SPART

Taylor’s Society of Performing Arts

During my enrolment in Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, I signed up with the Taylor’s Society of Performing Arts, or ‘SPART’ for short. For the duration of my time in that society, I was provided a platform to grow and hone my craft as an actor. This post will cover some of the things I’ve learnt through that 3 year experience.

SPART – SPARTIES SHORTIES 2016

Upon joining the club, the first opportunity presented to me was the annual club showcase. Gung-ho in my first semester, I auditioned and even got selected. The year was 2016. The annual showcase is called (at least back then) SPARTIES SHORTIES. Hence the title, “SPARTIES SHORTIES 2016”. I got the role of Benjamin. My play was titled ‘Despair’.

Benjamin was a jaded, under-appreciated corporate slave living with his partner who ends up in a heated argument with him during dinner. Juxtaposing the scene was the other half of the dinner table belonging to a different couple, showcasing a much calmer discussion. My main takeaway from this role was experiencing the process of fully engulfing my whole being in a visualised skin representing my transformation in to the character. Through this experience, I got to immerse myself in to my character’s mind space. That let me see the world through my character’s eyes. I have my then director to thank for that.

SPART – SPARTIES SHORTIES 2017

My next opportunity I got from SPART was the annual showcase the following year. This time, I was cast as a neglectful father unaware that his daughter had been taking pills. Looking back, my biggest takeaway was recognising how passive I was in the process. I was on autopilot, waiting for detailed instructions from the director. What I should have done was take initiative and explore bold, diverse interpretations of the character on my own. Instead, I acted more like a robot awaiting instruction, rather than an artist exploring inspiration. I’ve since learned that actors are not mere soldiers awaiting orders; we are storytellers, responsible for breathing life into our characters and actively shaping the process of what character we may display onstage.

SPART x UM – BETAS

The next opportunity I got from SPART was the BETAS gig. Since that was technically under University of Malaya and not under SPART entirely, I’ve written it as a separate reflection. Essentially, my main learning here was being aware of what I’m communicating as my character, non-verbally.

SPART – SPARTIES SHORTIES 2018

This time, I got the role of an eight year old boy. The story is about a young orphan boy who gets separated from his sister at the orphanage due to getting adopted. My character had three different aspects I had to display truthfully on stage, two of which were foreign to me. They were; being an eight year old, being an orphan, and having a sister.

Being a 21 year old, I thought I only had to revisit my younger self in order to be able to portray myself as an eight year old successfully. I forethought that the challenges to me would have been portraying believably being a young orphan getting adopted and having a sister, because both of which I had never experienced. I had to completely imagine and realise from scratch both aspects. This really tested my acting capabilities, as I had to embody a couple of things I knew nothing of.

In one rehearsal, we had a professional actor come by to evaluate our performance and give feedback. Surprisingly, he gave feedback mainly towards me being an eight year old, not the two forethought challenges. He gave advice I found later in my acting career to be significant. He had told me that if I wanted to improve it, I should spend time around other eight year olds and observe them.

This meant that if I ever wanted to act as something that I am not familiar with, all I had to do was surround myself in that particular something. Observe them. Do Observational Learning. He practically gave insight on how to act that’s applicable to almost any role. I didn’t realise how powerful this insight was until later in my acting career.

Thanks to this experience, observation is now in my actor’s toolbox.

SPART x ADP – Fright Night

SPART collaborated with the Taylor’s American Degree Transfer Program, where they had to provide scare actors for the program’s own halloween event. The location was in the Taylor’s ADP faculty, which also acted as a specific site for the story. The ADP faculty was designed similarly as an American school, so the setting was a haunted school. My role was a demented school boy. This was my first scare actor opportunity. This was also my first site-specific theatre performance.

This was my first gig where I had to stay in character while interacting with audience members. So this opportunity gave me experience to stay in character against a dynamic environment. The challenge was holding character focus, to sustain my perceived imaginary circumstances.

The learning here was realising that as a character, having a solid character focus is vital for maintaining performance against distractions.

Key Takeaways as an Actor

To summarise, my biggest takeaways that aid my acting journey to this day are;

1. The experience of fully engulfing my being in to the “skin” of my character. Now I know one way to that mental state.
2. Be proactive in bringing my character to life, not await instructions like a robot. To increase the authenticity.
3. Be aware of my non-verbal communication as a character. As the actor, it helps ground and shape my performance.
4. Observe people, and that will widen my experience of humans. This expands my imagination of characters I try to act.
5. Fortify my character focus so I can sustain my perceived imaginary circumstances in a dynamic environment.