Sweet Smell of Victory for the Thespians of SMK Meru!

Back Row: Dolah, Munirah, Saihah, Syazwan, Sabihah, Munirah2
Middle Row: Pak Leman, Aznan, Pa’an, Kamal
Front Row: Murali, Tuk Penghulu, Ah Chong, Joyah

Today Mimi and I accompanied SMK Meru’s team of thespians and crew to compete in the KOMSAS High School Theater Competition Klang District Division 2009 at SMK Dato Hamzah. This was SMK Meru’s first attempt at a theater competition and it was a big deal to them.

We performed “Jalan Sempit”, a play found in Antologi Anak Bumi Tercinta Tingkatan 3. Only 4 schools competed – SMK Dato Hamzah, SMK Meru, SMK Rantau Panjang and Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS) -- and out of those 4 schools, 3 schools did “Jalan Sempit”. We were the first to perform. Everything went by smoothly, except that some parts of the play were skipped due to obvious reasons. It was, by far, one of the students’ best performance. We were truly proud of them.

Then the other schools performed. SMK Dato Hamzah’s interpretation of their Tuk Penghulu and Murali was awesome :) Didn’t like SMK Rantau Panjang’s version of “Jalan Sempit” at all. Everyone sat behind tables, and that restricted their movements by a great deal. KISAS, the only school that didn’t choose to do “Jalan Sempit”, chose to do “Sri Nara” instead. They looked AMAZING! Their props were well done, their costumes looked expensive, their make-up was better than every one else’s, AND they used sound effects. But don’t ask me what the play was about. All I know is that at the end of it, the Sultan named the place Johor Darul Takzim. Hee Hee. Anyhoo, despite all that, KISAS did not manage to snag any of the top 3 spots due to some actors wearing glasses in an era where glasses haven’t been invented yet, and also because characters other than the Sultan were wearing yellow when in those days the color yellow was only worn by royalties.

The winners are the following:

1st Place   : SMK Meru
2nd Place : SMK Dato Hamzah
3rd Place : SMK Rantau Panjang

Best Male Lead Actor: SMK Dato Hamzah – Tuk Penghulu
Best Male Supporting Actor: KISAS - (damn.. can’t remember the character’s name… So obvious I wasn’t paying attention hehe)
Best Female Lead Actress: SMK Meru – Sabihah
Best Female Supporting Actress: SMK Meru – Joyah
Best Director: SMK Meru

That’s 3 wins in individual categories AND winner as a whole. Pretty good for a first time, eh? Mimi and I trained these kids from the beginning till the end and we’re DAMN PROUD of them! State Competition, LOOK OUT! :)