| Aziz Idris |
COME one, come all to the first Bruneian-ised musical dubbed ‘After All’, featuring a double bill of two, one-hour plays: ‘Emily’ and ‘Untitled’, which will be performing by a talented local cast from Sutera Memento on Tuesday, March 28 at 2pm, at the Main Conference Hall, International Convention Centre (ICC), Berakas.
Sutera Memento is a start-up theatre company founded as part of a business incubation programme in Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).
The ‘After All’ musical is also supported by local incubation student entrepreneurs and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) students, mak-ing it the first and largest local performing arts production involving local talents and UBD students.
The two original plays – collaborations between Sutera Memento and UBD AM-3402/AL-3305 Theatre Production – will be staged outside UBD for the first time to cater to the growing interest in performing arts within the sultanate.
“Sutera Memento has always been a supporter and creator of performing arts in and around UBD and with the outstanding collaboration it fulfils the dream of bringing fresh local talents to the forefront and hopefully, on a larger scale, the international arena,” chimed CEO and founder of Sutera Memento, Hajah Kartini Dewi binti Abdullah during a press conference yesterday.
She said that she believes that drama and theatre studies will be key in producing upcoming talents who can be scouted and polished by Sutera Memento; elevating the local performing arts scene onto the world stage.
A short scene performance during the press conference
Cast members and the production team of ‘After All’ in a group photo with local media. – PHOTOS: AZIZ IDRIS
‘Emily’ entails the story – with an original Bruneian twist – of an iron-willed, kebaya-clad woman of Peranakan (Babu Nyonya) descent, who will captivate audiences with her tales of joy, heartbreaks, struggles, and triumphs.
Meanwhile, ‘Untitled’ depicts multiple storylines of struggling performers living their passions “underground”, with no initial connection to one another but eventually crossing paths as their respective stories unfolded.
Low Kok Wai, a lecturer from the Drama and Theatre Studies, FASS, commented during the press conference that there are lot of creative talents in Brunei, especially youths who are excited and passionate about self-expression in a performative way.
“Bruneians can act and their talents are raw. They have a natural affinity towards the performing arts,” he said, adding that the performing arts field needs to have in place a dedicated space, and these hidden talents should be given proper guidance to bring the performing arts of Brunei onto the world stage.
Some 30 local talents have been involved in the production of ‘After All’, which comprises script and music lyric writing, song composition, costume designing, and stage decoration.
The ‘After All’ production team will be in KB Sentral today as part of their ongoing promotion for the upcoming plays.
KEEP A DATE
‘After All’, featuring a double bill of two, one-hour plays: ‘Emily’ and ‘Untitled’, will be performing on Tuesday, March 28 at 2pm, at the Main Conference Hall, ICC, Berakas
The post Curtain time for ‘After All’ musical appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.