Mak Yong Showcase (Sunday People)

First published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
22 November 2008

Mak Yong Showcase
by Max Koh

The traditional mak yong is modernised for the new audiences. MAX KOH speaks to the director and lead dancer of Endeng Tejeli

THE words of the mak yong seem to echo through the ages as lead dancer and student Rosnan Abdul Rahman sings with his melodious voice: “Hai, ghoyak hile gak, Bele berio nok timbol gak laa, Ee, timbol sangat dengar nak ghoyak gak, Kalau soghe mu ghajo la cik we, Bele sebuah negeri gak tue we” (Of a Raja and a Minister, The Raja, he has an appellation, The Country, it has a designation).

I am at the Istana Budaya cafeteria as Rosnan, with his teacher, Fatimah Abdullah, explains the riches of the traditional Kelantanese dance-theatre form. Fatimah also directs the Endeng Tejeli production.

“Mak yong is an ancient dance-theatre form that incorporates dance, acting, singing, and storytelling. Endeng Tejeli tells the story of the titular character who must save Puteri Gak Petra, to be presented to Raja Sulong.

“However, the road is not easy as Endeng Tejeli must face the Nenek Sepat Petala Naga (dragon) and Raja Gergasi (giant) in his adventures,” explains Rosnan.

Endeng Tejeli is one of 12 core storiestold in the mak yong repertoire. These stories are told with the help of traditional Malay instruments such as the rebab, gendang, gong, canang and kesi.


Rosnan, the lead dancer in Endeng Tejeli

Mak yong has five main characters in its stories: Pak Yung (king), Pak Yung Muda (hero), Mak Yung (queen), Puteri Mak Yung (princess), Peran (clown), and Dayang-Dayang (court dancers). Rosnan plays the titular character while Fatimah plays the king in Endeng Tejeli.

“This is the third time we are staging the story. The first time we performed this was in Kedah and the show was sold out when we staged it at the Istana Budaya,” explains Rosnan who is part of the Kumpulan Mak Yong Seri Nilam Istana Budaya.

“All our dancers are resident dancers at Istana Budaya. The group (Mak Yong Seri Nilam) was started three years ago to help senior dancers learn and focus on the traditional dance style.

“We train them in hope that one day someone will carry on the tradition of this art form,” says Rosnan.

A new generation of mak yong teachers is a main concern for Fatimah who was raised in the dance form since birth. Her father, Abdullah Awang, owned of a mak yong group in Kelantan.

“I was born in Terengganu when my father’s group was on tour there. Traditionally, the group would stay at a town for three months before travelling to another venue. They would perform in and around the town during that time,” explains Fatimah.

Fatimah first performed at the age of 10 with the Kelantan Mak Yong Children’s Group in 1969. Her passion for the arts soon grew as she understood the grit and hard work involved in keeping the art form alive.


Mak yong doyenne Fatimah plays the king

“Back then, the dancers faced a lot of trials. The toke (group owner) often had to use his own money to keep the show, even at the verge of bankruptcy. I have seen this with my own eyes and it motivated me to study hard and bring the art tradition to the next level,” explains Fatimah.

Fatimah, who officially became a teacher at the age of 40, saw her dreams come true as her performance was documented in a Unesco World Heritage recording in 1994. Fatimah has also since performed before the Thai king and has seen her students perform overseas.

Rosnan, who has studied under her for eight years, has performed the mak yong in Paris and New York.

“For this show, the traditional elements are retained. Perhaps compared to the old days, the arrangement on the stage today is much neater with better lighting, make-up and costumes. But the set is still very minimal as we want the performers to carry the story,” explains Rosnan.

Endeng Tejeli will feature seven to eight songs including the mengadap rebab which lyrics were featured at the beginning of this article.

“This is really a shorter format as the traditional performance can last up to four hours and include 20 to 30 songs,” he says with a laugh.

“Originally, there was no script during the performance. The performers will follow the arc of the story and they can improvise the dialogue or sing as they want.”

While mak yong has evolved with the times, Fatimah is still concerned with the future. “We still need a generation of pelapis (mediators) to carry on the legacy.

“People have come and learnt the art form but there is still a need for those who will carry the mantle of the discipline and teach the next generation.”

What she said next was a revelation to me: “In every generation, two of three will be chosen to sembah guru and carry on the art form.

“After that, the guru cannot reveal his teachings to anyone anymore. It is the new heirs who can finally become teachers and carry the art form.”

