We all love having a good laugh. Especially if it's at the expense of others. I have lost count on the amount of times that I have been the butt of everyone’s joke. Not that I mind; you’ll find me laughing along as well if it’s really funny. But if you are one of those who prefer laughing at others but hate having the tables turn (get a sense of humour for crying out loud!) than I’m sure you will be pleased to know that the second annual PJ Laugh Fest is back, bigger, better and waaaaaay funnier than the last one!
The laugh fest takes place from the 28th of April till the 5th of June 2011 at the PJ Live Arts Centre in Jaya One. The list of comedians for this years festival will feature brand new and the usual top acts from the comedy world, including Jon Atherton from Australia, Douglas Lim, Harith Iskander, Joanne Kam with her latest Kam….Fully Loaded! And for the first time, Kuah Jenhan, with his own stand-up show, Tall, Dark & Comedian. But that’s not all; the festival will also welcome the Godfathers of Malaysian comedy, Allan & Indi of Comedy Court, Edwin Sumun and so many more.
The PJ Laugh Fest opens this year with the 2009 Tony Award winning play, God of Carnage which premiered in New York in 2009 with Hollywood bigwigs Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Hayden. The Malaysian version of the play will boast Malaysia’s own star cast of Will Quah, Maya Tan, Megat Sharizal and Lina Teoh.
Here’s a short summary of the play:
Two young boys, a stick and some broken teeth are the catalyst in this tale of two families. Veronica, a writer, and Michael, a company wholesaler, are parents to Henry. Annette, a wealth manager, and Alan, a lawyer, are parents to Benjamin. The two couples meet to discuss the misdemeanors of their sons.
The evening begins quite amicably, with the four parents intending to resolve the situation diplomatically. However, as their hope for this begins to splinter and these disillusionment sets in, the evening deteriorate from one of mild unease and discomfort, into a deluge of accusations, recriminations, jealousy and rage.
Boys will be boys, but can the grown ups be grown up enough to resolve their differences without losing sight of right and wrong? The facade of civility shatters as the God of Carnage wreaks havoc in the living room and all hell breaks lose in the most hilarious manner!
The play premieres tomorrow at the PJ Live Arts Centre in Jaya One. I did an interview the cast for a feature in Vision KL. The article will be out in our May issue but here’s an extract of some of the questions from my interview.
How did you get the part?
Megat Sharizal: I auditioned for it! (I bribed David Lim- the director.)
Maya Tan: I was asked to audition by Teri Choong, the producer of the play. It was good fun and I enjoyed the script immensely.
Lina Teoh: Initially Joanna Bessey told me about this play last year and David (the director) spoke to me about being involved. But after that I didn’t hear from him for awhile until he called me in to audition early this year. From the moment I read the play I really wanted to be in it. It’s not often you come across great comic pieces like this.
Will Quah: Lina Teoh kidnapped me and drove me to PJLA in the trunk of her car and threatened to cut off extremities until I agreed to be in the play - as her husband. She is quite the man eater.
Tell us about the character you play and how it relates to ordinary life.
Megat Sharizal: Michael is a working class person who makes his way to the top by his own effort. He is a very straight-forward guy; he says the first thing that comes out in his head. In ordinary life, we see a lot of this kind of people who made their way to the top. Even though they have the money, they tend not to stay away from their roots. In other words you can take a guy out of his kampung, but you can't take the kampungness from him.
Maya Tan: Veronica is a mum of two, also a writer, loves to cook, and a bit of a human rights activist, which I identify with. She's a big art history fan, which I'm also interested in. However she's rather black and white when it comes to the issue of morality and I have to say I'm a bit more tolerant to grey areas in that aspect. She's also a lot more rigid and is not afraid to stick up for her beliefs in a confrontational way, so in that sense she has more courage than I do. But as the play progresses you see that she's human after all; her inner child bares itself when tensions come to a head. I have to say i have those battles with my inner child all the time.
