Act it Out!

Written by Yap Jia Xin, Class of 2015, Form 4 Science 1

As the name suggests, this year's English Games featured an improvisation cum acting competition amongst some of the finest actors and actresses from the Form 4 and Junior 1 level. (or at least, deemed by their house captains)

Photo Credit: Lai Li Chan

“Act it Out” consists of two rounds. Round 1 required an individual representative from each house to tell a story related to the theme given to them half an hour ago. That’s right, not only did they have the daunting task of going up in front of an audience solo, but they also had to conjure up an entire storyline within that short amount of time.

First up, was Eg Zhong Qi from Rumah Harimau. He started off his money-themed story describing a teapot, owned by a couple, which converts acts of violence into money. The story revolved around the value of money and its ability to drive a person beyond belief which eventually, ended with a heated argument causing the murder of the wife by her husband. Zhong-Qi then concluded his story by providing us with food for thought. “How far would you go for money?”

Next up, the crowd welcomed Joey Teoh from Rumah Seladang onto the stage. He received a warm welcome after surprising the crowd with an unorthodox opening. His split personality was certainly a unique trait that differed him from the rest of the speakers. His story primarily focused on his dual personality and the hopes that people will have 'Faith' in him. Safe to say, he definitely shocked and awed the audience with his superb acting abilities!

Following that, Beruang’s representative, Akhilan, debuted his story with a very emotional confession regarding his theme, Love. His story centred around loneliness till he met a woman - the love of his life (obviously). However, this typical love story did not end too happily when we learn that his wife cheated on him with another man. Overflowing with emotions of sadness and despair, his short-lived love story ended with him expressing his agony as a man who had his heart wrenched apart.

The final speaker of the event was Syafiq Aqmar, from rumah Helang. Syafiq spoke about his dream of being a farmer despite his father being a billionaire. His story described his father’s great disappointment towards him, followed by his hard work and the complications he had to endure as farmer. Eventually, he managed to earn some money and performed his signature victory dance subsequently to mock his father.

After the applause and cheers of Round 1 had died down, Round 2 commenced without a second to lose! Round 2 is where team work and quick-thinking comes in. Pairs of two from each house firstly had to watch a muted 2-3 minute clip taken from random scenes of films or sitcoms. Following that, they are given a solid 30 minutes to construct a dialogue based on the actions and gestures as well as emotions seen in the muted snippet. Their aim is to mimic those acting in the muted excerpt as best as they can except this time, incorporating the element of speech into it.

First up, was the dynamic duo from Seladang! Khandhan Nadarajan and Keith Wong were the pair who had to take on the challenge of playing a married couple with their “Love” themed excerpt taken from the widely known American television sitcom, “Everybody Loves Raymond”. Their take on the scene had involved Keith walking in on his wife, Khandhan (yes, you read correctly) doing some...business. The type that takes place in the bathroom, to be more specific. I’m sure all of us remembered that line accompanied by Khandhan’s continuous humorous whining.

Photo Credit: Lai Li Chan

With the audience pumped up from the first performance, the Beruang pair, Edryna Zarif and Timothy Yang picked the audience right up from where the Seladang’s had left off. Within the first 10 seconds of their performance, themed “Tears”, Edryna and Timothy already had the audience roaring with laughter with their Bollywood approach to the excerpt they were given. The plot they came up with revolved around a heartless son who only appreciated his mother for the delectable sandwiches she makes. In a way, they did keep to their theme when they had us hold back tears whilst laughing hysterically at just about every word they uttered. Not to mention when Timothy began to sing “A Thousand Miles”! 

Next on the list was the Harimau pair, Alisraa Aldin and Andrew Wong, acting out an “Education” themed extract from yet another popular television sitcom, “F.R.I.E.N.D.S.”. Comparatively softer in terms of volume than the first two acts, it was relatively more challenging to pick up on their story line. Their scenario was based on two friends, one assisting the other who had an acting audition lined up. It’s no secret that the pair from Harimau have not quite mastered the art of pronouncing their Rs - which was clearly heard with their repeated use of the famous Shakespearean line “Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou, Romeo?”. Ironically, Alisraa, who was playing the role of a teacher, criticized her student for his pronunciation when she herself was no better! Was their wobbly pronunciation unintentional or part of the act? We’ll probably never know. 

Last but definitely not least, was the pair from Helang! Carried by Dhanya Kuladeva and Yap Jia Xin (yes, yours truly), they had to mimic a scene which also happened to be from “F.R.I.E.N.D.S.”. Keeping to their theme, “Sisterly Love”, they delivered a very dramatic and amusing performance. Long story short, two best friends had the hots for the same guy only to have one of them backstab the other by going on a date with him. It then ended with the two crying and hugging...and crying again...and hugging again, after mending their treasured friendship.

Photo Credit: Lai Li Chan

Alas, with that, the “Act It Out” competition came to an end. That could only mean one thing - it was time for the much anticipated results! The victor of Round 1 surprisingly turned out to be Syafiq from Rumah Helang, which came as a shock as many had expected Joey Teoh of Rumah Seladang to win. However, props to him and the rest of the participants for making the audience laugh and cry! For Round 2, Rumah Beruang came in as the clear winner.

All the same, all the participants put up a good act (pun intended) and definitely proved to be sporting contenders. The acting does not stop here however, with tomorrow being the screening of the much anticipated iMovies for the Cempaka Movie Awards. Stay tuned!