Mohamad Faizal Abdullah on Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (Who Took My Malay Away?)
What’s so superb about theatre, and particularly Fringe Theatre, is the variety of what we are able to expertise. And the VAULT Festival makes that much more noticeable as over it’s run, we are able to see exhibits from all world wide multi functional place.
One such present is Mohamad Faizal Abdullah’s Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (Who Took My Malay Away?) which performs for 4 performances between 28 January and 5 February (full dates and information could be discovered right here). Billed as a lecture-performance impressed by Mohamad’s personal experiences of residing in London, it explores what it means to be Malay and what it then means to be Malay in Singapore.
Always eager to develop our data of different cultures, we caught up with Mohamad to search out out extra concerning the present and Malay.
The play is about your experiences of residing in London as somebody from a distinct tradition. What made you wish to discover this theme on stage?
It’s a chance to listen to a Malay voice, a Malay perspective, see Malay aesthetics, sensibilities, on a London stage. We don’t usually see that. And much more uniquely, a Malay individual from Singapore. I feel individuals from the UK may know Singapore, however not a lot the Malay Singaporean. It’s not a lot about setting the report straight, extra of ‘here is what you might have missed’.
What extra are you able to inform us concerning the play, what do you hope it says to an viewers?
It’s him sharing his tradition and historical past, giving the viewers an perception but it surely’s additionally an opportunity for him to take a look at himself as a Malay, a Muslim and a Singaporean, who resides in London. As he’s sharing, he’s additionally discovering. It’s about his sense of self, of belonging and his place on this world and whether or not it issues or not if individuals permit him the area. Or if he mustn’t watch for that area and as an alternative battle for that area and personal it.
You’re initially from Singapore, and describe your self as Muslim-Malay, what are you able to inform us concerning the Malay side of your tradition?
The ‘Muslim’ and ‘Malay’, for me no less than, they each complement one another. Islam is my religion and Malay is my ethnicity. I’ve discovered it very helpful how components of 1 feed into the opposite. In my case, I discover it arduous to separate the ‘Malay’ and the ‘Muslim’ in me. And being a Muslim-Malay from Singapore, that’s one other layer that I must work by means of. If we’re speaking particularly about Malay, I like the colors, the flavours and group. We are heat and beneficiant. We defer, however we’re not weak.
You have made theatre in each Singapore and the UK, how do the 2 differ, if in any respect?
The audiences are positively totally different. And particularly with the sort of work that I love to do and this efficiency particularly, I feel the query of who I’m making it for turns into crucial. Theatre in Singapore continues to be younger, rising and discovering its footing, whereas theatre within the UK is extra mature and has an extended and extra assorted historical past. That age and historical past can be an element in relation to making work and the sort of work you make. The alternative and accessibility to make theatre additionally differs. Although the challenges differ, it’s as difficult to make theatre in Singapore as it’s within the UK.
Do you’re feeling it vital that London theatre embraces the big selection of cultures which can be current within the metropolis?
Yes. Ideally I’d not like to elucidate why I feel so, however I really feel like I’ve to. We ought to fortunately embrace the vary and variety that’s current in London. It may not all the time be our cup of tea, we would not agree with what’s onstage, however we’re within the ecosystem, and we have to discover methods to co-exist. And the ‘ecosystem’ isn’t just the artists. It contains venues, producers, corporations, drama colleges/ universities, ACE, funders and simply as importantly, the viewers.
And we discuss variety on a regular basis, however is there sufficient alternative for individuals resembling your self to current work from different cultures?
There won’t ever be sufficient alternatives. We can all the time do extra. I feel the dream is for there to be a day the place we don’t need to particularly create alternatives for a marginalised or under-represented teams; every work is chosen and judged primarily based on the benefit of its high quality, creativity and craft. That is the objective. We’ll get there hopefully.
During lockdown you placed on Keturunan Ruminah: A WhatsApp Play, which, because the title suggests, was a play offered over WhatsApp! What was that have like, and do you will have plans for something related sooner or later?
It was the primary time we tried something like that, and we have been experimenting and studying collectively as we went alongside. And there have been many issues that we realized that we’re eager to maintain exploring as we go alongside. It was additionally a chance to grasp how an viewers takes in a efficiency and what their expectations and ideas are. I used to be lately awarded the DYCP grant that I might be utilizing to discover creating digital performances. As effectively as taking part in Camden People’s Theatre Starting Blocks programme – a collaboration with Hector Manchego, a fellow theatre maker whom I met on the Royal Court’s No Borders. We might be experimenting with digital and non-conventional methods of constructing efficiency and see how that may have an effect on the viewers expertise. Making and experimenting with digital performances is my new infatuation.
What else do you will have deliberate for 2023 then? Will we be seeing Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi elsewhere as soon as the VAULT Festival is over?
I’m manifesting for a extra inventive yr in 2023, be it as a theatre maker or an actor. The inventive group and I hope that this run on the VAULT Festival will open extra doorways for Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? We are positively trying to tour the efficiency throughout the UK and stage it for an extended run in London. We are additionally conducting workshops about studying Jawi, Bahasa Melayu and the totally different features of Malay tradition that may run parallel to the performances and tour.
Our due to Mohamad for his time. Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? performs 28 & 29 January and 4 & 5 February at 4.15 every efficiency. Further info and bookings could be discovered right here.