JELUTONG, May 2 – The launching ceremony for the “Let’s Play: Youth Drama Basic Course” was held at the Penang Youth Space in Jelutong, Penang which was attended by YB Soon Lip Chee, Penang State EXCO for Youth and Sports, and Dr. Gwee Sai Ling, General Manager of the Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC). “Let’s Play: Youth Drama Course” is a program to revive the local performance arts scene after the COVID-19 pandemic through drama courses for the youth to participate and learn the skills for the theatrical arts.
This program is organised by the Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC), in collaboration with Triple I Production House as project planner and supported by MyPenang Creative and Pusat Khidmat Rakyat Parlimen Balik Pulau. This program is also a part of the “Youth With Rhythm” initiative by PYDC under its new “Youth In Drama” sub initiative. YB Soon Lip Chee mentioned in his speech, “I believe that this course will be highly beneficial for the youth in our community, not only by providing them with a platform to showcase their talents.
But also by enhancing their self-confidence and social skills. Drama and theatre can help young people build resilience and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for success intoday’s rapidly changing world”. Dr. Gwee Sai Ling also added in her speech, “PYDC is committed to continue developing the youth in a very holistic way through many different fields. The theatrical arts scene is not only hobby, it is also an industry that is growing and the youth can be trained to also venture into this field.
Hence, the ‘Let’s Play: Youth Drama Courses’ is a very suitable platform for the youth to learn more about the field of theatrical arts”. “Let’s Play: Youth Drama Course” is open for registration starting at April 2023 and will be divided into three phases. The first phase is “Let’s Play: Basic Youth Drama Course” that will be held from May 2023 to July 2023 and will comprise of Module 1 and Module 2 totalling to 12 sessions. The basic course syllabus contains basic acting classes, basic body movement class, stage management system class and vocal training class.
The second phase is “Let’s Play: Advanced Youth Drama Course” that will be held from August 2023 to November 2023 and will comprise of Module 3 and Module 4 totalling to another 12 sessions. The advanced course syllabus contains advance acting classes, advance body movement class, technical class, scriptwriting class and makeup & costume class. The third phase is Showcase Performance that is scheduled in November 2023. There will be 4 performances, one performance for each class group. The purpose of the final performance is to allow participants to utilise and showcase performance skills learned throughout the course.
The final performance also allows the talent of the participants to be noticed by local theatre troupes and can then be further developed and lead to increased job opportunities. The course will be provided in three languages which are Mandarin Class and also a dual language class in Malay and English. Each language will have two separate classes at two different locations which are Pusat Belia Bagan Jermal and Pusat Belia Balik Pulau, totalling to four different classes. In terms of fees, the registration fee for “Let’s Play: Basic Youth Drama Course” is RM 30 and it is fully refundable upon 75% attendance or more.
