The Thespian Bootcamp
by Ian Yee

Monday, 15 JUNE 2009 – The training might be “torturous”, but the current ensemble of the Theatre For Young People (T4YP) is not complaining.

The 15 young people, aged between 17 and 25, all had to audition to be part of the second season of the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s (klpac) ground-breaking youth theatre programme. But despite the strict discipline, tough training and long hours they have to go over the next six months, all of them have only good things to say about being part of T4YP.

“Rehearsals are torturous, but fun,” says T4YP member Tung Jit Yang, 19, right before a rehearsal. “We’re doing this because we love it. That’s the only motivation we have, because it’s not easy.”

Members of the ensemble will receive training and rehearsal to perform six shows throughout the course of the six months, culminating in a performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in September.

Currently, they’re working on their first fully-staged production featuring all 15 members, a performance of British playwright Tom Stoppard’s comedy Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.

To accomplish all that, they rehearse four nights a week, many coming from work or college, for more than three hours each session.

“Once we got through the auditions, we had to sign forms – sell our souls, basically – to give our full commitment to the programme. Then, we had to provide our bad dates for the next six months of rehearsals, so you can imagine it’s not easy at all. klpac has become like out second home!” said Nur Hidaya Zakuan, 25.

Gregory Sze, 17, added: “It’s more like my first home now!” He is one of the youngest members in the group. “Between school and rehearsals, I think I spend more time here than at home.”

But it’s not like they’re wasting their time away, because the theatre training the ensemble receives at T4YP is better than anything they can learn from their textbooks. They don’t just learn how to act – they are also given a variety of exercises to help with their vocals, confidence, expressiveness and even character.

“It shapes our character. By September, we will all be different people, because our training goes way beyond theatre training,” said Gregory.

Jit Yang noted: “One of the main things we’ve learned for example, is punctuality; especially considering we’re Malaysians. They’re very strict about it, and you feel guilty for making the others wait.”

Another ensemble member, Rachel Henry, 18, tells us that the very nature of theatre makes for good training for young people.

“If you want to be in theatre, you can’t be shy about it. You have to open up and express yourself. The exercises here encourages you to come out from yourself, follow your instinct and ignore that inner voice telling you you’re acting like an idiot.

“For example, we often play a game called ‘Appearances’. The trainers shout out an emotion, and some of them are pretty hard like ‘lust’, and you have to immediately express it. You really have to commit to the act, if not they’ll make you do it over and over again,” she said.

But they aren’t just pushed to the limits mentally. The ensemble also has to perform physical exercises, one of which involves them having to move in extreme slow motion, from a standing position to lying flat on the ground in 30 minutes. After a few minutes rest, they then have to reverse the action, getting back onto their feet in another 30 minutes.

“(During the 30 minutes) you have to control everything – your eyes, toes, face … and they told us the actual exercise is an hour long. So, that’s our goal for the end of this programme,” said Rachel.

Gregory added: “That’s why we always go out and eat a lot after rehearsals. It’s very tiring and we burn a lot of energy.”

Even more important to the members is the sense of togetherness that has been drilled into them from the very first day.

“Christopher Ling, (director-in-residence of T4YP) puts a lot of emphasis on us as an ‘ensemble’. He refers to us as ‘The Family’,” said Jit Yang.

Nur concurred: “He also told us that we’re only as good as the weakest link. If one of us sucks, we all suck. So we all work together and help each other.

“We’re all here for different reasons. Some treat it as a hobby, some want to improve themselves, and some want it for a career. But whatever it is, we’re all in it together.”

Nur in particular, who was exposed to theatre at a young age by her mother, wanted to be in T4YP so much that she took a day’s leave from her company trip in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan to return to Kuala Lumpur for the auditions.

“But I joined T4YP because I wanted to get back into theatre. It’s hard to get in these days, because you might not know where to find auditions. Then I found out about T4YP on Facebook, and I was really lucky because I only got the last audition slot!” she said. Some of the younger ones like Gregory, have some difficulties getting their parents to understand what they do.

“They’re okay with it (him getting involved in the arts) … I guess,” he said. “My parents are very traditional. They want me to be an accountant, or a doctor … but they’re warming to it.

“In fact, they’re coming to watch me in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern,” enthused Gregory, who plays one of the title roles in the play.

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Catch the T4YP ensemble’s first fully-staged production of the season, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, at klpac from June 18-21. Log on to t4yp.wordpress.com for more details.

Click here for the original article on rage.com.my.