Past Performance – Penang Players Music & Drama Society

MEMES: A LOVE STORY

Date/s: 28th, 29th, 30th June 2019

Synopsis
A group of friends find themselves in circumstances that lead them to pair off two of their acquantances. We discover that there are forces that are interested in the potential that exists between these two. The meme-masters are at work.

Link [Opens in new window/tab]: Jayaram GK Menon, Playwright & Director, interviewed on Traxxfm - 5th August 2019

Director
Jay Menon

Choreographer
Luvenia Kalia (Studio Pentas)

Dance Director
Aida Redza (studio Pentas)

Music Director
Jerome Quah

Actors
Alex Ward, Xin Er, Sebastien Romero, Rachel Yeoh, Ivan Gabriel, Hasina, Roshini Chandran, Lawrence Chin, Sharmen Glenn, Ida Suhaini, Jay Menon, Lucille Dass, Esther Kuan, Audrey Kholti.

Singers
Adli Nasrul, Andre Cremnitz, Julio Geronimo, Philip Yeoh, Roshini Chandran, Monica Mohan, Kamal Chopra.

Dancers
RJ Franklin, Khoo Jen Leon, Anastasia Usik, Neoh Kahi Juin, Chee Jo Anne, Joy Ong, Charmrath Aroonratana, Gary Eng, Esther Khoo, Michelle Cheah, Jordan Sivapatham, Pawan Jaiswal, Kenji Ooi.

Musicians
GQ, Lim Yuin Shing, Eugene Ong, Lee Jia Wen, Lyana Cremnitz.

Click to enlarge

St. Joan

Date/s: 10th March 2019

Synopsis

For the annual Irish Association’s St Patrick’s Festival PP quite swiftly chose Bernard Shaw’s St Joan. An excerpt from the play was chosen- a conversation between St Joan and Captain Robert de Baudricourt, a military squire. In the scene, the Captain quizzes Joan on her determination to fight the English against tremendous odds. The conversation reveals the power of Joan in her confidence to rally the French soldiers to defeat the English.

It is a scene which we have all come across in various guises in life. It is the classic encounter between business as usual and risky, creative endeavour. The heart of the play can be felt in these 7 minutes of dialogue.

Director
Jay Menon

Actors
Frederique Gaveau & Jay Menon

Click to enlarge

Three Days of Rain

by Richard Greenberg

Date/s: 27 & 28th October 2017

Synopsis

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Penang Players Music & Drama Society presented Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain.

Spanning two generations, Three Days of Rain is a heart-warmnig, and sometimes tragically funny, examination on family connections and the inherent loneliness of being human. It is unexpectedly Greenberg's romantic family story in the guise of a love story.

A year after he disappeared on the day of his father's funeral, Walker Janeway returns to New York. He takes up temporary residence in the unused space where thirty-five years earlier, his father, Ned, and Ned's late partner, Theo, lived and designed the great house that would make them famous. Sleepless and emotionally jangled, Walker scours the old empty space for clues to a tortured family history. Discovering his father's journal hidden under the bed, he finds it as forthcoming as his nearly silent father had been. Walker is joined by his sister, Nan, and their friend from childhood, Pip, Theo's son, to hear the reading of Ned's will. It is there that Walker forces the confrontation that the others need.

Director
Christoper Preslar

Actors
Christopher Preslar.......Walker/Ned
Chris Culver.......Pip/Theo
Anna Tan.......Nan/Lina

Part of the proceeds of THREE DAYS OF RAIN, Penang Players most recent stage production, were donated to Tenaganita Women Shelter in Penang. Here to receive the donation is Sally Alexander at their newly opened office.

Click to enlarge

W;t-front

Director
Christopher Preslar

Actors
Tan Seoh Chen…Vivian Bearing
Christopher Preslar….Dr Jason Posner
Anna Tan….Susie Monahan
Philip Yeoh…Harvey Kelekian
Lucille Dass….Evelyn E.M. Ashford
Chris Culver… Lab Technician/Student/Resident
Ivan Gabriel …. Lab Technician/Student/Resident
Farah Jasani …. Lab Technician/Student/Resident

W;t

by Margaret Edson

Date/s: 16th, 17th June 2016

Synopsis
W:t, a play written in 1991 by Margaret Edson, made its world premier in 1995, in California. It was adapted into a movie for television which won several Emmy awards and was nominated at both the Screen Actor's Guild and Golden Globes. W;t is as relevant today (if not more so) in our hectic, insular, ivory tower lives, where technology substitutes human interaction and striving for excellence tramples all else.

The protagonist, a renowned professor, is forced to reassess her life when suddenly she is no longer in control. She reflects on her life through the intricacies of the English language and her talent for wit and, ultimately realises that hope lies in kindness alone.

Profits of the Charity performances of "W;t'', staged by Penang Players Music and Drama Society on June 16 and 17, 2016 were donated to Penang Hospice Society on September 20, 2016. The cheque was handed over by Ms Mano Balachandran and received by Ms Chitra Alagan of PHS.

Click to enlarge

Four Play & Pastiche

Date/s: 22nd, 23rd November 2013

Synopsis

FOUR PLAY by Colin Smith

The setting is a perfectly ordinary evening with hosts David and Caroline and their guests Helen and Edward enjoying a dinner party.
A perfectly ordinary evening in suburbia until we realise that David is having an affair with Helen and Caroline knows all about it. Once the cat is out of the bag there is no way to stop the evening developing into a battle ground of recriminations, explanations and cruel home truths. Cleverly written by Colin Smith, the play is a study of modern adultery with a dash of dark humour.

