Me? No, me. Not I

When I was young, I used to role play with my younger sister. In case your mind is skewed towards some sexual role play action, no, I was not referring to that. We would react scenes from movies we watched countless times, like The Parent Trap. I vividly remember us taking turns at playing (both) Lindsay Lohan's characters' bickering scene in camp - "I know how to fence and you don't; or I have class and you don't. Take your pick". It is amazing how we memorised a 30 minutes scene without any script (just by watching the movie more than a handful of times). Then comes the part where she dipped an Oreo in peanut butter and the part where they figured out that they are twins, separated for years - *pulls pictures together* "That's my mum" "That's my dad"

I guess acting was something I thought I enjoyed when I was younger, but never really gave much thought about it.

Early this year, I signed up for a 3-months scene study class with Joanna Bessey. That was my first attempt at acting in public (school plays do not count as I did not have much dialogue). My first performance in front of an audience was during the script-writing class' graduation night. We read/acted out their scripts for the first time.

Last weekend, I took part in Short+Sweet Malaysia's theatre workshop for actors. I have never participated in the theatre workshops before, only dance. We started with improv work during the first session, followed by script reading and acting out scenes in small groups. For our final performance, we read/acted out scripts submitted by budding play writers during their workshop. 

Tapping back into this creative channel of mine is like discovering an old passion. I was told I did a good job for a first-timer, and that it did not seem like it was my first attempt at acting. Well, unless you count the corny Parent Trap act-outs, it is. 

In one day, I was: a lesbian torn from her lover due to an arranged marriage in the olden days, a mistress of a wealthy Lord during the Victorian time, a psychotic bitch ballerina in the modern age, and an imperial princess in ancient China. That, was a LOT of fun! 

My weekend was so inspiring that I think I have been bitten by the acting bug, again. We had a group of really talented and creative people - actors, script writers and directors, and it was an honour to be in their midst, be inspired by their works. Definitely looking forward to S+S Festival in Sept/Oct.