Wednesday 1 February 2006

T10 Youth
STARTWO

Making history
The Five Arts Centre has been
known to break conventions
in the name of art, and Baling
(Membaling), its latest project,
did just that. Despite having no
fancy props, lighting, and no
experienced performers, this
production literally took theatre
out to the masses. NIKI CHEONG
has the story.

HEY threw stools in the

air, they used them as
stilts, and they even (are
you ready for this?) sat on the
stools. Yes, if you had the opportunity to catch the Five Arts Centre
(FAC)s Baling (Membaling) recently
at selected tertiary institutions and
futsal centres in the Klang Valley,
youd be excused (at least in the
first few minutes) if you thought
the show was about throwing
things about.
After all, isnt that what the title is
about? Baling, in Malay, literally
means to throw. However, for
those of you who (unlike this
writer) actually paid attention in
history class at school youd know
that Baling, is also a place in Kedah,
the very location of the 1955 peace
talks between then Chief Minister
of Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman
and Chin Peng, secretary-general of
the Communist Party of Malaysia.
Although the context of the
performance seems heavy, this
history-deficient writer, for one,
was captivated.
And it wasnt the theatrics. In fact,
the whole set-up was pretty simple
one huge sheet of white cloth,
three stools, one rattan cane, two
overhead projectors and some
slides.
What is interesting was how
director Mark Teh, together with
the three performers Chang
Yoong Chia, Fahmi Reza and Imri
Nasution pieced the play together
from actual transcripts of the Baling
Talks and recollections by
journalist-activist Said Zahari.
Interesting as it is, however,
having this piece selected to tour
youth-centric locations must
have seemed to many a futile
attempt to stir something in our
often-perceived apathetic youth.
But it was exactly for this reason
that the FAC decided to feature the
performance.
We wanted to take Baling
(Membaling) to colleges, universities
and futsal centres to engage with
students and young people, Teh
said.
We were interested to see how
students might respond to our play,
which, lets face it, is not the most
obvious thing to interest young
people Malaysian history, physical

From left: Chang Yoong Chia, Imri Nasution and Fahmi Reza in a scene from Baling (Membaling) which
toured selected local colleges and universities as well as futsal centres in the Klang Valley, in an
attempt to engage with students and young people.
theatre, performers with no acting
experience.
If Tehs original intention was just
trying to help young people get
ownership of their history (many
young Malaysians do not feel
ownership of Malaysian history it
is dismissed as boring, or history is
presented as facts that are cast in
stone, he said), then indeed he

achieved his mission. Each

performance (there were 10
locations in all) was followed by a
discussion and while many theatre
students were asking questions
about the physical aspects of
theatre and about the performance
itself, there was a significant
number of students who were
questioning the actual content of

the play. This, in itself, was a sign of

interest in topics that people often
think youth dismiss.
The general assumption is that
the average Malaysian student is
apathetic and uncreative, but Im
not sure about that, Teh said.
In my experience, young people
tend to be more open to new and
experimental stories and forms

look at the audiences that go and

watch the Malaysian Shorts or
Documentaries screenings by local
filmmakers, or the youth that go to
Twilight Actiongirl or are into bands
such as Seven Collar T-Shirt and
Furniture. Thats the kind of
audience that theatre should be
trying to nurture, but often theatre
companies underestimate our
audiences intelligence and sense of
adventure.
Credit has to be given to FAC for
even giving young people this
opportunity. But for them, it is
nothing new.
The centre is well known for
nurturing of local talent through its
many gurus. After all, doyen of the
Malaysian theatre, the late Krishen
Jit was a founding member. And in
talking about reaching out, Teh
instinctively quoted Krishen an
excerpt from the latters 1985
article The Myths That Cloak Our
Theatre which read:
Why is our theatre seldom
performed in the streets, markets,
public parks, and other open spaces
where large numbers of people
congregate? Or why not in closed
work spaces like factories hospitals
and prisons Malaysian theatre
people are desperately trying to build
a professional theatre ... And such
visions of a future Malaysian theatre,
are provoking theatre people to view
the current corporatisation of the arts
with awe.
Oh, how that quote still
resonates 20 years on. While
Baling (Membaling) may be the
first production (Teh didnt quite
see it as kicking off, humbly
attributing it to scheduling) from
the year-long tribute to Krishen
The Krishen Jit Experimental
Workshop Series Tehs work
doesnt end here.
I suppose on a personal level, this
is a challenge for my work in the
coming few years, he explained.
Im interested to see theatre
happen in non-theatre spaces, and
to explore how people access
performance in these
environments.
Of course, there is also the
influence from Tehs other
community works (which,
incidentally have garnered him
an accolade in the form of a Boh
Cameronian Arts Award) such as
the Taman Medan project through
which he and his colleagues do
theatre, visual arts and videos with
kids all over the kampung.
Baling (Membaling) may have
ended last week but the passion to
go beyond commercial and elitist
theatre continues.
Was the performance successful?
For this writer, it was.
Just look beyond the audience
(it was free, and performed many
times in an open space) Teh and
his entourage got young Malaysians
thinking and asking questions,
actually brought theatre to the
masses instead of just talking about
it, and proved that not all young
people are docile.
If that is not success, then what
is?