We, my crazy drama group, had our first rehearsal this morning for our experimental black-box piece which is coming to the Penang Performing Arts Centre for 1 night only on September 6.

There are two earth-shattering things (for me) which make this very different. First off, even though I wrote it, I’m not directing it. Talented and young and award-winner actress Ysabel Loh is directing her first performance, and she did an amazing job this morning, as I knew she would. It was kind of fun for me to sit back and watch.

The second earth-shattering difference for this piece is that I’M ACTING!!! I’m one of those very strange people – I teach acting, but I’m not an actor. I just learned everything I know through writing and then directing. But this time, I’m on-stage. I had to go through the memorization process earlier this week to get down my lines, and I’ve had to do everything I tell my actors to do. Well, I must admit that I enjoyed it. So I’ll be making my acting debut in front of a paying audience. Pretty cool. It’s going to be a blast.

This is a UNIQUE and rather deep piece about what influences society. The audience is going to be totally confused, but it will be a ton of fun.

“How to Build a Dictator”

Written by Mark W Sasse

Directed by Ysabel Loh

Tuesday, September 6 @ 8:30 pm, penangpac Stage 2

Admission: 10RM at the door