Sunway ADTP Student’s Mini-Production First Attempt but Huge Success

The Sunway American Degree Transfer Programme (ADTP) students may be from different areas of study but when they put their heart and soul to performing, they deliver as a team. The Introduction to Theatre students, an elective offered by the ADTP came up with a mini-production consisting of three plays from an array of genres and gave their audience a brilliant production recently.

The 200 spectators that witnessed the play saw three mini-productions including a classic by Harold Pinter called ‘The Room’, a re-enactment of ‘Fatal Beatings’ by Rowan Atkinson and an original called ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by David Chia, a Sunway ADTP student.

Koh Weng Hong playing Mr Kidd in “The Room” directed by Choy Chuu Khai.

The students worked hard to produce this mini-production while juggling other subjects and activities. Malissa Maria Mahmud, lecturer and producer of this mini-production said, “I was impressed with the student’s level of commitment in producing this mini-production. They met almost every day and worked late nights to get everything right”.

Jane Cho playing Mrs Sands in “The Room” directed by Choy Chuu Khai.

The students, besides being directors and actors of the plays, also contributed in other areas. The ADTP Engineering students came up with lighting equipment to light up the set, whereas other students made up the stage crew, technical crew and costume designers.

Noah Ezrin who directed and starred as a Headmaster in the re-enactment of ‘Fatal Beatings’.

Choy Chuu Khai, a Psychology student in the ADTP who was the director of “The Room” said, “The original script interested me in many ways as it addressed certain issues that take place in our daily lives such as the ambiguity of communication. We could be saying so much yet mean so little”. Choy recalled his first time directing a play, “I was very nervous as I wondered if I would be able to pull it off seeing that the play may not be easily understood by some people. Through cooperation and creative insights by the crew, I was able to become successful”.

Terumi Matoba stared as ‘Peggy” in the play “Stairway to Heaven” directed by David Chia.

David Chia, a 2nd year student in ADTP majoring in Film Arts and Modern Philosophy said ‘Stairway to Heaven’ portrayed themes to help one believe in oneself, interconnectivity of humans and unexpectedness of life. When asked why a musical, David said, “Well, I am a music aficionado. I think that music is the best way to express someone's feelings and current situation; it replaces the many words of our everyday ongoings with just the lyrics of one simple yet meaningful song”.

David Chia singing “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera in the play he directed and starred in.

Noah Ezrin who directed the re-enactment of ‘Fatal Beatings’ got the crowd roaring with laughter in this 2 minutes play. Noah is a 1st year ADTP Communication major student.