logo

let’s make something together

Give us a call or drop by anytime, we endeavour to answer all enquiries within 24 hours on business days.

*Five Arts Centre is moving! New address and phone number coming soon.*

Interview

The 60 Second Plug: HSBC Young Composers Workshop 2008

By Yasmin Zetti Martin A few months ago, there was a call for submissions for anyone under the age of 28 to compose a five minute-long original piece of work for an ensemble comprising of piano, flute and/or oboe. The result was five pieces by five young composers — Chow Jun Yan, Chow Jun Yi, […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • July 2, 2008

The 60 Second Plug: “Air Con”

By Yasmin Zetti Martin A school. A dead body. A scandal… “Biasalah asrama.” Award-winning singer-songwriter Shanon Shah’s first full-length play, Air Con tells the story (in Bahasa Malaysia (Kedah dialect) and English with surtitles) of a group of boys at an elite school in Kedah. The boys confront sex, violence, bullying, and growing up after […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • June 23, 2008

The 60 Second Plug: “The Annexe Collision Weekend”

By Yasmin Zetti Martin Pang Khee Teik, writer, photographer, program director at The Annexe, and former editor of Kakiseni takes time out from his decadent life to give us Kakisenians some friendly advice, pass on some birthday greetings, and talk about the ‘do’ this coming weekend at The Annexe. Caution, reading ahead means you risk […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • May 2, 2008

The 60 Second Plug: KLPac’s “Aladdin – the Pantomime”

By Juliet Jacobs She’s done ‘Sepi’ and ‘Fawzia’ and even parodied some Broadway ditties in between. Now Doreen Tang takes on Paris, the Princess that is, in KLPac’s psychedelic “Aladdin – the Pantomime”. ~ Tell us about yourself. I grew up in Petaling Jaya, in a close-knit family and studied at various institutions — Methodist […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • December 20, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: ASWARA’S “Asyik”

By Juliet Jacobs Besides guiding, training and inspiring young minds towards greater things, the lovely folks at ASWARA have also been at the forefront of preserving our Malaysian arty traditions. The dance department at ASWARA continues with this very own tradition of theirs, in “Asyik.” Co-choreographer Wong Kit Yaw tells more about this simple, yet […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • December 13, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: KLPac’s “4.48 Psychosis”

By Juliet Jacobs Director/actor/writer Gavin Yap tells us about his initial meeting and subsequent relationship with playwright Sarah Kane’s works, as he tackles her last and most experimental work, 4.48 Psychosis. ~ Tell us a bit about yourself. Have you always wanted to be involved in acting and directing? Okay, let’s see: I was born […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • September 5, 2007

Sit Down and Talk

By Adeline Ooi Held once every five years in Kassel, Germany, documenta – the Hundred Day Museum is a post-war effort originally conceived by artist and art educator Arnold Bode to reconcile German public life and culture — after the period of Nazi dictatorship — with international modernity, and confront Germans with their failed Enlightenment. […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • July 27, 2007

Shadow Runners

By Tengku Amalia Over a year ago, my classmates and I watched a Wayang Kulit performance as part of our Traditional Asian Theatre course, alongside a seven-day crash course on Mak Yong. Despite being half-Kelantanese (as my father reminds me from time to time), I found myself unable to comprehend most of the text, due […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • May 23, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: KLPac’s “Within / Without”

By Juliet Jacobs Taking time off their rehearsal schedule, Lim How Ngean, Loh Kok Man and Reza Zainal Abidin discuss their latest project, “Within / Without – two sides revealed”. Three directors, three performers (Melissa Saila, Nell Ng, and Lim Tiong Wooi), and three monologues inspired by works of three Asian playwrights (Kuo Pao Kun, […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • May 17, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: KL Ensemble’s “A Bucketful of Beckett: 8 Shots”

By Juliet Jacobs Kay Chin on knitting, remembering lines, and bizarre initiation rituals. ~ Tell us about yourself. I don’t like to window-shop, and I don’t have much money to shop for real. So when a friend told me that there was a “biomechanics” workshop — by director Chris Jacobs –­ going on, I decided […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • April 26, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: Nyoba-Kan’s “Curse of the Forbidden Palace”

By Juliet Jacobs Tell us about yourself. I was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, and I’ve loved the creative arts since I was a child. I started dancing when I was 20 years old, and I got involved in Butoh a few years later, after meeting the first Malaysian butoh dancer, Lena Ang — […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • April 5, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: KLPac’s “The Magic Flute”

By Juliet Jacobs Shamelessly blow your trumpet, and tell us about yourself. I studied at the Trinity College of Music, in London. While at college, I fell in love with everything to do with vocal accompaniment. I love the voice, you see; the mix of vocal repertoire, music and words are, to me, the perfect […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • March 21, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: Balletbase’s “Take Flight”

