Students entertain receptive audience with Shakespeare<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
"Nothing can be bad when simpleness and duty tender it."
\nThe quotation from the last act of a drama staged by students
\nfrom the English department of Atmajaya University last weekend
\nsounded like a perfect wrap-up of their theatrical attempt.<\/p>\n
After all, the play, based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer
\nNight's Dream, was played by amateurs, not professionals.<\/p>\n
Therefore it would not be fair to judge it by professional
\nstandards.<\/p>\n
Yet, the students, from sophomores to graduates, somehow
\nmanaged to entertain dozens in the audience quite well at the
\nAmerican Club, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The play was about love, both mutual and unrequited, among
\nmortals and gods.<\/p>\n
The characters like merry, mischievous Puck, persistent and
\ndesperate Helena, and donkey-headed Bottom, were quite familiar
\nto the audience as the play has been staged many times by theater
\ngroups around the world, as well as being turned into a motion
\npicture.<\/p>\n
This particular production by Atmajaya did not include special
\nmodification of the script. To make the play simpler, the
\nuniversity used the modernized script from No Fear Shakespeare,
\npublished by Barnes & Noble.<\/p>\n
However, a few improvised lines drew chuckles and laughter
\nand, in the end, generated enthusiastic applause.<\/p>\n
Played by about 20 actors and actresses, some of the English
\nstudents showed that they must have had good marks in their
\npronunciation class. However, some did not project their voices
\nstrongly enough, such that some lines were unintelligible.<\/p>\n
"We wanted to involve a wide range of students, so some
\nsophomores, who did not yet possess pronunciation skills as
\nstrong as the others, also participated," English department head
\nat the university Nilawati Hadisantosa told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
All in all, the play was entertaining and, at the same time, a
\ngood way to practice English while enjoying the comedy from one
\nof Britain's greatest playwrights.<\/p>\n
"After seeing us perform, the American Club has asked us to
\nstage plays twice a year," Nilawati said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-entertain-receptive-audience-with-shakespeare-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}