By TOKL

Jo Kukathas

• I think now we have maybe like these very commercial venues, then the commercial venue has led to a lot of people doing work, a lot of work being done but frankly I don't think a lot of that work is terribly interesting or terribly challenging. It feels alien to me and it feels often without purpose. Jo on the current Malaysian performing arts scene

• You can say that the future is youth but what are we actually doing about it? We are approaching it the wrong way and a lot of the people are approaching it the wrong way. Jo on youth in performing arts

• The government needs art, because it aspires culturally. Corporations also have aspirations. Artists provide that. I think the relationship is not that of a handout; we’re giving you something for nothing. It’s not; they’re giving us something, we’re giving them something in return. It’s an equal relationship. Jo on the symbiotic role between the arts and the government or corporations

• It’s the limitations which actually make often the most interesting art. But it’s the degree of limitations, at what point does limitation become so severe that people decide to leave. Because that is one thing that does happen to some of the most interesting artists here, they decide to pack their bags and go. Jo on censorship

• The whole problem I see with art spaces in this country is the whole idea of governance. I think governance in this country is corrupt. There is corruption in the arts, and we can’t fight against that on a massive level, which is why we just say ‘ we’ll do it on our own’, and if you give us a little bit once in a while, we say ‘thank you very much’ and we just move on. Because corruption is on such a huge scale, unless there is a major turnaround of thinking, we are never going to be great. Jo on corruption in arts management

Kok Man

• I went to study theatre because I wanted to be a TV star. But after that I changed. Kok Man on why he initially began theatre work

• I feel that there are so many performances yet I don't have money to watch these performances. They are so expensive now, compared with how much we earn a month. It really costs a lot to keep watching performances. Kok Man on the prices of shows nowadays

• A lot of good venues have come up and especially the private venues like KLPac. But I don’t see a lot of theatre groups come out. It’s so strange. But the older people keep doing very well. Kok Man on differences between the scene then and now

Marion D’Cruz

• They do not seem to have the desire, nor the rigour, stamina; both mental and physical – conceptual, to go beyond a one-piece/two-piece and create an entire show, an entire one-hour of vision. Marion on the younger generation of performers

• I think interestingly enough, we have found ways to not allow the government and corporate to determine the kind of work we do. However, we have to battle on certain kinds of censorship. Marion on censorship

• I want more money. For me and for Five Arts, it won’t kill my creativity. I want mountains of it. Marion on the commercial side of theatre

• When I started, as a student in the ’70s, there was a post-’69 consciousness, which affected everything. It affected politics, education, cultural policy, national identity. What did it mean? Who claimed what? As students we were quite engaged by that consciousness and influenced by things that were happening, especially in Malay theatre, which was experimental, interesting and exciting in terms of both form and content. Marion on the scene when she first started

Mark Teh

• I keep getting invited to these things because I speak the best English. It’s as simple as that. And I think that question of language is a really important one. Mark on why he is invited to discussions

• It seemed like the most natural thing to do, and the most fun thing. Mark on why he started

Pang Khee Teik

• The first two plays in KL I saw were two very powerful and very well directed works and showed how the local context can be given voice and given perspective that makes us question ourselves and interrogate who we are and where we're going to go from here. From then on I knew that theatre had the potential to help direct our vision of the future as well. Pang on the Malaysian scene when he started

• I suddenly come into KL theatre and I find myself challenged by what I see. And still now I think the same people are still making very challenging theatre, people who have been challenging are still really challenging now. Pang on the performing arts scene then and now

• The world that we live in can still accommodate all our different dreams for society. There is a possibility of sharing that, and I think the arts are critical in showing us how to do that, how to have many versions and perspectives of truth and still manage to share the stage together. Pang on the role of the arts in society

Ramli Ibrahim

• There are issues of the Kementerian, the federal government and the state government and how much more they can promote the artists, the arts cause in Malaysia, I think it’s very important national building. It has always been denied the importance of the arts in forming the psyche of the nation. Ramli on the government and the arts

• There is no pioneering spirit, ‘let’s do something that is different and let’s go’, I don’t see it. Ramli on the youth mentality

• It is in a position where we can say ‘okay, theatre is fine now’ because there is a selective process. You die because sometimes very good people, well intentioned… die because the support structure is not there, and this is a pity. Ramli on the fragility of the Malaysian performing arts scene

Stephen Rahman Hughes

• To me watching some of the stuff (local plays) there does seem to be a lack of direction and a lack of form. It is almost like we need to go back to the rudiments of why you’re actually doing something. Stephen on the direction of some local productions