By Juliet Jacobs Tell us a bit about yourself. In 1997, I went off to Harvard for four years, where dancing was a huge relief from my daily cerebral struggles. Not knowing what to do next, I moved to Australia and earned my graduate diploma in Choreography at the Victorian College of the Arts. Art […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • March 14, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: Monti and Logi’s “Indian Stories, Chinese Tales”

By Juliet Jacobs Tell the world about Fong Muntoh, AKA Monti. I am from the land of many virgins: Ipoh. I was born there and spent a great deal of my life growing up in Hospital Bahagia Tanjung Rambutan — because my mum was a nurse there, and she used to get the inmates to […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • March 8, 2007

Mengalih Punggung

By Zedeck Siew Tell us about yourself. Did you, like any other good middle-class child, have to pick up a formal musical instrument? Yes, my parents insisted I attend piano lessons, beginning at age seven — although they had to drag me kicking and screaming the first few years. I got bored easily, and got […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • February 28, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: Ahmad Fuad’s “Dislocated”

By Juliet Jacobs Tell us a bit about yourself. I was born 38 years ago in Baling, Kedah. I graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in 1991, and I’ve been exhibiting since then. I now live and work in Melaka and Kuala Lumpur. I am also involved in Matahati, an […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • January 29, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: Tourniquet Production’s “Okiku”

By Juliet Jacobs Okiku is based on a story from Japanese folklore. Tell us more about the conceptualization and story. Sam Yen: The perception is that Okiku is a ghost story. It is — but only to a certain extent, depending on which version you’re reading. Our version deals more with the human elements of […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • January 16, 2007

The 60 Second Plug: Lapar Lab’s “Five Alone”

By Juliet Jacobs Tell us a bit about Five Alone — how was it conceptualised? What can the audience expect? Five Alone represents five solo dance pieces by five different choreographers. They’ve infused their own experiences and understanding of life into each of these individual pieces. The audience will be treated to an experience that […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • December 19, 2006

The 60 Second Plug: Integrated Expressions’ “Little Mission Impossible”

By Juliet Jacobs Little Mission Impossible: should we Expect the Impossible? Tell us more about the musical. Little Mission Impossible makes the impossible possible on stage. It’s a children’s musical adventure that sees the journey of Ai Ya-Ya, a little pixie, in a quest to maintain the colours of the world. She runs into numerous […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • December 12, 2006

The 60 Second Plug: Sankai Juku’s “Hibiki”

By Juliet Jacobs Hibiki is described as a work of “unparalleled simplicity and poetic beauty”. What can you tell us about it? To be honest, I have only watched the works on DVD. But let me say one thing: from just that, I can tell that it is a truly, truly, truly must-see, world-class performance. […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • November 21, 2006

The 60 Second Plug: PingStage’s Theatre Carnival — Monodrama 2006

By Juliet Jacobs ‘Three girls in a play’ is your tagline for the event — sounds naughty. Tell us more! Who came up with the idea for this monodrama and seminar? The three girls: Seok Chin, Felix, Oi Min — and I. In Chinese-language theatre it’s hard to find men. Women are the main force […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • November 20, 2006

The 60 Second Plug: The DFP’s KL BBC Proms 2

By Zedeck Siew Tell us about yourself. What inspired you to pick up the baton? The sound of the large symphonic orchestra: it was a love affair from the very first sight and sound. This was from when I sang as a six-year-old boy in a children’s choir in the Prague National Theatre. I was […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • October 30, 2006

The 60 Second Plug: The ComeBackKings’ “Free Flow”

By Zedeck Siew Why the ComeBackKings? The first time we performed we were just a bunch of seniors in Taylor’s College’s drama club, doing a half-time show. We weren’t a group or anything yet. But the lecturers called us the ComeBackKings because we ‘came back’ to help with the final year production — even though […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • October 16, 2006

The 60 Second Plug: The Shape of Things

By Juliet Jacobs Shed some light on the play for us Well, it’s about art and how far a person is willing to go for it. It also questions art and brings up interesting points about the negative and positive sides of it. Why Neil Labute? Why ‘The Shape of Things’? When we initially came […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • September 7, 2006

Kee Thuan Chye: Vorpal Pen*, Actorly Aspirations

By Michelle Woo Professionally: an editor, and formerly a literary one. Creatively: a writer of socially-provocative plays and stirring prose. From the heart: an aspiring actor. Kee Thuan Chye, at 47 years of age, talks about his ripening dreams. Kakiseni: What drives your writing? Is it a sense of the past, present, or future? Kee: […]

  • Azwan Ismail
    Azwan Ismail
  • October 17, 2001