Phew. The intense Drama & Play Sprint is over with a bang—a public show! On top of that, we had a 3-day test run in the new ActonKL home in Taman Paramount, last-minute actor changes, and a change of venue for the Exhibition.
Highlights:
- Adjusting to a New Home
- Space & Light
- Props Making & Rehearsals
- Love our Neighbors
- Show Time!
- Wait. Jared’s Birthday!
- Crowd!
- Ghost in the House by the Hummingbird
- The Tale of the Rusty Horse by Blue Jays
- Corrupted by Wealth, by Middle School Eagles
Adjusting to a New Home
Space & Light
After months of preparation, we finally moved ActonKL’s campus from Taman Zaaba to Taman Paramount. The final week of any Sprint is always filled with high intensity as Eagles prepare for an exhibition. This is no different. It is the most intense in the history of ActonKL so far, due to the nature of a public play. The Eagles spent the first part of the week (Monday to Wednesday) in Taman Paramount. There was no Core Skills time—the exhibition’s preparation was heavy. Then, they rehearsed on Thursday and Friday in an event space in Bangsar, where we held the Exhibition.
The Eagles built their first learning community in Taman Zaaba campus for 1.5 years. It was cozy. 2,000 square feet of indoor space, 1,300 square feet of outdoor space, and a 5-acre park right next door. The house served as a good starting point as the first Acton Academy mission outside of the Americas.
Now, with more than 25 Eagles, Acton Academy KL aspired more space. In this new home, there’s plenty. 4,000 square feet of indoor space and 10,000 square feet of outdoor space. While we missed having a park next door, there is a 20-acre park 7-minutes walk away.
The spaces in Taman Paramount are bright with natural light. It has natural vantage points of the surrounding area—the house sits at the highest point in Taman Paramount.
Also, there’s a space where every Eagle can enjoy their meal together. Yes, a proper gathering space.
The Eagles started a relationship with the new home, by exploring with activities and making friends here.
Still, there were mixed feelings. Here’s what the young Eagles said:
“I miss the old school :(”
“We love this place already.”
“Mummy let me take you on a tour”
Mostly, Eagles were very excited to start a new chapter at our new home.
Props Making & Rehearsals
The Drama & Play Exhibition demanded much attention. Props Making, rehearsals, and just exploring the new Taman Paramount home was top of the agenda! There were no Core Skills during this crucial week.
The Eagles created props using cardboard, and other recycled materials. The extra space allowed the two teams to work and rehearse with ease despite the chaos that typically fuels Exhibition week.
Rehearsals were repeated in many forms, from coordinating timing to getting the expression exactly right.
“We must give our best!”
And the final rock climbing and mindfulness session! Thank you Camp 5 and Auntie Harsha for bringing varieties to th ES Studio!
Meanwhile, the Middle School upstairs is buzzing with work as they put up the 2nd issue of Eagle Times. Unlike the Taman Zaaba campus where the Middle School was divided over five 100-150 square foot space, the Taman Paramount Middle School campus has one large 500+200 square foot space with two smaller 150-200 square foot space. There’s a sense of unity with every MS Eagle working in one enlarged common space.
Love our Neighbors
Schools in some neighborhoods bring horror stories. Schools, especially large-scale ones are associated with loud school bells, noisy children, and traffic jams. If you are a neighbor who wants peace, it is a pain! Acton Academy Kuala Lumpur is not a school, it is a learning community with a student population not more than one school classroom. No school bells, no defiant behaviors—Eagles manage themselves through a model society and hold each other accountable; no traffic jams as our community is small.
Also, we build community gardens that are open to the community. Many neighbors greeted us in Taman Zaaba with curious eyes of our edible garden. Conversations about gardening and sharing of our harvest became a healthy icebreaker.
These relationships with the community take time. It is no different being new in Taman Paramount. We want to build relationships by doing our work as a good, loving neighbor. We want to be in a local community so that our Eagles can serve, and benefit. The intention is for the well being of everybody around us.
So, our Eagles created greeting cards for our neighbors as part of their arts and craft session. They did it with lots of fun.
This is just the beginning. The garden needs time to grow; the studio features need modification through experimentation; the traffic needs families coordination in their traveling journeys.
We look forward to doing these work together. The new campus will flourish. Simply because—the Eagles love their new home.
Show Time!
Thursday and Friday were spent in an event space in Bangsar. Thursday was on-stage rehearsals, and Friday was preparation for the big evening!
