Ekamatra Workshop

Especially for those who missed the sold-out shows!
Grab your tickets for the matinee now!

TEATER EKAMATRA presents
nadirah
A tribute to Yasmin Ahmad for her spirit of bringing people of different races and religions together.

19th December 2009, 3pm
The Substation Theatre

Tickets:     $16 (Concession), $20 (Adults)
only through ticketing@ekamatra.org.sg

Of tolerance and acceptance; association and self-identity. In the face of challenges, Nadirah is to find out just how strong family and religion is. Will love or faith prevail?

Nadirah is written by Alfian Saat, directed by Zizi Azah Abdul Majid and Jo Kukathas, and stars the stellar cast of Siti Khalijah Zainal, Neo Swee Lin, Tony Quek, Shida Mahadi and Hatta Said. They are working with Izmir Ickbal’s set design, Toby Papazoglou’s light design and Anaiz Abdul Majid’s sound design. Catch them in action and find out their personal thoughts and experiences in a talk-back session following the play.

Nadirah is also supporting the sales of Amir Muhammad’s new book - Yasmin Ahmad’s Films. As a fellow Malaysian filmmaker and friend, Amir takes a new and personal look at Yasmin’s Rabun, Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin, Muallaf and Talentime. All the writer’s royalties from the first edition will be donated to the Mercy - Yasmin Ahmad Fund for Children.

We invite you to share this special occasion with us.

We would like to especially mention the invaluable support of the following sponsors that made Nadirah possible:

nadirah
Will love or faith prevail?
performed in Malay/English with English surtitles

17th – 19th December 2009, 8pm
The Substation Theatre
Tickets: $16 (Concession), $20 (Adults) from The Substation Box Office or through ticketing@ekamatra.org.sg

While there is accepted (and necessary) public tolerance and respect for different faiths, understanding differences within the confines of family seems too close for comfort. Perhaps possible. But we would like a difference between inter-faith and no-faith. We would like a space between personal faith and that of the people around us.
In facing hybrid identities, the breaking of family and its rebuilding, Nadirah will find out just how adaptive love and faith is. See Nadirah’s world and discover what prevails as Nadirah negotiates between love and difference; absolutes and pluralities.

Nadirah is a tribute to the late director Yasmin Ahmad for her spirit of bringing people of different races and religions together through her works.

Playwright: Alfian Sa’at
Director: Zizi Azah Abdul Majid
Set Designer: Izmir Ickbal
Lights Designer: Toby Papazoglou
Sound Designer: Anaiz Abdul Majid
Cast: Siti Khalijah Zainal, Neo Swee Lin, Tony Quek, Shida Mahadi, Hatta Said

Teater Ekamatra presents…

In Search of Wonderland

Written and directed by Zizi Azah Abdul Majid, the very same magician who gave you How Did the Cat Get So Fat?, Above Us Only Sky, Rhinoceros and Suap. See the best of her tricks yet!

With assistance from Anaiz Abdul Majid and Izmir Ickbal on sound and set, we give you the lovely exhibits - Najib Soiman, Siti Khalijah Zainal, Mish’aal Syed Nasar, Siti Zuraida Rahim & Shida Mahadi.

Expect the very unexpected from this absurdist tale told in rhymes and riddles from beginning to end. Explore a house on the Substation stage, complete with wacky family, for laughs and shocks all around.

But beware, lest you want to trade this for your own home. Or is your home already this?

Don’t miss out!

Grab your tickets at the Substation Box Office or through ticketing@ekamatra.org.sg, $14 (Concession) and $16 (Adults).

So you won’t get lost…

In Search of Wonderland
28th-30th May 2009, 8pm
The Substation Theatre
45 Armenian Street, Singapore 179936

… and don’t worry our non-Malay speaking friends, In Search of Wonderland is performed in Malay with English surtitles, so everyone has the right to enjoy.

We await your presence, when the fun shall begin!

Written by Verena Tay
Directed by Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Performed by Verena Tay, Shahril Wahid and Rizman Putra

Venue: The Substation Theatre, 45 Armenian Street
Dates & Time: Thu 14 to Sat 16 May 2009, 8pm
Ticket Price: $15 (adult) & $10 (concessions for NSF and students) from The Substation Box Office (Opening Hours on Mon-Fri, 2pm - 8pm; Tel: 63377800)

Bumiputra Cina is a process-based performance collaboration between writer and performer Verena Tay, and interdisciplinary artist Noor Effendy Ibrahim, that explores the conflicted sense of belonging and identity of a contemporary Chinese Singaporean woman coming to terms with the fast-changing landscape that she grew up in. The text and physical theatre performance investigates issues of home, generations, family, growth, marriage, longing, desire, and what it means to be ‘bumiputra’ or ‘prince of the soil’. Bumiputra Cina travels through time-space, looking at the idea of rootedness and connections from the perspectives of the ever-present land, a Chinese coolie, the life and death of war hero Lt Adnan Saidi, vignettes of contemporary life and cyberspace chats. Come journey with us and discover for yourself what it means to be ‘bumiputra’…

Performed in English, Malay and Hokkien. English surtitles provided.

