By Atiqah Zulkefli
GOMBAK, 23 November 2018: After the initial success of the opening of IIUM Theatre and Short Film Festival (ITFEST) 2018 last Monday, the most anticipated ELITS’ annual ELITS Theatre Night (ETN) which had attracted 600 audiences last year, was back with three fascinating plays under the theme œMyth Modernised on Wednesday night (21 November).
All three plays were staged at HS Seminar Room starting from 8p.m until 10p.m and will be presented again on 23 November night. The plays œAll that Is Left of Us, œSiung and œUwu were presented orderly. ELITS stands for Secretariat of English Language and Literature.
The first to take the stage was “All that Is Left of Us” by A Lit Summer’s Night production house which portrayed Greek goddesses, Aphrodite, Gaia, Hathor the Egyptian goddess, Frigga the Norse goddess, and a mythical Borneo princess, Santubong, a realisation of their own mortality. This play depicted the struggles of immortal beings confronting the ugly truth of life.
The play succeeded to attract audiences attention with its unique portrayal of Greek goddesses in a modern setting with certain scenes inspired from “The Last Supper” and “Waiting for Godot”.
œWe have been preparing for this play since the end of last semester and there were challenges like the script writing production but we still managed to overcome everything and are able to perform this play, said the script writer, Danial Azman.
A Lit Summer Night production took the stage again with their second play, “Siung”. Inspired by the Malay myth tale of “Raja Bersiung”, Arman became the modernised Siung. Arman, who is a famous actor became estranged and gained thirst for blood after attempting to behave like the old vampire king, Siung. This play portrayed how addictions can bring destruction to oneself as Arman succumbed to evil at the end because of his own actions.
And Rumput ended the night with their spectacular play, “Uwu”. Rumput, established in 2017, came up with a play inspired from the myth tales Medusa and Midas.
Medusa and Midas escaped the attention of public by living deep in the jungle. However, everything turned out wrong after Midas insisted on adopting a girl he saved from the sea. Uwu gave the audiences a great laugh with its humorous plot line, at the same time managed to convey its original messages.
The last play closed the first night of ETN with a loud cheer from the audiences.
During the question and answer session, the audiences had the opportunity to interact directly with the actors and directors.
œI really enjoyed the show because it’s great to see the old myths being presented in a modern setting which we can relate more to it, said Khairunnisa.
ETN had presented the plays again on 22 November starting at 8p.m.
Walk-in tickets are still available for the 23 November night but limited for those who are interested to watch the great ETN plays and to make your night a more memorable one.
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