Lateral Thinking

...is a bitch.

it can make you flip out and curse yourself for not thinking like an immature child.

funny how we strive to excel in thought and raise our consciousness to higher planes, yet we take such pleasure in being baboons at the sanctuary of the mamak table?

i know i do :D

How I Learned To Drive Roadshow notes 1

We planned a roadshow for TOS to raise funds as well as to publicise HILTD today, at Pusat Bandar Damansara (PBD). The intention was to set up an area opposite Menara Millenium (as it had decent office crowds) and put up a show - skits, mimes, physical theatre, tableaux, whatever theatre-/arts-related that could draw interest from a crowd. We'd have some performers doing the show, and some sandwich-board wearing people going around talking about the show and collecting donations.
We started with some difficulty - a couple of performers cancelled 25 minutes before we were to meet for briefing, and we almost gave up for lack of participation. After some brainstorming, we decided to proceed with just the sandwich boards and 1 money-collector - if nothing else, get the word out there about the show. And so we did.

We made 2 rounds around PBD handing out leaflets about TOS and the show, and me banging away at the metal pail with coins. Rhythmically lah. We found that it was really effective at generating interest in the show, while not so conducive for getting money - after all, who wants to be approached randomly or during lunch for donations? We then proceeded to set ourselves up at an open square in the middle of PBD, initially to rest.

We then proceeded to do tableaux to make use of the space and our time there. With our sandwich-board clad people spread around and me with the donation pail, we made poses and stood rather still for interminable amounts of time until we decided to change positions, in synchrony. More or less. And we had Nick Chin (who joined us at some point) go around and explain the situation to random onlookers, many of whom proceeded to pop a donation into the pail. Great job Nick!

We didn't make all too much, but I think we did a good job in getting the image of HILTD into people's minds. And we got the attention of a marketing company based there. And some encouragement from passersby. Lots of valuable experience, too.

So what did we learn?

• sitting still and asking for donations is better than going around demanding it
• putting on a show (even if a very still one, like a tableau) is worth a donation
• sandwich boards are better still than moving
• Malaysians aren't used to impromptu shows, so having someone explain it helps lots
• people enjoy shows and this kind of free entertainment

Some ideas for the next one:

1. Spread out tableaux with a nominated caller (to call out changes or even themes), a money-collector and leaflet / postcard distributors. Some of the performers will wear the sandwich boards. "Explainers" will go around the crowd and tell them that it's okay to take the leaflets and postcards and give donations, and talk about the show.
2. Lined-up mime show with a nominated caller + money-collector - every time someone donates, the caller will call out a word or emotion or a phrase (eg "Thank You!", "Joy!", "Selamat Hari Raya!") and the mimes will change position to reflect it one-by-one, Mexican-wave style. Another option is for the donor to pull up a list of lines from the script (eg "For blue balls") and the caller read it out, for the mimes to perform. We could even do that as a "selective pricing" thing - RM10 donations means a script read, or whatever.
   
3. TO BUILD A CROWD: we have 1 or 2 music-making instruments (ideally percussions) at the central location making some music. We could have some physical theatre going on. Then people with sandwich boards and leaflets/postcards could begin at far ends of the location and slowly make their way to the centre, informing people of a show. We could have a nice climax once all the sandwich-boards are there, culminating in a tableau that segues perfectly into the next show.
4. Physical theatre: we could have fluid sessions of these - nominate a director, who then nominates a musician, and then tells a story. Eg I could go, "Alfred, take the drum; Kelvin in the centre. You are in a jungle... now, Amelia jump in - you're a gorilla wanting to scare Kelvin away." etc etc.

Oookay that was much longer than expected. Anyway interesting day.

(extracted from my blog here)

How I Learned To Drive?

Yeah, a lot of people sitting in the passenger seat have asked me that.

They don't need to know this, but I catch myself wondering if I ever did.

How I Learned To Drive notes 1

Hard to believe that it's not even been a month since we started rehearsing for How I Learned To Drive. To fill you in, it's an amazing Pulitzer Prize-winning script (wiki) by Paula Vogel, and The Oral Stage (go check out the spanking new website!) is producing it in early June at The Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Centre.We've been rehearsing like crazy, at multiple venues and I've been told that it's coming along really nicely. That's a welcome relief as it started as a rather daunting project - small company doing really big play kinda thing, but getting into it revealed that the play doesn't have to be all that big. However, the director being the director, he has come up with an ambition plan for the set and the stage which, if we pull it off, will be mind-blowingly amazing.

I'd been involved with the production from early stages, running the auditions for TOS. Of course, it was weird when the director told me to audition at the end of the day - but I must admit that I was flattered when he insisted I play the part. We then worked together to assemble the team and I sincerely hope that the next month will see us getting beautifully aligned and working the play so artfully that the show will be a huge WOW!

Yeah I'm kinda excited about it. The script is fabulous, I rave about it about every twice a week. We've got some really good stuff in there, good talents, good people and good ideas.

COME WATCH IT NEXT MONTH!!!

(extracted from my blog here) (well Mr Director, I'm just being conscientious about this extracting and plagiarism thing you know...)

One Rehearsal Evening

ALF: hmm...but Doreen...i still don't see it...



Jo: I tell you ah..! you better watch it...or else...erm...
i'm gonna attack you with my mustache..!



or send Alfie with his ultimate well trained right leg super combo
which sent Davina flying...



Ame: NO..! i don't believe you Jo...HaiiiiYaaaa now take that..!



Ok guys! back to work and more pondering...

Reason

I was trying to string my sentences together, to form a reason.

A reason as to why I'm doing what I'm doing.

"You think you're superwoman ah? Already complaining that you don't have enough hours in a day, and you still want a hand in everything!" the boyfriend nagged when I first told him about it.

"You have a full-time job in case you forgot!" he went on to say.

Then, when I fell ill..

"Aiyo, no wonder you are falling sick!" said the mother. "Where got time to rest?"

I thank god that we didn't have rehearsals in the last couple of days, and I gladly spent many hours in bed. My neck is not so stiff anymore. My head doesn't hurt that much. My shoulders have loosened up a little.

Then I came across something.

(Nick - pinjam!)

Here.

Well, there you go. This should be enough reason to keep me going. At least for another week or two.

:P