Supported by the National Arts Council, Hong Leong Foundation, The Substation and Teater Ekamatra.

27th-28th March 2009, 8pm
The ACTION Theatre, The Room Upstairs
42 Waterloo Street
Singapore 187951

Projek Suitcase 2009 is making another comeback in Teater Ekamatra’s 2009 line up. Featuring 2 new mono-dramas by Anuar Mohd, Izad Omar and Jon Jon, this double bill is an attempt in giving voices to our domestic helpers and foreign workers.

Kkenang
Karyawan/ Playwright: Anuar Mohd and Izad Omar
Pengarah/Director: Fezhah Maznan
Pelakon/Actor: Shida Mahadi

Ingat posan atok, ingat baik baik yo
Jangan tinggal solat, kecuali telupo
Jangan mencurik kecuali terpakso
Jangan pulang kampoeng kecuali dah kayou

Kkenang is a play about a young woman who arrives in Singapore leaving behind her family to work as a domestic helper. Trapped within the four walls of a HDB flat, she fears that her memory will silently fade away. She begins to question her place in Singapore society. A land where education can be a crutch, old age is a prelude to loneliness and love comes with a price.

As she struggles to uphold her family legacy, she begins to doubt the very values she is fighting for. How does she reconcile her Minang upbringing with the demands of the patriarchal world?

This play aims to portray the plight and joy of Singapore migrant workers and also the issues of alienation, assimilation, submission and reconciliation.

Kkenang is a longing for the pass that is tinged with sadness and loss.

Uncle
Karyawan/Playwright: Jon Jon
Pengarah/Director: Shan-Rievan Salleh
Pelakon/Actor: Andrew Jeevan

The storm approaches now
And I,
I will deliver them.
Not the living nor the dead for they have lived,
And wrought no dreams.
I will deliver them,
The Children.
I will deliver them from this kingdom till the next.
From this less than perfect design.
I will deliver the Children to the edge of their dreams.
And I will drive the monsters back to the underground.
I will send them back to a place where no one can see them.
And there I will keep my vigil.

Uncle escapes a place where he is regarded as filth to a place where he ironically enough cleans the filth. He meets a little girl called Lisa and develops a chaste friendship with her. He soon discovers a dark secret that Lisa harbors and goes on a chase to bring justice to the one who caused the sun to set in her eyes. In Lisa, he sees a chance to seek redemption and closure to a life of constant alienation.

BH Projek Suitcase 2009 Review

SKRIP MANTAP

Dua pementasan Teater Ekamatra sentuh isu pekerja asing

Oleh
Haryani Othman

DUA pementasan dalam semalam: Yang menyentuh isu yang seiras, kedua-duanya kuat skripnya tetapi menghasilkan mutu persembahan yang jauh berbeza.

Teater Ekamatra, menerusi projek tahunannya yang diberi nama Projek Suitcase, tahun ini memilih naskhah yang memperkatakan tentang pekerja asing di Singapura.

Pementasan pertama berjudul Uncle yang ditulis oleh Jon Jon mengisahkan pekerja dari India yang dianggap pariah atau keturunan yang paling rendah di negerinya.

Watak Uncle berpindah dari negerinya ke Singapura untuk bekerja dan sekali gus lari daripada pandangan rendah masyarakatnya sendiri. Di sini, sebagai seorang pembersih sampah, Uncle bertemu dengan seorang budak perempuan bernama Lisa yang akhirnya menjadi teman penawar kesunyian.

Cerita kehidupan mereka berdua diselang-selikan dalam monolog ini dan penonton dibawa bersama kehidupan mereka sehingga Uncle mengambil keputusan membebaskan Lisa dan dirinya daripada kancing perbuatan yang menjijikkan.

Skrip Uncle kuat dan mempunyai sentuhan puisi yang mendalam. Sayangnya, arahan dan pemilihan pelakon tidak setanding dengan skrip yang ada.

Uncle arahan Shah-Rievan Salleh dan dilakonkan oleh Andrew Jeevan tidak dapat menyokong skrip yang baik sekali gus membuat pementasan itu tampak longgar. Andrew Jeevan yang memegang watak Uncle dan melakonkan watak Lisa dalam monolog ini tidak dapat menonjolkan kebolehan beliau dalam pementasan ini kerana watak Uncle dan Lisa tidak jelas bezanya.