The Eagles had to make many adjustments to make a show “exhibition standard”. Here’s a partial list: get their props and positions right, get the movements through each scene seamless by the second, get their actions in the stage environment right, get the audience engagement right, get sound projection and audio systems right too. Most of all, they needed to manage their emotions and feelings before the show!
That’s the challenge of any live show with multiple moving parts. It is much like putting an orchestra together—hard work.
It’s a lot to expect for many of our young Eagles. So, their preparation was practice, practice and more practice.
Wait. Jared’s Birthday!
Despite the busy schedule, the Eagles found time celebrating our youngest Eagles’ birthday. Jared, who recently joined ActonKL turned six. His family came to share his story in typical Acton style—one story for each year and snacks in the form of cupcakes!
Yummy cupcakes. Back to work.
Crowd!
The moment arrived as guests started pouring in.
What’s a show without snacks? The Eagles also sold food to raise funds for their new studios in Taman Paramount.
Everyone put effort into their little individual projects to raise funds—cookies, hot dogs, fruit skewers, popcorn, brownies, cupcakes, etc.
There were three shows, two from the Elementary School Eagles and one from the Middle School Eagles. All the shows were written, directed and produced by the Eagles themselves. Each group also gave themselves team names—the Hummingbird, Blue Jays and the “Act-inKL Middle School Eagles”.
Ghost in the House by the Hummingbird
The story is about Gwen and her cat Tilly moving into their new house. There were surprises, involving a fairy and ghosts!
It is a classic Hero’s Journey where Gwen had to overcome her fears to move forward. Along the way, she has mentors and fellow travelers.
But there was a crisis. A crisis that called for a hero. Both the main actor and her understudy fell ill on the big day. Do we cancel the play or to allow Eagles to rise up to the challenge?
Abhi volunteered with full confidence.
“Ms. Caryn don’t worry I can do this! I can memorize Gwendo’s script.”
The show went on as planned, and every member of the Hummingbird team adapted to the situation. The situation became a double representation of the Hero’s Journey, where one transformed through a journey of challenges.
The Tale of the Rusty Horse by Blue Jays
Next up, is the tale of the rusty horse. This tale starts in a school where there are children and toys everywhere. The children loved playing with Rusty the horse until he became rusty. After that, the children did not want to play with him anymore.
Rusty felt sad. One day, a fairy came and granted Rusty a wish.
Was Rusty happy? Or did Rusty learn the most valuable lesson in the world?
So, what’s the most valuable lesson in the world? I will reveal this at the end of this post!
“Corrupt by Wealth” by Act-in KL Middle School Eagles
The Middle School brought together a much more complex show, where they got the audience into laughter, suspense and twists. The story:
“Following the death of his extremely wealthy parents, Danial contacts the relatives stated in the will not knowing what he has coming for him. Will any of them lose control over the sight of wealth? Will greed take over? Come help solve this mystery together!”
The script had plenty of wit in each character, especially the two of Danial’s relatives, portrayed by Katelynn and Aqeesha. Oh, and it is detailed—13 scenes over 2 acts. The script is 30 pages long, with almost 6,000 words.
Then, the story took a turn, with a murder of Danial. Towards the end, the audience guessed who is the accomplice in the murder case. It took few attempts, and they found it through reviewing various evidence.
There was a mini-competition, where the audience had to vote for the best actors. It was a tight race, and we had to count the votes. Gaia, a Middle School who took a break from this sprint, saved the day. She performed songs and shared her story and dreams. Here’s her YouTube channel.
Despite the challenges, nerves, and chaos, everyone came together and rose together. One special mention to Andre, who has been particularly shy on stage. He went full steam on an Exhibition with courage!
As usual, the Elementary School (ES) Eagles shared their perspective:
“This is so fun!!!”
“I don’t feel nervous at all when I’m up on stage!”
“Can we please try again next year?”
The unfortunate thing was the two ES Eagles—Chucky and Uma who couldn’t make it. The ES studio was stung by a flu bug and few more ES Eagles fell sick after the show too. Rest and recover Eagles!
So, what’s next for the Eagles? We are half way into a three-week holiday, and the next Quest is the Marine Science Quest. There will be a period of adjustment as we build the new campus. Gardens, right space, and new friends.
Yes, more drama and play ahead. Such is the game of life.
The most valuable lesson in the world? Accepting yourself so that you can honestly express yourself to the world.
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