Word Magic
Have you ever written
stories that never seen the light of day? Or never dared to share them to
anyone? Well then, for budding and aspiring writers just like you, your words
could get you to Australia!
On the 27th of February, a team from Write Tales visited us at Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas to introduce us to an exciting competition and to give us a sneak peek into what their drama and writing workshops would be like. They kick-started with a humorous and dramatic kidnapping scene performed by actors from ASWARA (Malaysia’s National Academy of Arts), completed with accompanying drum beats to set in the atmosphere.
Next was a short rhythmic interaction session with Colin Mills, where everyone in the audience stomped and clapped, creating simple rhythms that made the floor vibrate, while also creating a sense of unity which flowed through everyone in the audience. Then, another skit was performed by the ASWARA actors where they had their own rendition of the song “Listen”. Their skit was performed by the characters of a grandmother and her 2 granddaughters to tell the audience about the details of the competition.
Following the skit, the Write Tales team gave us a glimpse of what their workshop would be like in addition to helping us start writing our own stories. The scenes acted out before were there to give us ideas about new characters and story lines. Write Tales taught us everything from building characters from people we know, the impact of names for characters, to the importance of intertwining your own passion into your stories. They stimulated our minds into thinking creatively and imaginatively. However, they weren’t all business and no play: they not only asked questions to motivate us to write, but also prepared games for the audience to participate in. The games were there for us to learn about status and power and to give us a perspective of weak and strong characters. They showed us that writing and drama could be basically summed up with one phrase: “a whole lot of fun”.
Even though the experience was brief (one hour was simply not enough!), but it did impact a number of students positively. The whole interactive experience was fun and especially great, and we all got lamingtons after the talk! The thought-provoking talk encouraged many of us to start writing short stories, even for those who were not so keen on writing. As a whole, the talk not only inspired students to creating artistic projects, but also convinced a number of students to join their drama and writing workshop.
Happy writing!
On the 27th of February, a team from Write Tales visited us at Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas to introduce us to an exciting competition and to give us a sneak peek into what their drama and writing workshops would be like. They kick-started with a humorous and dramatic kidnapping scene performed by actors from ASWARA (Malaysia’s National Academy of Arts), completed with accompanying drum beats to set in the atmosphere.
Colin Mills leading the audience
Next was a short rhythmic interaction session with Colin Mills, where everyone in the audience stomped and clapped, creating simple rhythms that made the floor vibrate, while also creating a sense of unity which flowed through everyone in the audience. Then, another skit was performed by the ASWARA actors where they had their own rendition of the song “Listen”. Their skit was performed by the characters of a grandmother and her 2 granddaughters to tell the audience about the details of the competition.
Actors performing the "Listen" skit
Following the skit, the Write Tales team gave us a glimpse of what their workshop would be like in addition to helping us start writing our own stories. The scenes acted out before were there to give us ideas about new characters and story lines. Write Tales taught us everything from building characters from people we know, the impact of names for characters, to the importance of intertwining your own passion into your stories. They stimulated our minds into thinking creatively and imaginatively. However, they weren’t all business and no play: they not only asked questions to motivate us to write, but also prepared games for the audience to participate in. The games were there for us to learn about status and power and to give us a perspective of weak and strong characters. They showed us that writing and drama could be basically summed up with one phrase: “a whole lot of fun”.
An example of story telling
Even though the experience was brief (one hour was simply not enough!), but it did impact a number of students positively. The whole interactive experience was fun and especially great, and we all got lamingtons after the talk! The thought-provoking talk encouraged many of us to start writing short stories, even for those who were not so keen on writing. As a whole, the talk not only inspired students to creating artistic projects, but also convinced a number of students to join their drama and writing workshop.
For those of you who
are interested in the competition, but unfortunately missed out on the talk,
you can go check out the Write Tales website at writetales.co.au
BY MUTHIA QUONITA