Ekspresi, gerak-geri dan mimik muka sebagai seorang budak perempuan kurang meyakinkan dan perwatakan sebagai Uncle tidak konsisten. Namun, stamina beliau menyampaikan skrip yang panjang dalam bahasa yang bukan bahasa ibundanya harus dipuji. Walaupun ada kegelinciran dalam penyampaian, beliau pandai memantul kembali skrip dan wataknya.

Apa yang merunsingkan ialah mengapa pengarah/penulis pementasan Uncle tidak mengambil seorang pelakon yang lebih layak mementaskan skrip sebegini?

Bagi saya, arena ini tidak kurang dengan pelakon yang berbakat besar. Mungkinkah Teater Ekamatra mahu memberi peluang kepada pelakon baru teater Melayu? Saya boleh bayangkan kekuatan pementasan Uncle jika kelonggaran yang ada diperbaiki.

Pementasan kedua, Kkenang, hasil tulisan Izad Omar dan Anuar Mohd, mengisahkan seorang perempuan Minang bernama Wati yang datang ke Singapura untuk bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah.

Sebagai orang Minang yang berpegang kepada adat pepatih, dia mendapati dirinya tersepit dalam kehidupan barunya yang memberi lebih banyak kuasa material kepada lelaki sebagai ketua keluarga.

Penonton dibawa menjalani hiruk-pikuk si pembantu rumah ini dari saat hidupnya di kampung hingga perjalanannya ke Singapura, termasuk latihan yang terpaksa dilalui untuk menjadi pembantu rumah dan akhirnya pulang ke kampung.

Ada dua perkara yang menarik dalam pementasan ini. Pertama, skrip yang padat dengan informasi, emosi dan sentuhan lucu. Monolog ini berjaya memberi gambaran Singapura daripada kaca mata seorang rakyat asing.

Bagaimana kehidupan Singapura ini begitu padat dan setiap detik penuh dengan tekanan dan kerja yang harus dilakukan. Detik-detik latihan yang dilalui Wati juga memaparkan apa yang seorang majikan mahukan pada seorang pembantu.

Skripnya juga ada sentuhan lucu dan bersahaja. Ia juga berjaya memuatkan emosi watak sampingan seperti watak nenek, ejen Cina Wati dan juga majikannya.

Di samping itu, skrip menampilkan isu yang selalu dihangatkan rakyat Singapura iaitu ‘hubungan’ antara pembantu rumah warga Indonesia dengan pekerja asing lelaki terutama ‘Mat Bangla.’ Kedua, penggunaan multimedia yang menjadi sebahagian daripada jalan cerita. Pengarah Fezhah Manan bijak mengatur tayangan multimedia untuk melengkapi jalan cerita secara ringkas tapi berkesan.

Ada kalanya, tayangan multimedia itu amat lucu, contohnya, peningkatan persahabatan Wati dengan seorang pekerja Bangladesh bernama Ahmed. Ruang pementasan riuh dengan adegan-adegan lucu itu.

Lakonan Shida Mahadi sebagai Wati amat meyakinkan. Cara senyumannya, gaya badan dan gerak-gerinya sebagai seorang pembantu rumah dari masyarakat matriark menghidupkan dialog dan jalan cerita Kkenang.

Apa yang kurang ialah penyampaian bahasa Minang. Ia tidak begitu konsisten dan kadangkala bahasanya seperti yang digunakan sinetron TV Indonesia.

Cerita Kkenang juga diakhiri dengan terlalu mendadak dan kurang daya penutupnya.

Mungkin penulis dan pengarah terbatas dari segi masa tetapi saya berpendapat jika Kkenang ditulis untuk pementasan tunggal, ia mempunyai potensi menjadi satu pementasan yang lebih gah dan berkesan.

Written and Directed by: Zizi Azah Abdul Majid
Performed by: Najib Soiman (bijaN), Siti Zuraida Abdul Rahim, Shida Mahadi, Misha’al Syed Nasar, Siti Khalijah Zainal and Mohd Fared Jainal

AUGUST
Penguin
The Substation Theatre
13th - 15th August 2009, 8pm
Written and Directed by: Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Performed by: Anwar Hadi Ramlee, Siti Zuraida Abdul Rahim, Raimi Safari, Suhaili Wijaya, Misha’al Syed Nasar and Siti Khalijah Zainal

NOVEMBER
Bilik Ahmad Berdaki
KLPac, Pentas 2
6th - 8th November 2009, 8pm
7th - 8th November 2009, 3pm

Written and Directed by: Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Performed by: M Saffri A Manaf, Saiful Amri, Anwar Hadi Ramli, Misha’al Syed Nasar, Gloria Tan, Siti Zuraida Abdul Rahim

Check Back Soon!