Lina Teoh: I play Annette – she’s a wealth manager and lives in Manhattan with her lawyer husband Alan. They are both very career orientated, like the fast city life and are always very busy. She is fairly uptight and used to dealing with high pressure corporate situations. She is a complete control freak. She doesn’t really have time for anything mundane and although is very polite and accommodating on the surface, she is also a no nonsense women who likes things to be dealt with efficiently and quickly. She comes across very strong on the outside but is actually very soft on the inside. Her relationship with Alan is not very good as they are always working. They are quite cold to one another and she secretly longs for more affection.
Will Quah: My character, Alan Raleigh, is a hot shot lawyer with little regard for social niceties and morals. What we do have in common is our phones. I'm terrible when it comes to my phone - always texting, tweeting, face booking. Alan spends all his time answering calls - I'm not quite that rude.
Do you prefer doing comedy?
Maya Tan: Growing up, I've always been the 'funny girl'. I love having a sense of humour, I love laughter and believe that there's a certain healing power in making people laugh. So my answer is 'yes', and I'm grateful to have had an 11 year-run with The Instant Cafe Theatre Company, which gave me my first chance at theatre.
Lina Teoh: Well this is the first time I’m back acting for quite awhile and I love it!! I don’t know if I prefer it but I do love it. It’s always nice to know that you have been a part of cheering someone’s day up. These days life is so tough, it’s nice to bring some laughter and sunshine to people’s lives.
Will Quah: I've done dramas before. I've also done stand-up. I think I've learn that comedy theatre is a whole different creature. With stand-up, you can react and grow organically with the audience. With a stage drama, you take the audience on an emotional ride. But a scripted comedy is all about translating the text into moments of humour without going over board. It's a fine and challenging balance, and I really do enjoy it, but let me tell you, it is not easy!
What is the last thing you worry about before show time?
Will Quah: Have I had enough to drink.
Lina Teoh: I hope nothing!! By then there is nothing much you can do but trust you have all prepared enough. It’s now time to enjoy all your hard work and put on a great show!!
Maya Tan: The last thing I would worry about would be everything other than my lines.
Megat Sharizal: The number of audience attending is less than the number of cast.
What’s unique about the God of Carnage?
Will Quah: Comedy plays are a rarity. And what's even more unique about this play is that it is so grounded in real life. You will recognise yourself, your parents, your partner, and so many situations you have been in the course of the play. It's that familiarity that makes it so funny.
Lina Teoh: It’s an award wining international play. It’s very cleverly written and an honest to goodness good night out!! Leave your problems at the door and be ready to be taken on a hilarious rollercoaster!!
Maya Tan: Vomit, underpants, embarrassing situations and to a certain extent, hair dryers have all made their appearances in plays.
Megat Sharizal: Where else can you see Lina Teoh vomiting?
What will audiences learn from the God of Carnage?
Will Quah: I think the play reaffirms the fact that although we all come from very different backgrounds and cultures, we are all actually scarily similar. It's also a fun fact that even though we get older, we don't necessarily grow up all that much.
Lina Teoh: That no matter how different we are from each other, no matter what walks of life we come from or what lifestyles we lead. Fundamentally when you strip us down we are all basically the same.
Maya Tan: How to dissect a person's facade in 90 minutes or so to reveal their bare human essence. It's a play about people.
Megat Sharizal: That parents can become children themselves.
Describe the PJ Laugh Fest in 3 words.
Will Quah: Really really funny.
Lina Teoh: Damn bloody funny!!!
Megat Sharizal: Why so serious??
Maya Tan: Devastating, apocalyptic, funny.
The God of Carnage premieres tomorrow, 28th of April at the PJ Live Arts Centre. The PJ Laugh Festival takes place from the 28th of April till the 5th of June.
Log on to www.pjla.com.my for more information
Interesting stuff....I wanna watch the Comedy Court duo n Edwin Sumun
ReplyDeleteAlready bought my ticket for Comedy Court =)
ReplyDelete