Teater Ekamatra And The Need For Malay Representation in Singapore’s Theatre Scene
PUBLISHED June 20th, 2018 06:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 02:55 pm
“If the person whom you love the most suddenly forgets you, what would you do?” That was the impetus for Teater Ekamatra’s staging of Potong, which played a short run at the Malay Heritage Centre in Singapore last March.
For the best of Singapore’s arts calendar, check out our guide to the most anticipated arts productions of 2018.
In many ways, the show brings to mind The Necessary Stage’s Don’t Forget To Remember Me, as well as Pangdemonium’s The Father. All three revolves around dementia and explores the symptoms of sufferers and their families in unique stories of loss and grief. Only one strays away from what we’ve come to expect towards something more unique: one that spotlights the Malay-Muslim community. In that regard, Teater Ekamatra is a bit different. Against the wave of Western-leaning theatre in Singapore that self-professed ‘fans of the arts’ consume, their works are an appreciated departure from the norm.
The group was first founded in 1988 by playwright and dramatist Lut Ali and his wife Rubie Lazim to develop a form of experimental Malay theatre that fuses traditional Southeast Asian theatre styles with more contemporary techniques. At the time, this was a departure from the era’s folktale-based stories that then characterised the Malay theatre scene in Singapore. Since then, the company has gradually shifted its gradually shifted its focus to reach out to non-Malay audiences, particularly through the use of English subtitles and collaborations with other theatre groups, as well as socio-political themes that reach outside the ethnic community.
Noor Effendy, who served as Teater Ekamatra’s Artistic Director from 2001 to 2006 was instrumental in taking the group’s productions overseas with theatre exchanges for youths, workshops, and collaborations with regional artists. In 2003, he created Projek Suitcase, a ‘poor theatre’ format that involves one actor and one suitcase – the idea was to show how actors can captivate audiences simply through words and motion – an allusion to the traditional art form of storytelling. The first edition featured works by Singaporean and Malaysian playwrights, and debuted at the Esplanade’s Pesta Raya Malay Festival of Arts and at the Stor Teater in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Subsequently, it was brought back four times, and will return again later this year.
As time passes, issues and elements that concern the Malay-Muslim community have become more prevalent in the local theatre scene. Johnny Jon Jon’s Potong, which literally translates to “cut”, shines a light on Islamic male circumcision, as well as what it feels like to be a Muslim and transgender. Irfan Kasban’s (the director of Teater Ekamatra) 2017 work for Singapore:Inside Out, KAMI/ (Us / God), is partly inspired by the Sufi text, Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar.
Still, it is not without its deriders. In 1998, theatre dynamo Aidli “Alin” Mosbit presented six Malay actresses who shaved their heads and shouted vulgarities in her work Ikan Cantik (Beautiful Fish). Unsurprisingly, many of these works have led conservative Malay-Muslims to label them as un-Islamic. Today, a younger influx of Malay theatre artists have entered the scene, only their works take on a more extrinsic nature like racial, political, and societal topics so as to attract non-Malays. Alfian Sa’at, who is also one of Singapore’s more vocal writers, won the Life! Theatre Award for Best Original Script in 2013 with his work Kakak Kau Punya Laki.
Later, non-Malay writers also delved into Malay sentiments in their works, though it is often more nationalistic than it is racial. Mata Hati (2010), written by Chinese playwright Dr Robin Loon, which takes on the machinery of Singapore’s government when a young female post-grad interviews a high-flying Malay minister. Later, Charged (2011) by Chong Tze Chien explored the tension between the Malay and Chinese in Singapore through a tragedy at an army camp. All three works were presented by Teater Ekamatra. And when you look at the totality of it all – it is an attempt to confront how Malays are generally viewed in Singapore.
Teater Ekamatra will present ‘Tiger of Malaya’ from 12 to 23 September 2018 at the Drama Centre Black Block. Tickets available via SISTIC.
