You say Melaka, I say Malacca...

Spent yesterday in Melaka, an historic town situated about 2 hours south of KL. It's a quirky wee state, with a rich mix of culture seen in the architecture, people, and busy tourism industry. Funny that I went all the way to Malaysia, to find myself back in Christchurch...



The thing I find odd about the place is the times it has been colonised (and re-colonised) first by the Portuguese (c. 1511), then the Dutch (c. 1641), then the English (c. 1824), briefly occupied by the Japanese (1941-1945), and then eventually tag teamed to form Malaysia (1963). Despite the constant shift in its governance, the locals here are pretty casual, and it's no where as busy as it is in KL.

The legend regarding the founding of Melaka includes something about a mouse deer which looks like this...



...so it is somewhat of an iconographic (and unknowingly cute) marker for Melaka (alongside the churches, land reclamation, Malay tradition)...



Given that we have a fat flightless bird as our national symbol I shouldn't be so patronizing.



Anyway, off with the tourist hat. And now for a moment of celebration- a great review of The Court Jester's show A Very Merry Scriptless here, a full length improvised Christmas musical. Lin Clark has reviewed a few of my shows in the past, slightly encouraging but never entirely convinced. It sounds like she genuinely liked this one...

"It takes a team with assured physical and vocal skills to handle song and story without dropping the pace or losing the thread. Jeff Clark, Andrew Todd and Kathleen Burns each bring individual strengths to their hectic performances, but the outstanding quality of the work is their trust and solidarity with each other."

It is rare that you will come by a good review for an improv show, theatre critics seem to either be seduced by the novelty of an ask-for, or in complete (and often scathing) disbelief that an improviser/actor can actually be active and available enough to create a spontaneous story in the moment. I managed to catch it before I left. Great work team, 10 house points!



It is coming up to that time of year again...the last Scared Scriptless of the year. I am sad to be missing out on this years festivities. All in company shows are always full of mischief and playfullness, in the true spirit of Christmas. The Christchurch public will be yearning for some much needed laughter and relief that I have no doubt they will receive in the last show of 2011. Can't wait for the move into the big kid's theatre in 2012. Merry Christmas Jesters!