Monday, May 19, 2014

Lagenda Dato Dol Said

That was the theatre title I went tonight despite of bad health (fever). The story is a part of Malaysian history and telling of how a small district called Naning (now Alor Gajah) adjacent to Malacca and Negeri Sembilan (Rembau) refused to surrender into British Imperialism (1773-1849). The first battle in 1831 was won by Dato Dol Said, unfortunately in 1832 Naning was lost to the British. The first lost of the British was a total embarrassment as a super colonialist British fails to dominate a small but unified Malay district. The whole production was too ‘quiet’ in my observation, the characters were using monologue all the way to the end which i find too hard to digest for a war epic like this. Although Ungku Haris performance was an eye opener, him playing all of the characters including Dol Said’s wife is something out of ordinary, only Eddie Murphy in Nutty Professor can survives successfully every characters in a movie still with the help of Janet Jackson. Most of the time the stage is too empty except when the British Soldiers and the Nanings were fighting. I guess, the mood was assisted by good music score. Theatrical effect wasn't a big budget ‘Puteri Gunung Ledang’ but an attempt to fly ala kung fu movie was there. Lighting can be improved as it was passive lighting during the whole show, lack of colors to heightened the mood. The smog machine shouldnt be used too liberal especially in unnecesary scenes. I find some of the script repetitious and failing to carry any emotional weight. The story telling was so flat that suspence and cliffhanger was non existence. Overall, the show was a good one and thank you for giving me a refreshing history lesson tonight.