PASTICHE by Nick Hall

Sir Peter has planned a dinner for two. His companion is Viola, a young chorus girl. But he's forgotten it;'s his wedding anniversary - his wife, Lady Alexandra come home early and aided by butler, Medford, turns Sir Peter's evening into shambles. The machinations verge on farce but the question is - will they succeed?

Four Play

Director: Jay Menom

Actors
Caroline.......Melissa Wong
David.......Adrian Chang
Helen.......Sangita Bhattacharjee
Edward.......Jezzdin Carr

Pastiche

Director: Jay Menon

Actors
Lady Alexandra.......Melinda Jacob
Viola.......Angelena Wright
Medford.......Jon Ong
Sir Peter.......Narinder Shadan

Four Play

Click to enlarge

Pastiche

Delinquent Domestics

Date/s: 10th, 11th May 2013

Synopsis

As You Were by Jonathan Nestroy
Michael and Helena Hoffmann lead nearly woe-free lives until hired help enters! See the clashes and misunderstandings between them and their hired help providing a witty portrait of amorous chaos, evasion and duplicity that comes full circle.

Two Wits to Woo by John Kelly
When Winsome Manor encounters financial difficulties, the widowed Lady Winsome decides to sack long-standing help Joe and James. With illicit dealings to cover up, the two desperately attempt to prevent that. Little do they know that Lady Winsome has a few surprises up her sleeves!

As You Were
Director: Jay Menon

Actors
Adrian Chang.......Hoffmann
Saw Jin Jin.......Helena
Lim Yao Han.......Muffet
May Kung.......Josie

Two Wits to Woo
Director: Jay Menon

Actors
Lucille Dass.......Lady Winsome
Abdul Raqib Karim.......Joe
Philip Yeoh.......James

As You Were

Click to enlarge

Two Wits To Woo

Underneath the Lintel

by Glen Berger

Date/s: 11th December 2011

Synopsis

Synopsis : A library book is returned 113 years overdue. Is it just an overdue book or a challenge? Will the librarian recognize a miracle if she saw one? Will you? Follow her as she bravely attempts to unravel the many puzzles in this twisty mystery of tale.

Director: Jay Menon

Actor
Shamila Ariffin

Click to enlarge

A French Farce Feast

Date/s: 21st, 22nd January 2011

Synopsis

The Indifferent Commissioner by Georges Courteline
In this play we get a glimpse into the nightmare world of bureaucracy that has fossilized and is of no meaningful service to the public. As individuals pour into the police station they are met and dealt with indifference.

Stop Parading Around Stark Naked by Georges Feydeau
In this play we are exposed to the world of the rising politician and how that awareness transforms his relationship with his wife into one of nit-picking and self-righteousness. The feisty wife, however, is no pushover and she gives as good as she gets with a charm and insouciance that gets us to cheer her on.

AroundThe Indifferent Commissioner
Director: Jay Menon

Actors
Philip Yeoh.......Police Commissioner
Izwan Mohamad.......Tireur
Anna Tan.......Lady
Eric Yeoh.......Breloc
Henry Loh.......Floche
Ooi Eng Lye.......Lagrenaille
Mike Tan .......Garrigou

Stop Parading Around Stark Naked
Dircetor: Jay Menon

Actors
Murali Ram.......Ventroux
Shamila Ariffin.......Clarisse
Larren Heah.......Victor
Lim Yao Han.......Hochepaix
Henry Loh.......Romain de Jaival

The Indifferent Commissioner

Click to enlarge

Stop Parading Around Stark Naked

Plaza Suite

by Neil Simon

Date/s: 13, 14th November 2009

Synopsis

A trilogy in 3 acts using the same hotel room.
Words like wedding bells, lovers reunited, foibles of marriage, anniversary, extra-marital affair, mistress and parent/child- relationship form the web that is Plaza Suite.

Act I
Mary Schneider.......Karen Nash
Craig Marcombe.......Sam Nah
Suzerian Francis.......Jean McCormack
Deva Dip Singh.......Waiter

ACT 2
Lim Yao Han.......Jesse Kiplinger
Shamila Ariffin.......Muriel Tate

Act 3:
Judith Chandler.......Norma Hubley
Randy Moss.......Roy Hubley
Eric Yeoh.......Borden Eisler
Cathelynn Lim.......Mimsey Hubley

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Click to enlarge

Blind Date
Director: Joelle Saint-Arnoult

Actors
Fazdrina Ariffin
Maya Hanum
Eric Yeoh

Calling it Quits
Director: May Lim

Actors
Mary Schneider
Cathelynn Lim
Matt Holton

Inconvenient People
Director: Joelle Saint-Arnoult

Actors
Lucille Dass
Anna Tan
Ian Kerr

Love...Perhaps?

Date/s: 13th, 14th February 2009

Synopsis

Blind Date by Mal Anderson
At a restaurant , a couple, both in their twenties, meet for dinner for four, but it is now obvious that their friends have set them up. A blind date in the company of mutual friends now becomes an embarrassing situation for two almost near-strangers. Add to this frenetic waitress, and her inebriated husband-chef, who we think we hear but just don’t see!

Calling it Quits by Mal Anderson
On the advice of their respective solicitors, Joanie and Max, who are going through the process of divorce, meet in the cafetaria of a shopping centre. In this neutral ground, they endeavour to establish some idea of the demands being by each other.

Inconvenient People by Paul Hannah
Kim is a solicitor. His wife wants a divorce. His personal and domestic problems have reached such a point that he feels the only way out for him is to end it al here and now. He is about to take the decisive step towards oblivion when he is suddenly interrupted by the unwelcome appearance of a potential client, Robyn. Robyn was just passing by and decided to seize the opportunity to seek legal advice….

Blind Date

Calling it Quits

Inconvenient People

Click to enlarge