching is a daunting experience. but the one i had with miss baiti was pretty good. together with mel, i thought that we were quite a pairing. and for that session of microteaching, we were graded by our peers. sheets of grading points were distributed and many aspects of our teaching ethics were evaluated. when you know that you are being evaluated, the pressure builded on at an impressive rate. this is because your friends' words can be much more hurtful than your teachers.if a teacher corrects you, you won't feel much because you are aware of her/his superiority.but with your friends, whom all equally standing on the same edge, their comments can somehow be a bit too truthful.but then again,with me being evaluated, i also have the priviledge to evaluate others which means i, too have the thendency of giving truthful remarks to my friends.and judging from the 4-years of experience living together,situations can indeed become really ugly.............

Correct me if I'm wrong.....

I want to change my personal view of Antony, the General in Octavius Caesar big army. In the previous post, I totally ruled out Antony as a scoundrel who was an opportunist both in his love and his position. But as the story goes on, he managed to impress me with his love for Cleopatra. Guess that he was protecting Cleopatra from Caesar when he was instructed to marry Octavia. Not that Caesar is mean, but Cleopatra once got his father down at her feet (its obviously normal for him to loath Cleopatra) Torn between his boss and his his ladylove, Antony acted like any other love-sick boy - going after Cleopatra and left the battlefield he was supposed to fight....now that's what every woman wants in a man. But Cleopatra herself was full of flaws. One that eventually led to the lovebird's death. Clearly suicide was an act of honour for the Romans and the Egyptians but honestly watching one guy kills himself minutes after another guy did the same thing will be totally gruesome. I'm saying about 5-6 people here......committing suicide simultaneously in one play production. I'll be damned if tears don't come rolling down my cheeks.

Here comes the man.............!

Shakespeare is here again!!..parading his attempt to tackle on one of the most popular romantic stories of all times. Even if he must cross the Mediterranean to describe Rome and Egypt. I wonder how Shakespeare collect his datas upon writing this masterpiece....he must have travelled a lot. But Dr. Edwin reminded us that this story is an imagined fiction which uses real life characters. So Shakespeare was making it all up and I evidently believed that he was writing a history piece..what an imagination he had indeed. As far as i have read the play (mind you, its a difficult one...hush!), you'd be torn between labeling Cleopatra as a desperate femme fatale or just a lady in love..But Antony, Antony is another story. I haven't got to the part where Shakespeare revealed the truth bout him, but i sense that he is a definite scoundrel. Daniel Cleaver of the Roman Era.......

Hurrah for Oedipus Rex!!

To miss Siti Norbaiti..hope you''ll get well soon and be with us again. Mr Edwin gave us one last review at Oedipus Rex and my, what a good one he gave, too. He opened up a lot of new perspectives in my way of looking at Oedipus Rex. Reading the play with him, there are so many dramatic ironies which I haven't been able to identify previously. I'd never noticed how the Oedipus-Teiresias dialogue reveals so much about what would happen later in the play. I personally believe that their tongue lashes were very classy (I'd do it in a classy way too - the physical come-and-get-me way) I never cared that much for Teiresias (you can see that by the posts i've been writing) I have always been rooting for Oedipus. But the other day Teiresias just appeared to be such a inspiring figure and i can't help but to think that if ever we were to do a play production of Oedipus Rex, i''d like the honour to carry out the role of Teiresias. His words to Oedipus were wise and tranquil (he should be, he's the prophet for Heaven's sake!!) One important key word in Oedipus - Dramatic Irony...There are a lot of it all over the script which means that Oedipus was being exposed to his incoming predicament every now and then during his quest to find out about the truth. But he was too blind to detect them and led himself into a dangerous self-inflicted world of truth..Two different meaning of 'blindness' clashed as Teiresias met Oedipus. The same as the one we learnt in reading class where Dr Fauziah said and I quote - "eyes do the looking while heart does the seeing. What your eyes may look might not be seen by your heart,hmmm..." Wow I never realize how everything seems connected to each other. Dr Fauziah-Dr Edwin-Dr Jeya...I wonder if the connection ends there....?

