My Adventure to KLPAC

Have I been to a theatre to watch a play? After 7th of March, 2009, the answer is a big “yes”. The title of the play was “The Secret Love Life of Ophelia”, which was held in Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC). The play was directed by Christopher Ling and was performed by two actors only, Alfred Loh (Hamlet) and Sharon Lam (Ophelia).

In brief, the story was about the secret love life of Ophelia and Hamlet, whose passion with each other was expressed through love letters. In EDU 3217, we had been taught about theatre, which is the second hand experience. Finally, we got a chance to watch a real play in a real theatre, which is the first hand experience. Nothing beats the first hand experience!

Thus, for this post, I am going to discuss about what I have learnt from this adventure regarding theatre. Some of the knowledge has already been taught in lectures and tutorials.

#1 – Punctuality

The play started at 2pm sharp, no matter the audience fully arrived or not.

#2 – Theatre = A place where a play is held

I’m shocked! I thought the play will be held on a large stage in front of the audience. I also thought that the actors will be a level higher than the audience, as the stage will be a raised stage.

In reality, theatre is a place where a play is held. In “The Secret Love Life of Ophelia”, the actors acted on the small space in the centre, while audience watched from their seats, which were situated on a higher area. It was as though we were on the stage instead.

#3 – No drink, no food, no talking

Yup, you can do nothing, but only as an audience – an attentive listener and a mute observer

#4 – No mistake, only perfection

This is meant for the actors. Since theatre involves real actors and real audience, they cannot afford to make any mistake, for there is no turning back to undo the mistake they had done.

I was impressed by the actors’ memory skills when I watched the play. How on earth can they remember their scripts that were written in Shakespearean Language? Their fluency in the language will make you salute them more.

Moreover, both Alfred Loh and Sharon Lam were so real in their mimes. Alfred (Hamlet) was making coffee without coffee and Sharon (Ophelia) feeding her cat without any cat.

Perhaps, this is what people say about practice makes perfect!

It is fun to watch plays in the theatre..... I will be back!