Bangsawan Gemala Malam
By Teater Ekamatra
No production in the history of Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa) has ever gotten this much love from the audience. Teater Ekamatra's Bangsawan Gemala Malam, a Malay-language adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, had the audience in stitches for over 2 hours, and then up on their feet for the curtain call.
Directed by Aidli Mosbit, the play pays tribute to the tradition of bangsawan (Malay opera) but borrows liberally from other art forms such as jazz, drag and vogue. The costumes designed by Max Tan fuse Malay songket and kebaya with Victorian puff sleeves and tiered skirts.
In telling the story of mixed-up lovers in an enchanted...