What I have discovered about my girls from SHORTS!

I asked my girls to think about what they have learned - from the production of SHORTS as well as about themselves. Verbally they have told me quite a few things. They are now putting words onto paper slowly. But what HAVE I learned about myself and about them? I'll start with them. In no particular order :

• Anna - She is a very pretty girl who has managed to transform into a rather handsome-looking man. She is committed to her work. She is responsible and orderly. She has a wicked sense of humour. She is talented but unfortunately, she doesn't see that. She has passion for the things she does. She is very grounded .... realistic. She follows instructions well but she can also be a leader, given the chance. On a personal note, I think she made a fantastic Nilkant. She did what I would have had trouble doing - look into Julia's eyes and see her as a wife.
• Nadiah - She is a quietly capable person. No one thought she could really do it, but she was just the right person to be Julia. She brought a quiet dignity to the character and she is serious about the tasks at hand. I can see that she puts in a lot of heart into the things she does. I am glad to say she more than lived up to expectations. She is someone we can count on, even if she does not believe it herself.
• Shuhadah - This is one very likeable girl. She is a jack of all trades and ends up doing multiple tasks a lot of the times. I am glad she has been so reliable. I did not think she was stage acting material but she has proven me wrong. She did a fantastic job as Ramli. She struggled with various things along the way. But she did not disappoint. I have known her since she was in Form 1. I have never had a bad thing to say about her. Perhaps she is too nice. Very accommodating most of the time. She does not project an image of being someone exceptional, but she is that, in a way. No one else is like her in that sense.
• Eva - This is another reliable girl. She is a late bloomer. She takes on a lot of responsibilities and she doesn't even know it. I am pleased to see her taking charge of certain responsibilities. I only wish she had known how to get help from others. She was swamped with lots of work. Working off stage is something she can do very well. But she can also act, in spite of what she says about stage fright. When she stood in for some people who were absent, she did exceptionally well. Except for the way she talks. But then that is something she just has to work on for herself.
• Noddy - She is very talented. She surprised me. I wish she had shown her talent earlier and let us cast her as someone else. But she played her role to a T. She was the perfect person for that role. She learned fast and followed instructions well, and she could improvise. She is naturally talented, even if no one else sees it, esp her family members. She is also someone who has got her head very tightly screwed on.
  
• Emma - She is a level-headed person. Most of the time. She does the things she needs to do. She has focus. She takes rejection well too, doesn't throw a tantrum over things. Reliable and generally disciplined. She has talent but needs some guidance. She can improvise too, as long as she sees the opportunity to do so.
• Ruth - She surprised me. I did not see her as an actress but she was the perfect Mrs Koh. She played her role very well and took a lot of liberty to reinterpret the character. She is also someone I relied on very much as she is meticulous about things. She is one person I am pleased to see blooming into someone other than what I see every day.
• Hayani - She was always the one chosen to be the landlady. She has that creepy, sinister look about her when she chooses to show it. But deep down she is a sweet girl who just has a lot in her cup. She seems like a playful person - which she is - but she is also very conscientious when it comes to work that she is passionate about. She bugged me countless times about hanging up posters, and she went with me to get the wigs, etc. She has a good sense of judgement when necessary. She has a maturity that is borne out of necessity. She played her role exceptionally well and is probably the favourite actress and character in the entire production.
• Mandy - She is Mandy, someone who is in a world of her own very often. She seems oblivious to the happenings around her most of the time. Give her tasks and she will snap out of her own world. She shows focus when needed. She is a late bloomer too. Perhaps her personal life is too confusing for her. As Mr Koh, she was all right. The role is not a demanding one and she happily played second fiddle to Mrs Koh.
• Phoenix - She is a girly girl. No two ways about it. But she has to be Billy Weaver. That was a challenge. I had problems with her pertaining to practices. But that ironed out eventually, though not as well as I had hoped. Still, she is a talented girl. She is keen on the tasks at hand. She sometimes lacks focus but she can be brought back to the immediate task. I have known her for over 3 years. I am still learning about her. As Billy, she did a good job. She could improvise and she could play the role with less girliness.
• Izzy - My issues with her for a while was practices. But this is a talented girl. She did a good job as Nathan. Getting her to use Indian accent was easier than thought. She is a natural on stage. To me, she is someone who has a lot of talents. Problem is she is doing so many things at one time she sometimes loses focus. But then she is not the only one.
• Elisha - She is good with backstage work. She can be orderly but it took her quite a while to get there. She has a system when doing things but she needs a bit of push. Here general attitude towards work and being given tasks is very positive. She does not take thing personally when ticked off. She needs to learn to delegate too as she ended up doing quite a fair bit by herself.
• Ghythri - I was very upset with her as she was the Asst Director and she was NOT pulling her weight at all during the early part of practices. She was constantly absent because of Interact. On one hand I understood that, but on the other hand, I was disappointed and upset. Deep inside I knew she could do a good job. But she was not giving much of herself. She was being spread too thin doing all sorts of things. She did do a good job when it mattered.
• Ain - She was initially slotted to be the rickshaw wallah. But she was away when we needed her and she was replaced. So she became the person in charge of the lights. Things were rather messy at times but she managed to keep cool. I have learned that she is generally not the excitable kind, so a job which requires a cool head might just be right.
• Emily - She went on a journey with us, dropped out and came back on track. She was not allowed to be with us during the night show. I was immensely annoyed. But there was nothing we could do. Her mother has to learn that this daughter needs to be released to do work when called. One day she will see that. I sympathised with Emily but things just did not work out as hoped. And because she was not there, things got rather messy with the lights at one point.
• Azalea - She is a much-loved daughter. She is also very protected and sheltered. Having said that, she is also a very smart person and she has a very wide world-view on things. In the production, she did not come forth as someone who could contribute much, to my disappointment. She should have taken a more active role in the production. It was unfortunate that she was not around a lot.
  
• Kalpana - As director, she did not pull her weight enough. She was just cool about anything and everything. I blasted her. She pulled up her socks somewhat. It was only during the last 3 days that we saw her actually doing directing work seriously. Before that, she just watched and commented, and that was not helpful. To me, she has not reached her full potential. She needs to get over that "superior" feeling she seems to exude around others. If she is to be taken seriously, she has to buck up and take control of the things she has to do. Saying "But what am I supposed to do" does not cut it if she is to be taken seriously as a leader. She has plenty of room to grow and learn. I had hoped last year's incident had woken her, but apparently it had not affected her that much. I am afraid that it might take something more drastic to shake her up and make her sit up and take stock of where she is going.
• Nik - She was a replacement for the rickshaw wallah. She did a good job although she did not believe she could do it. She tried hard and she listened to instructions. She eventually slipped into the role more easily. Kudos to her for taking up the challenge.
• Farah - She is another one who lacked focus. She knew how upset I was with her for not being there when she was supposed to be there. I think she is dropping Lit. Sad.
• Shahirah - Another one dropping Lit. And she disappointed me too. But she did eventually do a relatively good job with sound.
• Helinna - Dropped Lit. She did a good job as Ms Chee. She started out like a puppet, doing only what was told. But she eventually slipped into the role quite well.

I think I have covered all of them. Briefly, that was what I observed, what I felt. I stand corrected if I am wrong. My next post will be about what I have learned about myself. Give me time.