You might have seen her as the bubbly voluptuous Chinese girl in The Instant Cafe Theatre’s sketches. Nell Ng shows her love for theatre goes beyond showing off on stage and directs her first play, Hardy Boyz N Crazy Girls, a cocktail of short plays, including one written by a Malaysian… Antares, Kakiseni’s very own theatre reviewer (well, we had to place it). Kakiseni interviews Nell by e-mail:
Kakiseni: How did you select the scripts?
Nell Ng: Most of the scripts were ones that struck out immediately to me. The moment I read them, I knew I had to stage them. To make sure, I did an intensive reading marathon with many people to see how it sounded like which helped me finalise the selection of plays. I had also wanted to do a piece by a local playwright, so Antares’ Lomeo & Juriet was perfect, it is short, sweet, rib tickling and Malaysian! A truly adorable piece. I played ‘Juriet’ when it was first staged under Shakespeare for Dummies about 4 years ago. There are alterations in the play this time around.
K: Were they difficult to find?
N: No, not really. However, there were a few other short listed ones as well, but somehow, I kept coming back to the current six pieces. I’ve added another piece which is in our national language, adapted from Antares’ adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. Overall, I relied mostly on my instincts.
K: You were involved in dancing, acting… before. What motivated you to do directing?
N: It came as a surprise. I had never really thought of directing until Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham asked whether I would like to try and be the next in the series of the Actors Studio Young Directors Showcase. I believe that when one is given the opportunity, one should be willing to learn. So, I agreed without even knowing what I wanted to do yet!
K: What do you enjoy about it?
N: The rehearsal process. Seeing my vision come alive. Having a fun, enthusiastic and gifted cast.
K: What are the difficulties?
N: A very limited budget, having to make do with whatever that is available. Sometimes, it can be restricting but we make the best out of what we have.
K: What do you want to do after this play?
N: More plays.
K: What audience is your play for?
N: Everybody regardless of age, sex or preference! All of our scripts deal with relationships – mother & son, lovers, best friends, strangers, etc. It is a part of our lives. So, anybody can relate to it. Please come and support us.
K: Anything else you want to add?
N: I am thankful to be given this opportunity. I am very fortunate to have highly accomplished and very talented friends to help me out on this production. We are working on a very limited budget, which is not easy but we are determined to try our best. Even though it is labelled as a young directors’ showcase, I try not to compromise on the quality of the show. I’d aimed to do and get the best I can for this show and my production team has helped made this possible.
The Actors Studio’s Young Directors Showcase (YDS) already has a high standard and has proven that it can be successful by my friends and also the pioneers of YDS, Zalfian Fuzi and Ghafir Akbar, the directors of the highly successful FOURPLAY*. I am very fortunate to have a highly acclaimed and very talented production team namely Christopher Jacobs as my lighting designer, Dicky Cheah as my production designer, Ghafir Akbar as my stage manager, Pat Gui as my production designer and my brother, Joey Ng, as my graphic designer. It has been an overwhelming and exciting experience for me. I hope that everybody will come and support us. Thank you.
First Published: 20.06.2002 on Kakiseni