After this show, the group will perform Raja Besar Senyaya in January which is the sequel to Endeng Tejeli.

“Mak yong is just like Harry Potter, except that it is the Malay version. There is a continuity in the stories and there are giants, dragons, heroes, and magic,” adds Rosnan, with another laugh.


Catch Kumpulan Mak Yong Seri Nilam performing Indeng Tejeli on Nov 28, 8.30pm-10.45pm, as part of the Mak Yong Extravaganza organised by the Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara. The extravaganza runs Nov 27-30 at the Malaysian Tourism Centre, Jalan Ampang,

Kuala Lumpur. For more information, visit www.heritage.gov.my or call 03-20523600
ext 3616.

The Splendour of Love (Sunday People)

First published in New Sunday Times

8th November 2008

The splendour of love
MAX KOH 

Touring theatre group Footstool Players examines the different sides of love. MAX KOH gets the lowdown from director Colin Kirton

Love, sang Nat King Cole, is a many splendoured thing. The many different sides of love, courtship, marriage and family are explored in touring theatre group Footstool Players’ production, A Crazy Little Thing Called Love, now showing in Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac).

Comprising short sketches that range from comedy to drama, the play addresses both the joyous and difficult sides of relationships.

“In this day and age, it is very easy to be cynical and jaded about love,” says Colin Kirton who directs and produces the play. “We hope that this play will give people hope about love and a new fresh start on the idea of it.”

The play comprises little sketches — a trademark of the theatre group — that not only focuses on courtship, but also relationships in the context of marriage and family.

“We are not trying to hide the pain or struggle but want to show that there is still new hope for difficult relationships,” says the Chinese-Scot who also acts in the play.


Colin Kirton

In other words, A Crazy Little Thing Called Love is more than fluff entertainment. “Our audience will ponder on love, life and relationships.”

While the title may borrow its name from a Queen song, the play was inspired by the realities of people’s relationships.

“In 2004, the non-governmental organization Focus on the Family asked us to come up with some sketches for their seminars.

“We came up with 25-minute sketches and took the show all over the country,” says Kirton. “It touched a lot of raw nerves. At that point, we knew that we wanted to expand on this theme.”

But Kirton who also acted in Broken Bridges – The Musical and Julius Caesar was only able to focus on this project at the end of last year.

In producing the play, the team members displayed unwavering commitment and passion. They had to attend rehearsals and performances unless there is an important family emergency. Rehearsals would intensify from once a week to every night when the performing date approached.


Scenes from two of the sketches

But of course, challenges were bound to happen. Kirton recalls an example: “One of our actors, Soon Ee Wei, was posted to Penang as part of his job during one of our performance run. Every weekend, he would fly down to one of the towns we were performing and fly back to Penang on Monday morning.”

Established in 2001, the Footstool Players began as a drama ministry in Subang Jaya Gospel Centre. It soon grew to become an inter-denominational team that performs in churches nationwide. Its previous productions include Runaway Bride and Walk His Trial.

“We are just a theatre group that is committed to our art form. We are here to share stories with the general public. This is a show about love and not faith.”

Besides churches, the team has also performed in schools and colleges.

“We can’t operate as a commercial organisation because it costs a lot of money. However, a financial burden was lifted when KLPac offered to sponsor the venue. “That was really a push factor for us.”

With more a sophisticated venue, Kirton emphasises that the focus is still on the performance.

“We don’t use a lot of props in our plays. Our set is minimalist as we put the onus on the actors to carry the story.”

This minimalism is due to its nature of touring to different venues in previous productions. In fact, before the performance in KLPac, the team has already performed the play in various venues in Klang Valley.

I had the opportunity to watch one night and left with something to think about my relationships in my life. There were instances I laughed out loud and times I silently pondered.

“The collection of little sketches is a trademark. This gives us the flexibility to talk about different facets of love in different periods of people’s lives,” says Kirton.

• Catch A Crazy Little Thing Called Love at KLPac’s Pentas 2 until Nov 16. Tickets: RM30 (adults)/RM20 (students, senior citizens, disabled). Call 03-40479000 (KLpac) or 03-20949400 (The Actors Studio @ BSC) or visit www.klpac.com. Also visit www.footstoolplayers.com.

A Tale of Two Strong Women (Sunday People)

First published in New Sunday Times
2 November 2008

Two Tales of Strong Women
Max Koh

As I watched a group of seven-year-olds gather outside Pentas 2 in KLPac, I was bemused by a sign that read: “Contains adult content”.

