Alias Grace

(This notice is sent out at the request of the Australian HC in Kuala Lumpur)In 1844 sixteen-year-old Grace Marks is convicted of the brutal murder of her employer and his pregnant mistress. Eight years later she is offered the chance to redeem herself, but telling a story is never an innocent act.

In her brilliant portrayal of the celebrated murderess in the play alias Grace, award-winning Australian actress Caroline Lee transforms into Marks in a performance as intimate as it is dangerous. The character is based on the real-life Grace Marks, one of the most notorious Canadian women on the 1840s.

Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood's multi-award winning novel, has been adapted for the stage by Laurence Strangio. In July 2007, Malthouse Theatre (Melbourne) and The Instant Cafe Theatre Company present the KL production, supported by the Australian Government through the Australia International Cultural Council in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Relations between Malaysia and Australia.

Date: 4-8 July 2007, Venue: Pentas 2, KLPac. For details call Andre at the
Instant Cafe Theatre office, Tel: 03-79602214.

Southeast Asian Postcolonialities "Reorientations: The Indian Ocean World" An International and Interdisciplinary Conference.

(From a notice put out by the organisers.)

In line with the objectives of SEAP (Southeast Asian Postcolonialities - an international colloquium hosted by the University of Malaya's Arts and Social Sciences Faculty in 2006) the forthcoming colloquium - Reorientations: The Indian Ocean World - will reaffirm the on-going preoccupation with the location and agency of Southeast Asia within a global imaginary. We will have an art exhibition at the colloquium show-casing the Malaysian artists Latiff Mohidin, Khalil Ibrahim and Chang Fee Ming and the photos of Sultan Ismail. We plan to showcase documentaries on the diasporic Cape Malay and the development of Taarab music with its links to the dhow as metaphor. We will feature fusion dance from Bali and a discourse on dance and movement from the Philippines.

This event is organised by the Dept of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University Malaya

Date: 8am - 6pm, August 11&12th, 2007, Venue: Museum of Asian Art, University of Malaya, Registration Fees: RM 100 for public, RM 50 for students (inclusive of stationery and lunch)

Official website: http://english.um.edu.my/seap/index.htm

Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves: A devised play about the dreams, aspirations, challenges and hopes of people living with HIV/AIDS. This highly charged and much talked about drama first played to a sell out audience at Actors Studio, Bangsar last year. Now it's back with newly devised scenes and a whole new theatrical experience for its audience.

This new staging is a mobile performance experience and so is limited to only 50 participants per show. For inquiries and tickets: Food Foundry: Block B Happy Mansion Jalan 17/13 PJ Tel: Siew Ling / 012 330 5805 Cloudbreak Studio: P2-2 Plaza Damas Jalan Sri Hartamas 1 KL Tel : Jade / 012 330 2600

4 true stories come to you live and direct - all written and performed by people living with HIV/AIDS.

Venue: Dram Projects Studio, Block B, Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13, Petaling Jaya

Time/Date: 8pm / Friday / 29 June '07, 3pm & 8pm / Saturday / 30 June '07, 3pm & 8pm / Sunday / 1 July '07 (Matinee shows are prioritized for school children & students. Groups are encouraged to book in advance)

Tickets by donation: RM30 (Adults), RM10 (Students, senior citizens)

This is a Community Theatre Initiative by Cloudbreak, All proceeds from these performances will support ongoing Art Therapy Projects at Welcome Community Home.

1st July 2007 update

As part of the Not that Balai Arts Festival 2007, Fallen Leaves will be staged at:

1. 67 Tempenis Satu at 8.30 pm on 25th July 2007 , and
2. Central Market Annexe at 8.30 pm on 3rd August 2007.

Catch it if you have not already done so. It is an eye opener. The performances are all by the inmates of Welcome Home who have never acted before, and some of the delivery is better than certain stuff you see on far more expensive productions on our stages.

Salleh ben Joned - readings from Adam's Dream

We all know why he couldn't make it to the book launch during the Kuala LumpurInternational Literary Festival 2007, and we were disappointed though we understood.

Salleh is much better now and will be doing a reading from his latest books Adam's Dream at Silverfish Books, 67-1, Jalan Telawi Tiga, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday 4th of July, 2007 at 5.30pm. So why have it on a Wednesday? Because it is his birthday! Yes, Salleh was born on the 4th of July. (We have, since, changed the date and time of the event to the 7th of July but Salleh's birthday is still in the 4th though.)

Expect to have a good time. Bring your copies of Adam's Dream along for Salleh to sign, or you can get copies at Silverfish, of course.

Adam's Dream is an intensely personal collection of poems, some of which are extremely painful to read. But there are several fun ones too.

KLILF 2007: Camilla Gibb calls Rushdie a mediocre writer

The Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival 2007 has just ended after three days and over thirty different events featuring writers from over ten countries. Holding the events in a shopping mall (this is MallAsia after all) had its plusses and minuses. For one thing it had a warmer (in some instances literally) and easier atmosphere. You could have cappuccino and a giant piece of carrot cake (I didn't see much wine about) while listening to your favourite author, and there was no necessity to sneak off to the nearby mall between sessions for shopping. You were already in one. But on the other hand, some of the mall employees had difficulty understanding why we didn't like their piped-in music played so loud and their industrial fan.

Anyway, from early feedback, it appears to have been an enjoyable experience. There were the obvious crowd pullers. Tash Aw (Malaysia) was without doubt the most popular, with people spilling over, down the staircase at Alexis. Benjamin Zephaniah (Britain) was the other top draw, wowing the young and the old with his infectious streetwise poetry and rhythm. Dina Zaman (Malaysia) got good crowds and interesting questions for both her questions. (One participant got so involved in the discussion that she purportedly stalked Azmi, the moderator, to the parking lot after the session and proceeded to explain to him the difference between the foreskin and the hymen, because she felt her original 'question' on Dina's tongue-in-cheek essay 'Born again Virgins' had not been adequately addressed.) Another well attended session was with Camilla Gibb (Canada) who responded to a question from the floor by saying that she was not afraid of having a fatwa against her for bringing up Muslim issues in Sweetness in the Belly, and adding (quite unnecessarily one would have thought) that the fatwa against Salman Rushdie was "... the best thing that happened to his career ... he is a mediocre writer."

Gasp!

And then there was Antares, who explained carefully and slowly how politicians have evolved from a specie of reptiles ...