Pygmalion

I truly enjoy reading the play Pygmalion. It is much more easier to read and learn compared to any other plays that I had to read this semester. After reading the play, I can now understand why Shaw used the tittle "Pygmalion" into this particular play.
To relate this story in the real Ovid's version of Metamorphoses, there is a parallel between Higgins's characteristics and Pygmalion's characteristics. Both of them were creating another creatures but in Higgins's case, the creature; that is Eliza, had her own mind and feelings.
After reading and watching the play, I felt very sorry for Eliza as Higgins treated her as if she was not a human being. For him, she was merely an object of his experiment to win his bet with Colonel Pickering. I felt that it was not supposed to happen because Higgins had to be more sensitve towards Eliza's feeling.
In a way, there is an element of irony of Higgins characteristics. He knew what makes someone a gentleman but he did not behave like one. In Eliza's words, he is a "book learned gentleman". Although there was a sincerity in his characteristic and his way of treating other people, at least, He was being very mean to treat Eliza the way he had.
However, overall, I really enjoyed watching and reading this story as it reallly tickled me. The element of comic in the story made this satirical play sound not too offending to people to read.

What a strory...

Shakespeare Wallah! As the tittle suggests, it is a story of a group of people who were dramatising Shakespeare's plays from one place to another, and in this case, it was set in India.

Frankly speaking, I did not enjoy this film, but because I had to watch it, at least I got the message of this story. I think, the message is about the difficulty that the actors had to face in staging the Shakespearean plays. At that point of time, they had to compete with the emerging of cinemas that obviously attracted more people than the theatre.

If we compare this to the situation in Malaysia, the phenomenon is quite similar. People are more comfortable watching the films in the cinemas rather than going to any theatre. I think, this is because going to the play is always associated with the high class and rich people which I think is quite true. Obviously, the ticket price to watch the play is much more expensive than the price of the movie ticket.

However, after I went trough this course, my own perception has also changed. It was really an exciting experience to be in the theatre. Watching the live performance is totally different from watching any movie in the cinema.

Back to the story "Shakspeare Wallah!", I think that in order for theatre to be more accessible to the public, the promotion needs to be done extensively. Like recently, the theatre "Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical", it was acclaimed to be very successful due to the fact that the story is interesting and was widely promoted. I hope that I would be a frequent theatre goer provided that I have the money to buy the ticket.

The advantage of being a blind prophet

Tiresias, a blind prophet in Greek mythology, really has the advantage of being one. In any Greek play he plays a significant role especially in reminding the hero from breaking any gods’ laws and giving prophecy about what is going to happen in the future. He is considered as having more power than the King, where the King should obey as he is the messenger of gods.

Tiresias, according to Greek mythology has the advantage of being both man and woman. He was first born as a man but then after he hit two mating snakes he was cursed to be a woman. Being a woman, Tiresias had married and had children. Then again, he hit another two mating snakes and was transformed to be a man again. He was then given the gift of prophecy by Zeus after Hera struck him blind.

This background of Tiresias is important in his role in the Greek plays as he has been both fully man and woman. He knows better about both genders and thus gives him an advantage to fully understand their feelings and thoughts. In giving the prophecy, it is in a way helps to create the tragedy of the play. When Tiresias occurs in any scene, he gives the reminder or the insight of the wrongdoings of the character. At this point, it will be too late for the character to redo his or her actions and thus contribute to the tragedy.

Lear's Flaw

It was such a tiring task to read King Lear as the language of this play is extremely difficult for me. Because of this factor, I took a very long time to finish reading this play. The storyline is quite interesting and the message is still relevant until today. The compensation of love to the materials is probably the theme that I can figure out from this play. If in this play, Lear’s daughters fake their love to get their parts of the kingdom, nowadays, the situation is even worse. Even when parents are still alive, children have gone beyond limit, quarrel among them to get their parts of whatever lands, or money their parents have. Other than that, the negligence of Lear by her daughters can be compared to today’s situation where a lot of parents have been neglected and some of them are sent to the old folk’s home by their own children for various kinds of reasons. Mostly, people would say that they have no time to take care of their parents or simply because they feel that their parents are the burdens. Reading King Lear makes me consider these situations and I feel that children like these are a lot more ungrateful than Lear’s daughters, Cordelia and Regan. If in Lear’s case, I think that his own foolishness makes him suffer but now, even if parents truly love and care about their children, still when they grow up, they forget about their parents.
About Creon’s action of giving the kingdom to his daughter who can express the most love to him is rather stupid as it will cost a lot more than just his kingdom. At this point, I think that Lear is being illogical and childish. This is definitely inappropriate for a King to do especially when a King is always associated with wisdom. For me, he is a complete fool and any parents should not follow this example.

Going to the Theatre

Going to the theatre for the first time was an exciting experience for me. Although it was a Malay musical theatre, I felt that it really gave me an overview of what a theatre would look like and I definitely will go to watch another good theatre. In English of course.
The presentation of the play was just superb. Accompanied by beautiful music and graceful dance, Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical, was worthwhile to watch.
The theme of sacrifice was presented by the main character, the Puteri herself, who was willing to let go of her freedom for the man she loved but in the end they were not together. Audience would definitely be able to relate this kind of message to their lives especially if it happened to them.
By watching this play, I learned a lot of about the physical elements of producing it. The lighting, the props and the musical score really play a big role in making the play interesting and looked ‘real’. For example, the waterfall really looked like one where the white cloth that symbolized the water, was flowing like real water. Besides that, the moving stage also helped to demonstrate the different physical settings where the story took place.
The credits should also go to the actors of the play. They were really enthusiastic in their work as most of them I would say had a lot of stamina to present this three-hour long play. They did not only act, but also sing and dance. Thus, I believed that it was a very exhausting thing to do. I don’t think that I would have such stamina to do like what the actors have done.
In short, watching this play really made me want to go for another play. I’m looking forward to watch another play not just for the sake of fulfilling the requirement of this course, but also for the enjoyment of it.