Surely, the children were at the wrong play. However, it was no fault of theirs. The poster for Kisah Gadis looked cheerful enough — a minimalistic design with splashes of striking pink that was sure to capture the eye. And there weren’t any warning labels on it.

Their elders had probably thought it was a Scenario kind of play and the children were probably there to learn to appreciate theatre for the first time.

Oh, how they would be surprised. I could see it was going to be amusing.

As we entered the hall, we were greeted by a man asleep on what appeared to be a bus-stop. The set was minimalistic, with just white-painted wooden planks framing it, rendering focus to the actors’ performances.

As the lights dimmed, the man woke up from his slumber. Mangli was the first play of the double bill and told the story of two long lost friends who stumbled into each other at the bus stop.


Scene from Mangli with Ashraf as the transvestite Idayu and Faisal in the role of the deranged and delusional Aris.


The sleeping man was the deranged and delusional Aris Mat Tam, played by Tuan Faisal (aka Tapai). Carrying a wooden plank with him at all times, the dishevelled figure appeared to have made the bus stop his humble abode.

As he played and talked with the plank, transvestite Idayu Sa’ayah, played by Ashraf Zain, came in. The “gadis” had just been robbed of her handbag and she began to confide in Aris about her terrible ordeal. However, as they catch up on old times, the reason behind Aris’ fall from grace was slowly unravelled before the audiences.

There were comic moments which drew much laughter from the audience. Ashraf’s comic timing was acutely executed, and there were jabs at the National Registration Department and the public transport system. At one time, a disco ball was lowered as the two actors belted out a song, much to the audience’s delight.

However, the play soon became dark as conflict arose between the two leads. At this point, as Aris’ psychological facade is unravelled, I could see the seven-year-olds begin to shift uncomfortably in their seats.

Hurtful words were exchanged. Mangli was more than just comic interplay between two strong actors. It actually explored how one could fall from grace into derangement. And how a friend’s genuine concern was futile when not welcomed.

Mangli was the maiden effort of playwright Adiwijaya. Although the script lacked direction at some points, the actors were able to carry the play through with their strong performances.

The second play, Gadis Jalan Burmah, was a 45-minute monologue filled with wit, humour and anger and was carried entirely by the talented Sherry Abdullah.

Sherry played a 42-year-old unmarried woman named Kartini Shuib who, whilst baking her own birthday cake, began to contemplate whether or not to date an insurance salesman, as suggested by her mother.



The very talented Sherry in the monologue as Kartini.


However, memories of past lovers – a Chinese doctor, a doktor haiwan, an American expat and her high school crush began to return to haunt her.

Sherry played the character with aplomb. There was subliminal depths in her performance amidst the loud and big gestures. In fact, the play would not have been as effective without Sherry.

However that was not to discount the script, wonderfully written by Shahredza Minhat, which gave acute and startling insights into the thoughts of Kartini Shuib.

The character could not have been so amazingly fleshed out by Sherry if the script was not strong. The character was very believable and as Sherry reminisces about past relationships, it showed the journey of a woman being shaped by her experiences.

Finally, Kartini decides to call the salesman, showing that despite past hurts and disappointments, everyone needed to be loved after all.

While both plays were wonderfully executed, a minor complaint was the use of harsh language in the presence of kids. But then again, the play contained adult themes and these words were necessary to flesh out the characters. And there was a warning sign outside.

It was just unfortunate that the kids were there.

I’m not sure what the seven-year-olds took home with them from the play.

Their first exposure to theatre could either come as a wonderful experience or a rude awakening to their innocent ears.

Either way, I’m sure the adults left with something to think about. After all, life is never a bed of roses, as exemplified by the two plays.

Kisah Gadis was Megat Sharizal’s second attempt at directing. His directorial debut, Tat Nenas, won him a Best Director Award in Theatre Festival Malaysia in 2004.

After four years, he returned to the director’s chair to bring us these two relatively unknown plays because he felt they needed a bigger audience.

I could understand why he chose these two plays. Branching out from the usual comedy fluff, the plays had depth and posed themes and questions that were thought-provoking.

It challenged the stereotype perceptions of Malay women and made us ponder over how experiences had shaped the identities of women today.

For a play performed in Bahasa Malaysia and Manglish, Kisah Gadis was a welcome departure from the fluff and shallowness of mainstream Malay offerings.

Let’s just hope that this would be a start for more thought-provoking plays from Megat, Adiwijaya, Redza and their ilk. Kisah Gadis certainly bodes well for the future of theatre.