| Q : What made you think of doing Macbeth? |
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A : There were two reasons : first, I thought it would be a challenge to do Shakespeare. Secondly, Macbeth was the set literature text for the next three years, so it would help if anyone who took literature saw the play. |
| Q : During the auditions, how did you pick the actresses for certain roles? |
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A : I look for particular aspects when I'm auditioning, like voice projection, how the actress walks and moves around during auditioning, and how she interprets her character at the first reading. It's really a gamble when I choose someone for a certain part, and sometimes I could be wrong. Sometimes the girl might feel she's not good enough for the part and pulls out of the part herself; sometimes, too, we discover untapped talent in minor roles. |
| Q : What good/bad/funny times did you have while doing the show? |
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A : I actually felt that sometimes the show was never going to happen because girls had to go for extra-curriculum activities, tuition, remedial, etc. and couldn't make it for rehearsals. There were setbacks, like Melody's illness, and there were supposed to be eight tap dancers tailing part in a major scene, but at the last moment we couldn't use them in the scene. The good times were when the characters of the show started to develop, like Kristy (Macbeth) coming up with new ideas and concepts, and Tessa (Lady Macbeth) growing as Lady Macbeth. There was a lot of team spirit at the end, and it was good the way everybody rose to the challenge of putting up a good show. The show got better towards the end and I was really proud because we had to overcome lots of obstacles to put on the show. There's always one line in each play that causes the cast to break out in laughter - I think the term here is mass hysteria - in Macbeth, the funny line was Melanie's line with the words "Birnam Wood".. she always pronounced as "Birnam" as "Barnum"! |
| Q : What did it feel like directing the cast of Macbeth? |
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A : It was frustrating when people  were
not present for the rehearsals, but when people got together, it was great!
Huilin (King Duncan) was especially good, she was always there for every
rehearsal and she gave a great performance.
I think the best part of directing is seeing things come together. Getting ideas, too, like the idea for the camouflage net for Sara Kim (Witch), and the banners. |
| Q : Who or what gave you the ideas for actions, costumes and props? |
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A : We deliberately tried to make our version of Macbeth different from other versions, and tried to make people think why we put certain props on stage and why we used certain costumes and such. The witches were definitely different from the people's normal perceptions of witches. They came up with brilliant ideas by themselves. I was able to trust them to work out things by themselves and they just had to show it to me and I'd give suggestions and that was it! |
| Q : What do you miss about Macbeth now that it's over? |
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A : The companionship, fun and excitement. I really liked challenges. |
| Q : If you had the chance to do the show all over again, would you? If yes? what changes would you make? |
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A : Yes. Changes.. for one I wouldn't have Su Yun (Fleance), aged 8, to run around so much! And I wouldn't let any ACS (Anglo-Chinese School, an all boys brother school of Methodist Girls' School) watch the play either. (because they were rowdy and noisy) If we had the money, we could have had more, or better props. Quite often how much we have defines how much we can have or do. I think, however, sometimes glossy props don't do much for shows. Sometimes, it's better with less glossy , skimpy props, then we can concentrate on the language, which is the main thing after all. |
| Q: How did it feel being the director/producer/script editor/usher all rolled into one? |
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A : Any director is bound to be all of them together, anyway. I just wanted to take Macbeth and do it the way Shakespeare would want it done.. at least the way I though he would want it done! |
| Q : How would you rate Macbeth, on a scale of ten, among the other shows you have done? |
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A : I think Macbeth was the best show I've ever done, because people did it despite enormous challenges and obstacles. I'm really proud of them overcoming those challenges and giving great performances, especially Kristy as Macbeth. Maybe I'll give it a nine... things could have been slightly better. |