Experimental Theatre and Way Forward: Mapping the Current Trends in Modern Malay Theatre

Abstract

Malay theatre in Malaysia has been evolving. The forms and contents of modern Malay theatre change as Malay playwrights respond to the dynamic political and social milieu. Theatre experts on local Malay theatre used the term modern Malay theatre to refer to all the plays that were written within the period of Realism during the 1960s. Solehah Ishak (1990) categorized three major theatre periods in Malay theatre, namely, sandiwara, realism, and experimental/contemporary theatre. However, the categorization of such periods stopped in the 1990s, even though modern Malay theatre kept on progressing until the present. With this advent progression, there is no specific category had been recorded in which able to periodize this new form of Malay theatre in history. This paper intends to trace the missing period after the Experimental Theatre trend which ended in the 1990s. Therefore, the research will focus on the works that were produced during the years 2000-2020 onwards, in which proper research has been found lacking. Using ethnographic approach, this research will attempt to reassess the facts that prove there is a continuance from the last recorded period. Findings will be beneficial for further studies, especially on the forms and contents of the works examined. Efforts to sustain modern Malay theatre history and its development is a strategy to promote Malay theatre as part of Malaysian national cultural heritage and thus in line with the Malaysian National Culture Policy that emphasizes restoring, preserving, and strengthening national culture through joint research, development, education and cultural expansion and global connections.