Page 7 - 01/2022 PULSE@FASS e-Bulletin

Issue no. 1 | 2022

Drama classes and the pandemic

By Associate Professor Dr Susan Phillip

For my students, this new normal in the theatre world has
opened up possibilities. Last year, at the height of the
worldwide lockdowns, the UK’s National Theatre
streamed some of their major productions online, as did
Andrew Lloyd Webber with his massive hit musicals. I
urged my students to watch these plays, to expose them
not just to good acting, but also to the wonders of theatre
technology, imaginative set and costume design, clever
lighting effects, and so on. Streaming services have also
allowed us to watch a staging of Hamilton, the theatrical
phenomenon of the decade. This year, Steven Spielberg
re-booted the musical West Side Story, filming it in a way
which managed to retain some semblance of its roots as a
stage play. We went to the cinema as a class, to watch it
together.
A few of the students at the online discussion with Tan Cher Kian
and Farah Rani of the Instant Café Theatre Company.
More importantly, for my students, local theatre
First year students of the English Department have a core companies are open to the idea of allowing students to
course which introduces them to Drama from a variety of watch pre-recorded stage plays online, at a fraction of
eras and countries. Ideally, as their lecturer, I would want what it would normally cost the students, at a time that
them to actually take as many chances as possible to works for them. For two years running, I have collaborated
watch plays on stage – plays are, after all, meant to be with the Instant Café Theatre Company to screen Jit
watched live, not read quietly by oneself in a room. Murad’s play Gold Rain and Hailstones, which is one of the
texts I have been teaching in the drama course. The
But this has proved a problem in the past. If we were lucky, students are given a specific time-window during which to
we might find a recorded version of a stage play on watch the play on YouTube, and this is then followed by a
discussion session with two members of the
YouTube. If we were even more lucky, a Malaysian theatre theatre
company or a visiting theatre company might decide to company.
stage one of the plays we were studying. But then,
students would face other problems – most Malaysian For many students, watching the play was their first
theatres nowadays are in areas which are not easily encounter with ‘live’ professional theatre. Most of them
accessible by public transport. Apart from that, ticket agreed that watching the play brought it alive in ways that
prices can be prohibitively expensive for the average just reading could not. Certainly, the experience of
Malaysian student. watching served to enrich their understanding of the play,
and of how theatre works. It also made them aware of the
But now, the pandemic has forced performance fact that there is a lot of excellent theatre coming out of
companies to find other ways to connect with their Malaysia – whether in terms of writing, acting, directing or
audiences, and to stay afloat, and this has actually opened designing.
up possibilities for students. Many performing arts groups
learned to harness technology in ways which allowed Obviously, working in this way is not ideal for the
them to screen or stream their performances for a paying performing arts – that vital connection with the audience
audience. is missing. Financially, the pandemic has pushed an
already precarious industry to the brink. Things are
This was not ideal – the sense of community that comes looking better now, with socially-distanced live
with being in a crowded auditorium was missing, as we all performances becoming the norm again. I will always
sat in front of our computers in our respective homes. encourage my students to watch plays live, if at all
Some semblance of togetherness came through the ability possible. But I also appreciate these technology-enabled
to comment on FB live and other such virtual venues. But alternatives which can bring theatre directly to the
it was a good way of allowing performances to continue to students. Perhaps, as we learn to live with Covid-19, we
be showcased, while ensuring at least a minimal income can hope for a happier balance between live and online
stream. performances.
7 | Pulse @ FASS