The Chinese proverb, “One minute on stage, ten years of practice off stage” highlights the immense, unseen effort and long-term dedication required to achieve a seemingly effortless performance. The children’s fairy tale drama “Ma-Lan-Hua” performed by the children’s drama class of our Society is a classic example.
This children’s drama developed around the theme of ‘truth, goodness and beauty”. The story described how Ma Lang and the little animals in the forest tried their best to protect the magical flower ‘Ma-Lan-Hua’ on the mountain. This flower had the mysterious power of helping the hardworking people to fulfill their wishes. At the foot of the mountain lived an old couple, Senior Wang and his wife, who had two daughters: lazy Da Lan and the kind hardworking Xiao Lan. They also had an old cat knowing lots of tricks. The story evolved around the battle between good and evil.
When news about the production of the drama show spread in the community, it received a lot of support from passionate professionals. There were only 3 paid staff members in the office at the time, all working for the Family Day Care Development Service Project. Thus, preparation work for the production of the show depended on the efforts of volunteers.
The children’s drama class teachers spent extra time helping the young actors to practise, work on the dialogues, build up their physique, choreograph dances and practise singing. When they practised the labour dance and harvest dance, the children were excited about the new style of dancing. While the children were practising, a team of over 50 parent volunteers were busy sewing costumes, making props and preparing meals.
The most precious aspect was the volunteer assistance provided by professional artists from China in various areas of acting, stage effects, composing music and lighting, etc. The main character ‘Xiao Lan’ was played by a well-known actress, Mingdi Tam. Veteran professional children’s drama educators, the couple Lingsun Hu and Huili Wang, taught the children acting while also played the roles of Senior Wang and Madam Wang. Haiyun Fung from the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music composed the music for the drama show. Stage design was done by internal designer Junrui Li and film studio set designer Yuanheng Chen. Bing Xi, stage designer from the Beijing Central Experimental Drama Theatre, was responsible for the lighting.
Unlike the cultural performance held earlier which was mainly music and dance, ‘Ma-Lan-Hua’ was entirely a drama show performed in Mandarin. Ticket sales were a challenge as there were fewer potential audiences. Fortunately, some Chinese Schools were willing to provide a helping hand and encouraged parents to buy tickets. Volunteers also actively promoted the drama show and sold tickets at shopping centres, community events and restaurants, etc.
After a year of intense preparation, ‘Ma-lan-hua’ was finally staged at the UNSW Science Theatre on 12 October 1991. The 800 seats were all filled. Once the curtain was open, the beautiful backdrops, captivating music, professional lighting and the dedicated performance of the children all combined into an enchanting scene. The morning glories, deer, birds, koalas and the forest fairies brought out the innocence, liveliness and kindness in their delicate performance.
The concerted efforts brought not only an outstanding performance but also raised $10,000 for EACH and created a positive response from the community. It attracted many new enrolments to the children’s drama class. From the original 20 students, the number rapidly increased to over 40. There were 9 classes with over 70 students at its peak.
🤔With such a positive response to cultural activities, would there be further expansion in the area? Stay tuned for the next article!
