Everyone’s A Critic

‘night, Mother, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American play from the 1980s begins with a daughter, Jessie, telling her mother, Thelma, that she plans to commit suicide that evening. The rest of the story slowly reveals Jessie’s reasons, what her life with her mother had been like, and how she has planned her death. The local staging, directed by Pat Gui, features Sukania Venugopal and Anitha Abd Hamid as the mother and daughter respectively. We review the play.

Image Source: PH7

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Malaysian artist Kok Yew Puah, who passed away in 1999 at the age of 51, had his start as a printmaker in the early 1970s before leaving the art scene to run his family business. Upon his return, he began a new practice as a figurative painter and is known for producing honest, human and subjective representations of the country’s visual landscape in the late 1980s and 90s. We review this retrospective of his life and works.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.  

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The legend of Mahsuri of Langkawi is given a contemporary spin in this musical, where an all-female cast reimagine the story as a way to give her back her voice and agency. First staged live on the island, the show features Malaysian independent artistes, spoken word poet Sheena Baharudin, musician Takahara Suiko, and local Langkawi talent. We review the livestreamed recording of the show, and discuss how it brings this tale into modern day.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

Image source: Grace Tan

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The modern and the traditional come together in CAHAYA 004 - KITAB BASAH, where a sound and light presentation is used to showcase the Kumpulan Kuda Kepang Parit Raja. We review the show and discuss what it is like to experience these two very different art forms simultaneously.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

Image Source: Courtesy of PUSAKA, photos by Wong Horngyih

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The events of May 13, 1969 are reinterpreted here through literary responses. By exploring literature, academic articles, and archival material from multiple communities and generations of Malaysians, the online exhibition looks at the anxiety, alienation and self-censorship that followed and still surrounds this historical event. We review the exhibition.


Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

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Bringing together puppetry and folklore with ethnic musicians, Asli - Resonance in Our Roots highlights respect and compassion for the environment through local and regional folktales. We review the show, and discuss how it uses folk stories and music to reflect contemporary concerns.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

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Contemporary art exhibition Telur Pecah 2021 aims to celebrate diversity within the Malaysian context, by showing works from 50 artists of different ages, backgrounds, and experience. We review the show, and talk about whether the exhibition’s approach offers a platform to showcase fresh names and works.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

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LARI uses the Minangkabau folk theatre tradition of randai - which incorporates music, singing, dance, drama, and silat - to explore the story of diasporas. The online performance tells the story of a girl who decides to leave her community, the resistance she experiences because of this, and her search for a new place to belong. Presented by Masakini Theatre Company, the show is part of a series called A People Without History.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

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This digital performance is a collaboration between two Malaysian dancers - Sooraj Subramaniam who is based in Belgium, and January Low based in Kuala Lumpur. It has its beginnings in the global lockdown, as an effort to overcome distance and separation, and results in a work that depicts the connections that are possible through technology - and the relationship they’ve created through the classical Indian dance form of odissi. We review the performance, and discuss the possibilities of collaborative work.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

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Directed by Khairi Anwar, Mentega Terbang revolves around teenager Aisyah, who is grappling with questions on religion, faith, and the afterlife as she comes to terms with her mother’s terminal illness. The movie focuses on her relationships with her family and friends, and what it might mean to grow up in Malaysia today. We review the film, and talk about whether the issues it raises resonated with us.

Everyone's A Critic is jointly presented with CENDANA. For updates on Malaysian arts and culture, visit BASKL.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.