White Rabbit, Red Rabbit at DPAC

Bought a ticket online pretty much on a whim the night before the final local performance of the theatrical experiment White Rabbit, Red Rabbit at DPAC (Damansara Performing Arts Centre). The premise was interesting: a different actor for every performance for a written piece that requires no set, director or rehearsal. Performers receive the script on stage and perform it right there and then. Yes, the performer will be going into it blind. So will the audience.

Presented by the Instant Café Theatre in association with Aurora Nova Productions, this experimental script was penned by the 33-year-old Soleimanpour as an exit strategy when he was denied his passport by the Iranian authorities for not doing the obligatory two-year military service.

19 Feb (Wed) @ 8.30pm - Ghafir Akbar (English script)
20 Feb (Thu) @ 8.30pm - Iedil Putra (Bahasa)
21 Feb (Fri) @ 8.30pm - Anne James (English)
22 Feb (Sat) @ 3.00pm - Sharifah Amani (Bahasa)
22 Feb (Sat) @ 8.30pm - Pete Teo (English)
23 Feb (Sun) @ 2.00pm - Ee Ling Tang (Mandarin)
23 Feb (Sun) @ 4.00pm - Kuah Jenhan (English)

I don't know if it's because it's the last performance or that it's a Sunday afternoon, but I saw some local personalities this time. Turns out it was there was going to be a post-run discussion with all the other performers (and also the playwright?) present. Nope, didn't pay the RM10 donation to check out the discussion. Oh well. 

People were crowding around the door because it was free seating. I got an okay seat for myself. There was also some audience participation, which made me glad that I wasn't in the front row. I was a little upset that I was too far in the middle to get the copy of the script. 

Figured that with the MACC run this week, Jenhan wouldn't have had the chance to catch the show beforehand. That, and being a comedian who's done some improv comedy (notably, Actorlympics), this might be up his alley. I thought he killed it. Of course I had no baseline to compare.

The Actor and his wabbits

And yes, the story does involve rabbits. With a bit of a dark streak. 

While the actual performance was at most an hour long, but the script was so engrossing, it really felt longer than it was. There was also no intermission, which made me regret wearing slippers because my feet were FREEZING. 

Anyhow, if there was ever a performance of White Rabbit, Red Rabbit happening near you, go for it.