Front Row

Abigail Anderson is an award winning theatre director from the UK who was recently in Malaysia conducting acting and directing workshops. We pried into her life as a theatre director to find out about her illustrious career thus far, while gaining an insider look at the theatre scene in the UK.

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Sharaad Kuttan speaks with Rogue Art's Beverly Yong about the book Narratives in Malaysian Art Volume 2: Reactions – New Critical Strategies, which she co-edited. The book looks at the ways in which Malaysian artists have responded to socio-political events that have taken place in Malaysia, and also at the changing approaches and attitudes in art-making over the past 45 years.

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Jazz music, to some people can be considered as high culture/ high brow/ complex music, but educating the people about the different types of music that's been touched by jazz can help to dispel this myth. During the recent Penang Island Jazz Festival, Ali Johan caught up with John Cumming, festival director of the London Jazz Festival and director of Serious Productions, about the growth of the world renowned jazz festival and programming such a festival that would appeal to a bigger audience. 

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In the middle of Botswana lies the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which was created to protect the traditional territory of the Bushmen and the game they depend on. The Botswana government has been accused of violating the Bushmen's rights to live and hunt on their ancestral land and is said to be denying them a fair hearing. Rachel Stenham, a campaigner with Survival International, gives us an account of what’s going on.

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The best young talents of Malaysian contemporary dance are set to polish their skills in a showcase of short works called The Mezzanine: Level 2 of MyDance Alliance's Dance Escalator project. Filling us in on this project are Bilqis Hijjas, president of MyDance Alliance and emerging choreographers, Fairul Zahid and Chai Vivian. 

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Shell Business Service Centre was the winner in the Best Sustainable Workplace category at the Malaysian Dutch Business Council Sustainability Awards 2013. Here to share more about their efforts towards creating a sustainable workplace are Mabal Tan, the General Manager of Shell Business Service Centre and Marco Winter, Executive Director of the Malaysian Dutch Business Council.

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MIASMA is a series of short plays by Malaysian writers Na'a Murad, Shamaine Othman, Iskandar Ismail (Adiwijaya) and Maya Tan Abdullah. Described as bold, daring, and witty, we find out more about this multiple bill of plays from writer and performer Na’a Murad and performer Siti Farrah Abdullah.

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The drumming tradition of Urumee Melam - a vibrant largely Tamil folk music tradition historically associated with working class communities - is fast gaining popularity in the sphere of world traditional music. One of the most commanding of these groups on the local front is Chinna Rasa Urumee Melam Masana Kali, who speak to Ali Johan about their music and their latest album.

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A winning formula of 2+2 is what you're promised an exhibition titled Recent Works 2013 which features the works of abstract artists Drew Harris and Tajuddin Ismail and figurative artists Jalaini Abu Hassan and Ahmad Zakii Anwar. Here to discuss this further are visual artists themselves Drew Harris and Tajuddin Ismail.

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A show that boasts the musical genius of Onn San and the distinctively Malaysian writing of Mark Beau de Silva, Marrying Me is a new musical comedy that tackles a parent's dying wish, love and marriage. Director Chris Ling, cast member Sandra Sodhy and lyricist EllaRose Chary give us the scoop.

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