Section 06 of 14 · The company
Actors
The cast: who plays whom, how each role was cast during auditions, and interviews with the actors on how they crafted their performances.
The company Anson (Minor actor) Edward (Minor actor) Junming (Major actor) Maqil (Major actor) Max (Major actor) Mika (Minor actor) Nigel (Minor actor) Raoul (Minor actor) Yexiang (Major actor) Zilong (Minor actor)
The cast
In this section
Jalil (Yexiang)
"Innovation over tradition—I put us on the map!" > The Visionary Leader. Ambitious, forward-thinking, and proud. Jalil believes taking bold risks and charging higher rent at Marina Bay Sands is the only way to save the Pasar Malam from irrelevance, blind to how his grand vision squeezes the everyday stall owner.
Journalist (Anson)
"Following the second leadership restructuring this month... how did you overthrow Mr Jalil?" The Inquisitive Press. Eager for the scoop on the sudden market shakeup, they ask the probing questions that put Mr Bao and Mr Cai on the spot. They serve as the public eye, broadcasting the drama, shifting narratives, and capturing the downfall of the Pasar Malam's leadership.
Jun Ming(Marco)
Marco has been at the Pasar Malam as long as Jalil, and says almost nothing for most of the play. He gets one excited line during the celebration. Then his friend is dragged off by loan sharks, and the quiet man snatches a microphone. He never accuses anyone directly. He asks questions, repeats "Cai and Bao are honourable" until it stops sounding like a compliment, and lets one fact loose: there was never any vote. Antony had a crowd of thousands. Marco has six stall owners and a press conference, and it turns out that's enough.
Audition notes from director
We initially had a few students in mind but we decided to host the auditions anyways. As we had been in the same class for almost 1 and a half years already, we knew each student’s personalities quite well. This also played a part in our choosing of who played which character. For example, Yexiang who played Jalil, has a tall and intimidating figure which could represent Jalil’s oppressive nature. Our auditions were very simple. We invited any student who wanted to play a major actor to come early to school during the AWS period. Whoever did not come, we decided that that showed a lack of responsibility and therefore did not choose anyone who said that they would show up, but ended up not coming. During the auditions itself, we invited each student to leave the class for 5 minutes memorising a part of the script that the playwright and other director thought was important and could show the student’s skills well. This part was Bao’s soliloquy. After this 5 minutes, they came to the front of the class and acted out that part of the script. After that, we gave feedback and then asked them to perform the same line but in a different manner, for example more caring, or more selfish. We judged based on how well they acted out the scene, as well as how receptive they were to feedback and their ability to adapt. Some complications did arise however. Firstly, Yexiang was unable to perform as time did not permit. However, he willingly sent me a video recording of himself performing within a set time limit. Secondly, we thought that the other students were unfit to act. Hence, we had to appeal to other students we thought could be suitable. That was how we ended up on Jun Ming. After that, the director, playwright and I held a short discussion on who we thought were good enough to play our main actors. Then, we decided who should play which role in the play.
Interview with Mika
Interview with Jun Ming
Interview with Yexiang
