MALAYSIA THROWS HERSELF A BIRTHDAY PARTY - Programme/Zine

Celebrating her 60th year of independence (and on the occasion of her 54th birthday), Malaysia has decided to throw a garden party filled with stories of her growing pains, glory years, of tigers and trees both lost and found.

theatrethreesixty and Speak City Asia present

MALAYSIA THROWS HERSELF A BIRTHDAY PARTY

an immersive, spoken word theatre performance in conjunction with Kakiseni’s Rasa Sayang TempatKita MakananKita SejarahKita at Quill City Mall Kuala Lumpur

Directed by Christopher Ling

Curated by Melizarani T. Selva & Tshiung Han See Featuring Adriana N. Manan, Dhinesha Karthigesu, Gwendoline

Esther, Lily Jamaludin, Melissa Kong, Nana, Umar Aziz and Veshalini Naidu with Stefanie Paulus

Executive Producers Nandang Abdul Rahman & Melizarani T. Selva

Stage Manager Marcus Tan Technical Manager Tarrant Kwok Graphic Design Nicholas Chin Program Book Nana #malaysiathrowsherselfabirthdayparty #2017seasonRightNow #theatrethreesixty #speakcityasia #RasaSayang #TempatKita

DIRECTOR

CHRISTOPHER LING is the co-founder and artistic

director of Malaysian theatre collective, theatrethreesixty.

His work as a director of plays, operas and musicals has been seen in Malaysia, Singapore and London, UK. He was awarded the Boh Cameronian Arts Award for Best Direction (Musical Theatre) in 2012. He also received the Anugerah Seni Negara (National Arts Awards) Young Talent Award for Theatre Directing in 2009. He trained in Drama and Theatre Arts at Middlesex University, UK and with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. MALAYSIA THROWS HERSELF A BIRTHDAY PARTY is his stab at figuring out spoken word theatre.

CURAT MELIZARANI T. SELVA is a spoken word poet,

journalist and poetry educator based in Kuala Lumpur.

Having represented Malaysia in the International Literature Showcase in Norwich, she has also performed in six countries with notable performances at TEDxGateway in Mumbai and Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Her first book titled ‘Taboo’ (2015) made Top 10 Best-Seller List on Malaysia’s No.1 Online Bookstore (MPH). To date, her poems have been translated in French by Éditions Jentayu and in Bahasa Malaysia by Malaysia’s National Institute of Language and Literature. Presently, she is the founder and showrunner of Kuala Lumpur's monthly spoken word poetry open mic, ’If Walls Could Talk’, a bilingual poetry slam,‘Slamokrasi’ and teaches performance poetry at international and national schools.

TORS SEE TSHIUNG HAN is a writer and editor based in

KL. He is also the editor for Speak City, the publishing arm for the popular spoken word open mic If Walls Could Talk.

YOU BIRTH HOS

Adriana Manan is an aspiring playwright who was once told that playwrights are closest in craft to poets.

Dhinesha Karthigesu is a multi medium queer storyteller and entrepreneur who is the CEX Poetry Slam 2017 Champion and lead the Malaysian team to an overall win.

Gwendoline Esther Hay is an English major

who won first runner up in the UCSI 2016 Slam and has since been featured at Poetically Correct: Art for Grabs.

Lily Jamaludin is a poet and writer who has

performed in Malaysia and the USA. She hopes to continue exploring the intersections between writing, performing, and social justice.

UR HDAY STS Melissa Kong is a Teach For Malaysia alumnae,

recovering (rugby) hooker and musical theatre enthusiast at Monday Show Entertainment.

Nana is a poet who writes and performs in English, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bahasa Indonesia.

Umar Azizi runs makhluk seni, he also co-founded

allnighter productions. He sells good times in the form of teas @yummcha_

Veshalini Naidu is an actress, spoken word poet, illustrator, art lover, brain picker and story teller.

THE FA ALB

AMILY BUM

About theatrethreesixty Established in 2014, theatrethreesixty is about performing arts that anyone can have access to, to spark the imagination, to transport audiences to other places, to speak not just to them but with them. Through creating opportunities for accessible experiences, up-skilling the industry, offering creative alternatives and maintaining sustainable partnerships, we hope to create a sustainable and commercially viable platform to do exactly that. theatrethreesixty is a collective of Malaysian playmakers dedicated to telling the stories that we want to tell, by nurturing work from all walks of life, giving writers and actors’ safe spaces to experiment and grow to help pave the way for new Malaysian theatre. To date, theatrethreesixty has performed work in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Kota Kinabalu and Singapore.

FB: theatrethreesixty, IG: theatrethreesixty, Twitter: theatre360my

About Speak City Asia Speak City Asia is a social enterprise based in Kuala Lumpur that champions poetry and spoken word via events and education. Presently, the organisation operates a number of poetry events including a monthly poetry open mic ‘If Walls Could Talk’, a monthly poetry skills workshop ‘Spill The Ink’, a bilingual poetry slam ‘Slamokrasi’ and a quarterly poetry showcase ‘Poetically Correct’.

FB: ifwallscouldtalkkl, IG: speakcityasia, Twitter: speakcityasia