books

Celebrating the history of Five Arts Centre in a book of plays

By YAP PIK KUAN
November 20, 2015

'Staging History: Selected Plays from Five Arts Centre' is a comprehensive document of Five Art Centre's history, including iconic scripts, academic essays, visual essays and production history. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Yap Pik Kuan, November 20, 2015.To mark the 30th anniversary of Five Arts Centre last year, and to commemorate the tenth year since the passing of founding member Datuk Krishen Jit in 2015, the theatre group will be launching its very first book, "Staging History: Selected Plays from Five Arts Centre".

“We thought it was important to mark the 30 years of Five Arts and what this 30 years of art-making means for us,” founder Marion D'Cruz said in a recent interview with The Malaysian Insider, adding they wanted to come up with something exciting and different to mark their tenTenTEN programme.

The two-year TenTenTEN programme, which kicked off in 2014, revolves around five threads encompassing a broad range of activities from workshops and discussions to performances and conferences.

The threads are Para-sites (monthly curated events), Conference, Process (observation of artists and their artistic processes), Performance and Publication.

"Staging History", which was edited and with an introduction by Kathy Rowland, falls under Publication.

“It's not easy to find someone who has a sharp knowledge of how the arts work and a strong academic background,” D'Cruz said of Rowland.

“It's not intended to be a heavy, dry academic book but it also needs to have substantial content.”

Featuring 15 Malaysian original works, "Staging History" includes iconic and seminal plays by the likes of Kee Thuan Chye's “1984 Here and Now”, Chin San Sooi's “Refugee: Images”, Nam Ron's “Lina and Lijah”, Mark Teh's “Daulat”, Leow Puay Tin's “(A Modern Woman Called) Ang Tau Mui” and even a wordless piece called “Toilet” by David Wong.

With over 100 scripts in their repertoire, D'Cruz said that the selection process for the book was a long and difficult one, taking one-and-a-half years from inception to publication.

“We chose some for the content of the play, some for its representation of the 30 years of Five Arts and some for its politics,” she said, adding that their matrix for choosing was a complicated one.

“What was remarkable was the amount of time and effort that went into it,” she said.

D'Cruz said that decision-making was largely a democratic process, involving Rowland, D'Cruz and the other members of Five Arts.

Apart from scripts, four essays provide the context to Five Arts Centre's work. These include a piece by Rowland, another by Ken Takiguchi which places Five Arts in a regional perspective and transcripts from two roundtable discussions involving designers and directors which were organised in April 2015.

Plays which were important but weren't listed in the 15 scripts are featured in visual essays in the form of photos and posters taken from the history of Five Arts. Together with a detailed production history, Staging History is a comprehensive record of Five Art Centre's history.

Get your own copy of "Staging History: Selected Plays from Five Arts Centre, 1984–2014", at any bookstore nationwide. The book is retailing for RM90 but you can get it at a 20% discount on Gerak Budaya. – November 20, 2015.