On the 23rd of December 2019, the students of English Communication (LAN 1103) has successfully executed their first ever theatre play here in Smart College. The play titled Beauty and the Beast, based on the classic Disney’s movie was successfully conducted with impressive flow and professionalism.
The flow of everything prior the play was smooth enough thanks to the committees that were involved as well as the directors who were always on the lookout in preparing things both on and off stage. The admission process as well as the seating could be better but for their first time managing such an event, it is adequate.
The casts were overflowing with talent, few actors and actresses really popped out and showcased their acting ability and their amazing way of embracing the stage. Of course the main star for the night was the main character, Belle played by Angel binti Jusilin. She delivered her lines well, immersed in her character and in playing out the musical part. We can see her professionalism in reacting to incidents like no visuals, no lights and timing problems. She managed to stay in character and stay still until the team in charge of those matters fixed it.
All of the casts did well in term of portraying their characters with their body language, postures and speech like accents and intonations. Like the casts playing Gaston, Beast, Lumiere, Cogsworth and Chip. Some do need to work on their pronunciation and the way of delivering their lines however they did such a good job for an amateur play.
Plot wise, they adjusted the plot to fit the time limit as well as changing the scenes to fit the audience. Only criticism here is the musical part. It could have been elevated more by having the casts to actually sing but it is understandable as the students are not familiar with performing musicals. However, since they decided to do dubbing, it is best if they fully commit to having all the cast to lip-sync, as in the end, some did and some did not. With the mix up of the original audio and faintly heard singing from the casts, it did cause a bit of a distraction to the audiences.
On the other hand, the props and costumes department really did a great job. The costumes and prop are smart and creative and they made good use of what they can get within their budget. They played well with assimilating the colors associated with the characters into their costumes, thus not needing actual replica of the costumes. On the other hand, the prop management of the entire play was truly A1. The way how all casts were well aware of their props and their placement of the props were top notch. They were very responsible on their own props and managed to execute it so well in between scenes and that helped in making the transition smooth.
Overall the play was amazing. From the casts, the props, the costume as well as the stage management, the students of English Communication did a very good job considering it is their first time and with such limited time and space. A huge congratulation to all of the students and the lecturer in charge, Miss Amirah. Hopefully more theatre plays can be executed in the future for the betterment of our students’ English language skills as well as enriching performing arts among our students and institution here in Smart College. “Movies will make you famous; Television will make you rich; But theatre will make you good.” – Terrence Mann
