In life, at times something is just thrown into your lap. Something like this happened to me in my otherwise quiet and peaceful life. We do daily dramas in our house, office and place of worship but to do drama in front of an audience can be challenging. In this article, I will tell you how I was given a part to act in the play “Preeto, The Punjabi Aunty”. Ashvinder, my eldest daughter had written the script and sent it under Short and Sweet to Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts (KLPAC) and it was chosen. The script was to be acted out. So, she looked around for the ‘Aunty’ character and after much deliberation, she came up to me and said, I think you should act it out. I was shocked beyond words, I had never done theatre and on top of that, in front of an audience. She assured me that it would be alright as she had selected Ian Skatu to be the director. After much persuasion, I agreed to take the part. She found a young man, Sajjan and a beautiful girl, Preet to play out the part of Amrit and Sonia. Ash just picked us, there was no audition, we were supposed to be the best.
Tact run was on October 28, 2019, I was so nervous that I forgot the lines. My voice would not come out and Faridah Merican, the Director of KLPAC told me to calm down and repeat the act. I managed somehow and told myself that no matter what, I had to go on. I could not control myself, I thought I was going to die when it was our turn the opening night. Friends and relatives were seated and the place was full. Once the lights were focused on me, I started narrating which continued for the next 4 nights. After that was the final night. We did not make it to Sunday night but we were proud to have come this far. The support shown by my community (as you could see turbans and Punjabi ladies every night), told me that we should do part two of Aunty Preeto.
In early September 2019, our rehearsals began and we met every Saturday after that. The play dates were from October 30 till Nov 2, 2019. I was given a full page of lines to memorize and every time I would forget or say the wrong lines. Ian taught us voice projection, personal moment and how the team should come together in the play. We practiced in Ian’s apartment basement, at his studio and also his friend’s apartment studio.
Rehearsals in progress at Ian’s studio 2Two and Dinesha’s apartment
Now, let me tell you a bit about this play and Aunty Preeto’s character. Aunty Preeto goes to the Sikh temple (gurdwara) and helps in the kitchen. She has a number of friends and brags about her two kids to these people. She dresses well, coming from a well to do family but nothing is said about her husband. Otherwise, she is a real busy-body!
My friend, Perminder and her family came to support me
On one of the trips to the gurdwara, she talks about her unmarried daughter who is working and independent. She also mentions her son, Amrit when her friend thinks her daughter would be a good match for him. Her phones rings at one point and she makes a dash for home. She gets home and looks for her daughter Sonia who is busy on the phone with her Tamil boyfriend. She confronts Sonia and tells her that she will be looking for a husband for Sonia soon. This is when Sonia replies that her mother is a racist calling the Tamil boy, Kaala or dark. Preeto gets mad and calls for her son, Amrit who is in his room. He comes out and she probes further but both brother and sister start fighting. This is a typical scene in all our homes, brother shares sister’s secrets. He then blurts out that he has someone special too to which his mother gets excited. His words : can make round chappati, cook good food, sing Punjabi folk songs and at last he drops a bomb, my friend a ‘he’.
Aunty Preeto faints at this point as she is not prepared to hear all this (her son is a gay and her daughter is dating a boy of different race). Both her children have let her down. Amrit talks to Sonia and tells her all will be alright as their mother will come around and accept their relationship.
The event on Facebook!
The entire play was about 8 minutes but it felt like eternity. We would wait for our turn in the waiting room and here all the other teams gathered and we talked and had fun. I brought murukkus and Deepavali cookies to share. I bonded well with the youngsters as I was the only elderly lady during the Short and Sweet play.
Our Sikh community came to support us, thank you!
After the final night, I came home exhausted and for the next week had sore throat, body aches and flu. The play had taken a toll on me but I had the experience of being on stage in front of a big audience. We had to speak loudly so everyone in the audience could hear us, no microphone was allowed. Today if you ask me what ‘break your leg’ means; I will tell you in order to be in the cast, you have to break a leg. It is like saying ‘best of luck’ on your performance.
My colleagues from the Embassy and my family came to support me, thank you!
I smile at this beautiful experience as I know I am ready for part two of Aunty Preeto. I want to know how Preeto’s kids took such a turn in their life. I was asked to act out a character to which I am the opposite in real life. Our director Ian can now speak a few lines of Punjabi; one of which is “Chappayd na kha leyi” which means don’t get a slap! It was a challenge but I made it happen. Now I am waiting for more opportunities to be thrown at me, life is fun!
Lastly, Hilda Ooi my school mate who was also the judge came to greet me. Thank you, I still have a lot to learn.