How i love Sophocles better than Shakespeare

The first piece of literature that i was taught was boom! - Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. Thus, the era of my passion for the homosexual poet started..No one could shatter this love-hate bond between me and Shakespeare which lasted for 6years (duh!) until a scantily-clad curl-bearded guy called Sophocles came along..Haha. So long Shakespeare dear.....your heavy terms of endearment are so passe in my whole new Apollo-Zeus-Hercules-Hera world...I won't deny that Shakespeare's works are loaded with dramas...there'd be a hero who managed to tame a real awful out-of-this-world girl, a heroine who'd dress as a man to mend a broken heart, a best friend who betrays out of jealousy, a love-stricken pair who'd drink poison to be with each other without even bothering to check if their partners are truly dead.Talk about adrenaline rush...But Sophocles, ah..Sophocles,he is very straight forward..And i guess Greeks spend less time fooling around as there were no comedic anecdotes in-between the lines..and if Shakespeare make use of the Clown/Fool/Puck.....Sophocles generates a whole batch of Choragos...His issues are dead serious and true.You can totally feel the presence of truth somewhere in the dialogues and visuals of real life actions can easily be seen.But the absolute seriousness can definitely be burdening.Halfway through the drama, one can fall into a case of depression and maybe lose interest to venture further.Nevertheless, being a drama addict as it is...I adore seriousness.I don't know for long..because Shakespeare won't be gone for long..He'll try to win me back with romanticsm..in the form of Antony and Cleopatra..Sophocles better be alert.I'm weak when it comes to love.....

Tragic Flaw.....Can somebody define it please....

Last night I ask myself what is the tragic flaw in the form of Oedipus..No matter how far I let my mind wander, it always return to what I stated in the previous post - what's tragic for Oedipus was the fact that he realized his dark path way too late to prevent anymore damage. And for person as noble as he was, as invincible as he was, as worshipped as he was, the calamity was too much for him to endure.

But out tutor pointed out that Oedipus's tragic flaws are not what was bestowed upon him but rather his weaknesses. His profuse anger, compulsive judgements, absolute headstrong, are listed as such flaws. In a complete different perspective, one can easily consider Oedipus was trying too hard to become the saviour of Thebes. His raging curiousity to find out everything and insisting to know details of the past eventually lead him to the discovery of his own horror.

Perhaps those are really his tragic flaws. But to think of it that way, no one is flawless. Rage Impulsive Stubborn Compassion - all of us display those in various situations. But the problems with us humans, we strive to be perfect. We expect such perfection in both ourselves and other people, subsequently leading us to judge and discriminate here and there. We blame others for our own insecurities and fears. Oedipus might lead a sad tragical life, but he was not the only one...

Oedipus...a prey of fate

The whole class did a discussion about Oedipus Rex with Miss Siti Norbaiti last Friday. The discussion gave me a better insight into the tale of Oedipus. There are things between the lines that I failed to make a sense out of them at first, but became quite an impact after the session..

Reading Oedipus, one might be amazed at how a person could be entangled in such a mess without knowing but then again, it can happen to any individual. Even though our lives are not documented or turned into an epic play, we do experience events that are as much surprising as it was for Oedipus when he found out that he was the one causing Thebes to be at the feet of misery. The point is that, for Oedipus, he might be worshipped by his men, magnificently solved the riddle of Sphinx, and became a well-respected king, but deep down he was still a human. He wanted to break free of the premonition he was believed to be destined with, but ironically ended up doing the exact details of it.

That's where we can see how vulnerable people are as humans. We sometimes think we can outrun fate to save everything that is meaningful in our lives but in a cruel twist of events, we are heading to the very obvious destination. For me, Oedipus might be a king, but he was also a sad soul trying to make the best out of everything for everyone. Unfortunately for him, the fact that he is not God deterred that route he was trying to take and drifted him away from it, thus causing pain and misery to almost everyone he knew instead.

He might sound very melancholic but I love Oedipus for his desire to help people and for his human traits because like I said, they made him human.
Just like you and me.