Alfian Sa’at in the Living Room: New Directions in Malay Theatre was presented on 24 November 2016 in front of a live audience.
Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa’at sits down with a panel of fellow Malay playwrights – Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit, Irfan Kasban, Nabilah Said, and Nessa Anwar – to discuss the state of Malay Theatre in Singapore, where it came from, how it is currently, and where it will head to in future.
You can watch the 110-minute Living Room session in 2 parts:
In Part 1 (50 min), each playwright shares his or her personal history in Malay Theatre, collectively constructing a ground-up account of Malay Theatre history.
07:12 – Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit
21:45 – Irfan Kasban
29:00 – Nabilah Said
39:42 – Nessa Anwar
In Part 2 (62 min), the playwrights discuss several important topics in Malay Theatre, as well as field questions from the audience.
00:20 Writing in Malay and/or English
10:59 What qualifies as ‘Malay Theatre’?
27:30 As part of a minority group, is there pressure (self-induced and/or external) to portray the community positively?
35:18 What issues/topics are Malay playwrights interested in writing about? Has that changed over the years?
42:15 What are the new directions in Malay Theatre?
49:30 Are language standards in Malay Theatre (and as a whole in Singapore) deteriorating or evolving?
54:30 As part of a minority group, is there pressure to write politically?
