Manfred Schewe and I have been engaging with our passion for drama and language at opposite ends of the world, and our approaches and practices have much in common. My offering to the celebration of Manfred's work is a presentation and discussion of how I go about making pedagogical decisions. I will illustrate my own planning process through sharing the details of my 'Bukit Merah' drama, and illustrate how I attempt to hold both "the artistry of the form and the intended learning in one hand" (Dunn & Stinson 2011: 618) when drama is employed as a medium for language learning.