The long awaited Bangsawan Post!

My humble apologies for the delayed post, so many things to do, so little time!
(perhaps I should've listened to you, Nick about joining as a senior..Haha :P)

Anyways, BANGSAWAN was GREAT! Honestly, it was waaaaay better than last years - especially since all houses won something, since let's face it; NO ONE likes to go home empty handed right? ;)

So, the first house to perform was Sapphire with their usual rendition of the empire of Salsabilah and it's royal family. This time, it was about treachery in which the Sultanah herself has supposedly betrayed the trust of the Sultan while he was in battle by having an affair with the 'Pendeta Istana'. All hell breaks loose, especially since the own Sultan's mother (victoriously acted out by Syrrushaqwa!) had an unspoken vendetta against the reining Sultanah. Accompanied by her naive daughter, they manage to influence the Sultan to believe this lies and he decides to blindly take their words whole. It has a tearful end when the Sultan finally stabs the Sultanah's pregnant belly, and a curse breaks out - killing everyone on stage (a funny sight saw our own Firdaus Rahim dying a horrible death! haha!) leaving only the Sultan alive. Tragic death of innocent souls, a classic! Sapphire managed to cleansweep all the female awards - Best Actress to Amira Anis (second time! Woot!) and Best Supporting Actress by Wawa. Besides, that Sapphire also grabbed the top spot of Best Drama and Best Director. Yay!

Next was the House of Reds - Garnet. The story had a very colourful approach - with backgrounds that immediately caught our eyes (a sudden contrast to Sapphires soft blues) and the costumes were really grand! Anyways, the story was about this Sultan who felt that his own men were plotting against him, so he feints his death. When it becomes obvious that there was indeed, betrayal going on, he came back to life and sorted out his men. The loyal ones joined his forces immediately to fight with the King and it all ends with them frozen in action as they try to win back the throne. The highlight of the show was seeing Ozair's hearty laugh - and of course Syafi'e as one of the pembesar (I think!). Garnet, with their amiable house-spirit managed to win the People's Choice Award (first time held by SMS-votes in College history!) and also Best Supporting Actor - for Pi'e!

Up after the short break (where we refilled our tummies with oh-so-yummy Karipaps and Popiahs), was the house of Diamond. Speaking as a Sapphire-an, this was one drama I was looking forward to, especially after their breath-taking performance last year (as for you juniors, go watch the VCD in the RC to marvel at their performance!). Boasting actors like Nasyitah, Shahirul Syafiq and juniors like Nuddin and Farhana, they really pulled it off well and won a total of FOUR awards - Best Props, Best Costume, Best Dance and Best Technical. The story was about a rich merchant's daughter who has premonitions that after she marries the man of her dreams, things start to turn bad. The Sultan gets annoyed that he wasn't enlightened on the existence of a fair maiden, and thus seeks revenge.

Last but not least was the best crowd-amuser of all - The Great Topaz! As usual, they didn't leave out the comical bits that make us yearn for Topaz's performance; although it WAS a bit more serious. Finally, there was a 'jalan-cerita' where three childhood friends cum brothers journey to become kingsmen. When one of them finally succeeds, the other two left behind find it hard to accept their failure, especially Megat (brilliantly brought to life by Zulazwan!). His envy turns into rage when he also loses the chance to win the village sweetheart's (Dalilah) heart to this so-called 'buddy'. He starts to poison minds and it finally leads to murder and regret. Truly captivating performance, especially when Totok quoted the line "Lauk sepinggan, kongsi berdua!" Whoaa...that one shook the audience really good! It's no surprise then that Totok won Best Actor and Topaz also managed to grab Best Script for the night!

Oh wow, talk about a recap..Haha..

Now, for pics..You can go to Poh Teck Kang's blog for more pictures as these were taken from there too!


Some of the Sapphireans posing together


The Garnet Sultan and his soon-to-be betrayers


A terrifying moment as the Sultan displays his fury..Yeeks!


Topaz's dancers - and it was so nice to see BOYS dance for a change!! :D

Last but not least - the SUPPORTERS!! Without you guys, there would be no meaning to the performances :)


TOPAZ


DIAMOND


GARNET


SAPPHIRE

Kudos to the Cultural Club for organizing such a smooth event. Here's to a memorable Bangsawan which shall be cherished for years to come, and may the juniors continue this tradition just because it's FUN! :D