The Splendour of Love (Sunday People)

First published in New Sunday Times

8th November 2008

The splendour of love
MAX KOH 

Touring theatre group Footstool Players examines the different sides of love. MAX KOH gets the lowdown from director Colin Kirton

Love, sang Nat King Cole, is a many splendoured thing. The many different sides of love, courtship, marriage and family are explored in touring theatre group Footstool Players’ production, A Crazy Little Thing Called Love, now showing in Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac).

Comprising short sketches that range from comedy to drama, the play addresses both the joyous and difficult sides of relationships.

“In this day and age, it is very easy to be cynical and jaded about love,” says Colin Kirton who directs and produces the play. “We hope that this play will give people hope about love and a new fresh start on the idea of it.”

The play comprises little sketches — a trademark of the theatre group — that not only focuses on courtship, but also relationships in the context of marriage and family.

“We are not trying to hide the pain or struggle but want to show that there is still new hope for difficult relationships,” says the Chinese-Scot who also acts in the play.


Colin Kirton

In other words, A Crazy Little Thing Called Love is more than fluff entertainment. “Our audience will ponder on love, life and relationships.”

While the title may borrow its name from a Queen song, the play was inspired by the realities of people’s relationships.

“In 2004, the non-governmental organization Focus on the Family asked us to come up with some sketches for their seminars.

“We came up with 25-minute sketches and took the show all over the country,” says Kirton. “It touched a lot of raw nerves. At that point, we knew that we wanted to expand on this theme.”

But Kirton who also acted in Broken Bridges – The Musical and Julius Caesar was only able to focus on this project at the end of last year.

In producing the play, the team members displayed unwavering commitment and passion. They had to attend rehearsals and performances unless there is an important family emergency. Rehearsals would intensify from once a week to every night when the performing date approached.


Scenes from two of the sketches

But of course, challenges were bound to happen. Kirton recalls an example: “One of our actors, Soon Ee Wei, was posted to Penang as part of his job during one of our performance run. Every weekend, he would fly down to one of the towns we were performing and fly back to Penang on Monday morning.”

Established in 2001, the Footstool Players began as a drama ministry in Subang Jaya Gospel Centre. It soon grew to become an inter-denominational team that performs in churches nationwide. Its previous productions include Runaway Bride and Walk His Trial.

“We are just a theatre group that is committed to our art form. We are here to share stories with the general public. This is a show about love and not faith.”

Besides churches, the team has also performed in schools and colleges.

“We can’t operate as a commercial organisation because it costs a lot of money. However, a financial burden was lifted when KLPac offered to sponsor the venue. “That was really a push factor for us.”

With more a sophisticated venue, Kirton emphasises that the focus is still on the performance.

“We don’t use a lot of props in our plays. Our set is minimalist as we put the onus on the actors to carry the story.”

This minimalism is due to its nature of touring to different venues in previous productions. In fact, before the performance in KLPac, the team has already performed the play in various venues in Klang Valley.

I had the opportunity to watch one night and left with something to think about my relationships in my life. There were instances I laughed out loud and times I silently pondered.

“The collection of little sketches is a trademark. This gives us the flexibility to talk about different facets of love in different periods of people’s lives,” says Kirton.

• Catch A Crazy Little Thing Called Love at KLPac’s Pentas 2 until Nov 16. Tickets: RM30 (adults)/RM20 (students, senior citizens, disabled). Call 03-40479000 (KLpac) or 03-20949400 (The Actors Studio @ BSC) or visit www.klpac.com. Also visit www.footstoolplayers.com.