Royal intrigue, the brandishing of knives and guns, sixteenth century costumes and a touch of Bollywood marked the return of Shakespeare’s plays to the Ipoh stage on 25 March at the ACS school auditorium. Students from SMK Convent, Methodist Girls School (MGS) and the Ipoh International School enacted selected scenes from three plays, King Lear, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar. They had different takes on Shakespeare and their efforts on stage proved they had skill and poise beyond their years.
The stage performance is one of the many events in the Perak Performing Arts Festival (PPAF) being organised by the Perak Society of Performing Arts (PSPA). It is a community outreach programme involving selected schools in Ipoh. This pilot project, titled Exploring Shakespeare, aims to lead students into an exploration of the works of the literary genius, William Shakespeare. The programme is the brainchild of Dato’ Richard Small and Chin Yoong Kim, drama aficionados and distinguished academicians in Ipoh literary circles, who were also the advisors and mentors. In his opening speech, Dato’ Richard highlighted the importance of diction, enunciation and stagecraft in stage performances, and commended the students who were able to put up a show with less than one month of preparation.
SMK Convent put up a commendable performance of Twelfth Night. With an all-girls cast, the students appeared comfortable taking on male and female roles. The scenes focused on the arrogant steward to the countess Olivia, Malvolio, who was convinced that his lady had designs on him and wished to marry him. Not realising he had been set up by the servants of the house, he acted out his delusions, showing a pomposity that was contemptible yet amusing. The students played their roles eloquently, dramatising the trickery and deception in the play to the delight of the audience.
Yong Sook Yan was in her element as Malvolio and rightly deserved the Best Actor award for her succinct portrayal of the deluded steward.
King Lear came alive with the MGS students giving their all in the tragedy. The play is about a foolish king who gave away his kingdom to his two older daughters, only to realise his folly at the end when it was too late. He had disinherited his youngest daughter, Cordelia, because she fell short when professing her love for him. However the end saw him dying of grief when he realised the truth. Another all-girls cast, the students mesmerised the audience with their quite flawless acting and display of subtle nuances of emotion, showing a maturity of performance that kept the audience captivated. Alia Amira Zuhdi, the protaganist, won the Best Actor award for her brilliant portrayal of King Lear in this play.
The Ipoh International School went with an unusual adaption of Julius Caesar. 
Its international cast showcased a Bollywood-Malaysia-Shakespeare-styled stage production which went down very well with the audience. With an extraordinary combination of comedy, history, treachery, betrayal and murder, the performance was both humorous and sombre. The performers proved they were truly inventive and creative and kept the audience entertained throughout. Balakarthik a/l Balaravi was the best actor in this play.
His portrayal of Julius Caesar was a depiction of confidence, finesse and passion.
The judges for the event were Neil Sutherland and Carol Armour from Kolej Yayasan UEM who quite impressed with the students’ acting abilities and encouraged them to further explore this genre of the arts. 
The PSPA President, Datin Rosalina Ooi-Thong, herself an admirer of Shakespeare, expresses hope that this event will lead to a revival of stage productions of Shakespeare’s many great plays in Ipoh.
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