KUALA LUMPUR: Five directors from the third cycle of Theatresauce's Emerging Directors Lab (EDL) which began at the end of 2020 will present their first public showcase in Until We Catch The Dawn, set to run from Feb 9 to 13 at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC).
The collection of five short plays explores hauntings from the past and the pursuit of closure.
Equal parts hilarious and damning, the directors wonder if we can forgive the people we love when they make choices that we cannot understand.
Until We Catch The Dawn is the first of three showcases of the much-improved EDL.
This production is a culmination of the first directing term, where these directors honed their craft through the rigorous study and practice of vision creation, text analysis, director-actor communication, production design, and stage composition.
Together they also ask what it means to make contextual and realistic theatre for urban Malaysian audiences in the 21st century.
The written works of celebrated Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa'at are the choices of three EDL directors this time round.
Low Yee Choy is a Sunway graduate with a performing arts diploma, movement-driven Dexter Zhen whose last work was Kongsi KL's Seni Tiga: Saat Itu, and Dinesh Kumar, a frequent recipient of the Best Director award at the Short + Sweet Theatre Malaysia Festival.
Mia Sabrina, an actor-cum-director, directs a woman-centric piece by Malaysian writer Shamaine Othman.
Dhinesha Karthigesu, a multidisciplinary storyteller, directs a new Covid-inspired play by upcoming Singaporean playwright Rajkumar Thiagaras.
The five directors have so far brought together a wide array of perspectives and sensibilities to the EDL, making them the most diverse and exciting bunch Theatresauce has seen to date.
The 75-minute showcase with no interval will feature the plays in a minimal and intimate setting of KLPAC's Indicine venue.
Rehearsals are underway at the Theatresauce HQ in Subang Jaya, where Artistic Director and facilitator Kelvin Wong oversees the process.
After this project, the directors will mount their second showcase in the Theatresauce HQ, where they will apply more unconventional and experimental directing methods onto a seminal piece of work from the Asian canon.
Until We Catch The Dawn is presented in collaboration with KLPAC. The 2021/22 Emerging Directors Lab is supported by the Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA), under the Performing Arts Presentation Programme.
Admission is RM33 and seats are limited for each performance. Covid-prevention SOP will be enforced. Tickets can be purchased at www.cloudtix.co.
College or university student bookings of 10 or more seats in a single receipt are entitled to RM28 per ticket.
There will also be a free 75-minute theatre workshop in KLPAC before the performance.
Email the production manager (chinzhing@theatresauce.com) or the artistic director (kelvin@theatresauce.com) to make an arrangement.
Visit www.theatresauce.com for more details. This production is for mature audiences only.