Teochew puppets to Hang Tuah: Klang Valley theatre buzzes this Merdeka month
Building on the mid-year momentum, this month offers an even wider array of shows – an encouraging sign for artists and theatre lovers alike.
From gripping dramas and documentary theatre to playful language works and reimagined traditions, there's something for everyone this month.
Here are some shows to check out:
The legacy continues
Maestro Of Paper Shadows – a moving tribute blending six decades of artistry with traditional Teochew puppetry, opera and music – makes its Klang Valley debut at PJPAC on Aug 6.
Presented by Penang's Teochew Puppet and Opera House, this one-night-only show offers a rare glimpse into living intangible heritage.
The production is inspired by the life of Toh Ai Hwa, one of Malaysia's most celebrated Teochew iron-rod puppetry artists, who has spent 62 years bringing characters to life and preserving this fading art.
Following its 2024 premiere at One Theatre Hall in George Town, it now comes to Petaling Jaya for the first time.
Acahart Studio's 'Kita Tak Mati' stars (clockwise, top) Fattah Fawzy, Azizi Nazril, Syura Azmi and Ajiq Bakaruddin as adopted siblings. Photo: Acahart Studio
Memories that remain
For fans of independent theatre in grassroots venues, there's much to explore beyond the mainstream.
Kita Tak Mati by Acahart Studio is worth the investigation as it takes viewers to an imagined city called Nirmala, where four adopted siblings are trying to escape their troubled pasts.
But the arrival of a pregnant woman and a ghost from their violent past forces buried trauma to surface.
Centred on mature themes of addiction and betrayal, this Bahasa Malaysia production examines memories that refuse to fade.
Written by Fattah Fawzy and directed by Anna Natasha, Kita Tak Mati runs for five shows at Acahart Studio space, Sri Rampai in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 7–10.
Tradition in the spotlight
Istana Budaya on tour? You got it! Mistik Pura Masyrik is a one-night-only cultural showcase at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP), Kuala Lumpur on Aug 9. Presented by Orkestra Tradisional Malaysia and Artistana Istana Budaya - a dance troupe skilled in both traditional and contemporary styles - the show promises a rich celebration of local heritage.
Blending music, dance and visual storytelling, the show brings to life mystical East Coast legends like Walinong Sari, Cik Siti Wan Kembang and Ulik Mayang. Classic folk songs will also get a fresh orchestral twist.
This production continues DFP's celebration of Malaysian arts and culture, following past highlights such as Mek Mulung Putera Cahaya Bulan, Randai Mudo Pak Belalang, Jit Sin High School's Chinese Orchestra and Sanggar Seni.
In KLPac's 'Someone Who'll Watch Over Me', an American doctor, an Irish journalist and an English academic are abducted and held in a windowless cell. Photo: Weeling Chen
Spirit of resilience
In January 2011, the now-defunct The Actors Studio at Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur, opened the year with Frank McGuinness' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me. Directed by Joe Hasham, the play remains one of his favourites from a career spanning nearly six decades.
This month, Lebanon-born Hasham revisits this gripping story as part of KLPac's 20th anniversary, reuniting the original cast – Charles Donnelly, Kingsley Judd and Gavin Yap.
Someone Who'll Watch Over Me runs at Pentas 2, KLPac from August 14–23.
Set in a windowless cell in Beirut, it follows an Englishman, an Irishman and an American held hostage, cut off from the world and clinging to hope. Inspired by the 1986 abduction of Irishman Brian Keenan, the play sidesteps politics to focus on humour, fantasy and the resilience of the human spirit.
The show is supported by the Embassy of Ireland and the Australian High Commission.
'Wacky Double Bill' sees award-winning director-playwright Adriana Nordin Manan return with two playful works exploring the power - and pitfalls - of language. Photo: Handout
Oh my language!
Wacky Double Bill brings two sharp, linguistically playful works by Adriana Nordin Manan – winner of the Boh Cameronian Arts Awards' Best Original Script for her debut Fault Lines last year – to the stage.
The double bill, presented by JDEV Studios and Protagonist Studio, runs for six shows at creative space Dekat KL, Taman Sri Rampai in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 21–26.
In Borong, directed by Qiu Qatina, two colleagues wrestle with a tricky task, caught in corporate jargon, hidden meanings and clashing personalities.
Next, Encyclopedia, directed by Jazzie Lee Jin Jye, unfolds during a tense job interview where words – and silences – carry layered weight. Between unspoken expectations, RM50 notes and cutting remarks, it asks: who really controls the conversation?
Both plays explore how language can reveal and obscure meaning, blending humour with unexpected tension. Best enjoyed by those fluent in rojak: Borong is in Bahasa Malaysia, Encyclopedia in English, with no surtitles.
In 'Life Is A Motion Picture', Akid Jabran (left) and Mia Sara play a grieving couple who no longer speak directly. Set in a living room frozen in time, they communicate through silence, film quotes, and flickering TV scenes. Photo: Main Theatre
Screening your life
From wordplay to quoting films as a way to express emotion, theatre collectives Separuh Matahari and Main Theatre return with Life Is A Motion Picture, running Aug 27–31 at Studio Ramli Hassan, Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur.
Written by Arshad Adam and directed by Nawfal Zamri, this collaboration with Masakini Theatre Company features Akid Jabran and Mia Sara in an experimental-minded two-hander.
Building on last year's Love Is A Motion Picture, which explored solitary grief, this new chapter dives into the fragile space between two people.
As movies like The Garden Of Evening Mists, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Lion King play on TV, a husband and wife, reeling from tragedy, can only speak to each other through borrowed lines.
'Fragments Of Tuah' offers audiences a fresh, multimedia look at the 15th-century Malay warrior Hang Tuah. Photo: Five Arts Centre
A hero through time
Five Arts Centre takes the spotlight with its biggest show of the year. Fragments Of Tuah is a documentary theatre work with original music that revisits and reimagines the legendary Hang Tuah.
It runs for 10 shows at Pentas 2, KLPac, Kuala Lumpur from Aug 28 to Sept 8.
Rather than a linear biography, it presents a collage of archival documents, memories, episodes from the Hikayat Hang Tuah and cultural reflections.
Developed over three years by Mark Teh, Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri, Syamsul Azhar and Wong Tay Sy of Five Arts Centre, it explores how Hang Tuah's legacy resonates in both historical and contemporary Malaysia.
On stage at KLPac, it features actors and musical performers - Faiq, OJ Law and Shariman Shuhaime. The show is directed by Teh.
After its KL run, the show packs up and heads off to the Kyoto Experiment festival (one of Asia's leading contemporary performing arts events) in Japan in October.
From Sarawak, with love
Dreamweaver The Musical weaves together a story of songket weavers, tradition and identity in this original production by Tanoti Productions (a social enterprise of Sarawakian women artisans) and Balkon Media.
The musical runs for at Stage 1, PJPAC, Selangor from Aug 29–30.
Dreamweaver follows main character Aaliya, a passionate songket weaver torn between preserving her craft and giving in to commercial demands.
The show features an original script and songs in English and Bahasa Malaysia, performed by two main casts and six weavers.
With music, dance and colourful textile visuals, it introduces Kuching's rich performing arts and craft scene to Klang Valley audiences – celebrating Sarawakian stories and artistry on stage.
Dreamweaver premiered at the Old Courthouse Auditorium in Kuching last December.
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