Front Row

Rhythm in Bronze (RiB) has been championing to conserve Malaysia’s musical heritage since its founding in 1997, and the ensemble has been raising awareness of the richness of Malay Contemporary Gamelan through creating new compositions and experimenting with new approaches to performing on the instruments. The award-winning team are set to stage their first public performance since 2018 with Gema Gamelan, described as an immersive evening of magical gamelan in the intimate environment of BoboKL. We discuss the Rhythm in Bronze story with Dr Jillian Ooi, the Artistic & Music Director of RiB, who is also a Marine Ecologist & Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya, and Sharmini Ratnasingam, the group's Executive Producer, while also finding out what's in store at the upcoming performance.

Image Credit: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/gema-gamelan

Material Woman in the Beauty World is a new one-actor play written by Leow Puay Tin, which presents a fascinating sociological portrait of an ‘ordinary’ woman in her 50s. In the staged reading, we encounter a woman who shares with us episodes, experiences, and stories from her work as a beautician. She takes us for a peek behind the scenes of the beauty world and along the way, she also reveals other aspects of her life – her interest in feng shui and fortune-telling; her attitudes toward money; her complicated relationships with her mother, her sons, women friends, and husband; and her attempts to get a divorce during the Covid-19 pandemic. There will be three different productions of this one-actor play: an English-language version, a Cantonese version, and a Mandarin version – all to be performed by the same actor, Ling Tang. We speak to Puay Tin to find out more.

Image Credit: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/material-woman-in-the-beauty-world

Rhythm in Bronze (RiB) has been championing to conserve Malaysia’s musical heritage since its founding in 1997, and the ensemble has been raising awareness of the richness of Malay Contemporary Gamelan through creating new compositions and experimenting with new approaches to performing on the instruments. The award-winning team are set to stage their first public performance since 2018 with Gema Gamelan, described as an immersive evening of magical gamelan in the intimate environment of BoboKL. We discuss the Rhythm in Bronze story with Dr Jillian Ooi, the Artistic & Music Director of RiB, who is also a Marine Ecologist & Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya, and Sharmini Ratnasingam, the group's Executive Producer, while also finding out what's in store at the upcoming performance.

Image Credit: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/gema-gamelan

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Material Woman in the Beauty World is a new one-actor play written by Leow Puay Tin, which presents a fascinating sociological portrait of an ‘ordinary’ woman in her 50s. In the staged reading, we encounter a woman who shares with us episodes, experiences, and stories from her work as a beautician. She takes us for a peek behind the scenes of the beauty world and along the way, she also reveals other aspects of her life – her interest in feng shui and fortune-telling; her attitudes toward money; her complicated relationships with her mother, her sons, women friends, and husband; and her attempts to get a divorce during the Covid-19 pandemic. There will be three different productions of this one-actor play: an English-language version, a Cantonese version, and a Mandarin version – all to be performed by the same actor, Ling Tang. We speak to Puay Tin to find out more.

Image Credit: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/material-woman-in-the-beauty-world

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Set to the poetry of Xu Lizhi (1990 – 2014), I Swallowed a Moon Made of Iron harnesses the human voice, piano, theatre and video imagery to create a tragic but powerful cry of protest in solidarity with immiserated workers everywhere. Described as powerful, haunting and gut wrenching, Xu’s words gave voice to millions of workers around the globe whose existence is often forgotten. Created and performed by Njo Kong Kie, the former music director of the renowned dance company La La La Human Steps (Canada) – I Swallowed a Moon Made of Iron traverses theatre, music, song and poetry in paying tribute to Xu Lizhi and countless others whose unseen struggles provide the amenities of our everyday lives. Kong Kie joins us to share more about the life of Xu Lizhi, and how his art lives on, long after his passing.

Set to the poetry of Xu Lizhi (1990 – 2014), I Swallowed a Moon Made of Iron harnesses the human voice, piano, theatre and video imagery to create a tragic but powerful cry of protest in solidarity with immiserated workers everywhere. Described as powerful, haunting and gut wrenching, Xu’s words gave voice to millions of workers around the globe whose existence is often forgotten. Created and performed by Njo Kong Kie, the former music director of the renowned dance company La La La Human Steps (Canada) – I Swallowed a Moon Made of Iron traverses theatre, music, song and poetry in paying tribute to Xu Lizhi and countless others whose unseen struggles provide the amenities of our everyday lives. Kong Kie joins us to share more about the life of Xu Lizhi, and how his art lives on, long after his passing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Japanese word "Ondo" translates into temperature, referring to the fire or heat that is used to shape and stabilise the sounds of a handpan, which takes centrestage at Hands Percussion's latest performance, done in collaboration with independent musician Jian Hao. Ondo! the concert will be a fiery performance, showcasing the vibrancy and versatility of the handpan as it is performed in a variety of jazzy, classical, folk and popular songs, accompanied by a mix of other instruments. We learn more about the handpan, and also what's in store at the upcoming performance from Bernard Goh, the Founder & Artistic Director of Hands Percussion.

Come Home and Eat explores the different notions of home and its anxieties, seen through the lens of food. How do we find a sense of belonging – and ourselves – through ancient myths, eating trends, passed-down recipes, in the kitchen, and at the dining table? This production is the sequel to Don’t Like It Here? Then Leave, which was presented last May. Using a variety of immersive storytelling forms and told from diverse viewpoints, this devised project features an eclectic ensemble from Theatresauce, and is directed by Kelvin Wong, written collectively by the team, and marks the first production of the company’s 2023 season. We find out more from two actors from the production, Farah Rani and Nabil Zakaria.

Image Credit: https://www.klpac.org/shows/come-home-and-eat/

The Japanese word "Ondo" translates into temperature, referring to the fire or heat that is used to shape and stabilise the sounds of a handpan, which takes centrestage at Hands Percussion's latest performance, done in collaboration with independent musician Jian Hao. Ondo! the concert will be a fiery performance, showcasing the vibrancy and versatility of the handpan as it is performed in a variety of jazzy, classical, folk and popular songs, accompanied by a mix of other instruments. We learn more about the handpan, and also what's in store at the upcoming performance from Bernard Goh, the Founder & Artistic Director of Hands Percussion.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Come Home and Eat explores the different notions of home and its anxieties, seen through the lens of food. How do we find a sense of belonging – and ourselves – through ancient myths, eating trends, passed-down recipes, in the kitchen, and at the dining table? This production is the sequel to Don’t Like It Here? Then Leave, which was presented last May. Using a variety of immersive storytelling forms and told from diverse viewpoints, this devised project features an eclectic ensemble from Theatresauce, and is directed by Kelvin Wong, written collectively by the team, and marks the first production of the company’s 2023 season. We find out more from two actors from the production, Farah Rani and Nabil Zakaria.

Image Credit: https://www.klpac.org/shows/come-home-and-eat/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.