By Rosheen Fatima

In the Spotlight… Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Director, Bilik Ahmad Berdaki

Teater Ekamatra, the Singaporean theatre group, will be staging a trilogy of plays this month. The group (who recently underwent a change in management) hopes to re-examine the Malay identity and bring more of their work to venues outside Singapore. The former artistic director of Teater Ekamatra and the director of their theatre trilogy ‘Bilik Ahmad Berdaki’, Noor Effendy Ibrahim speaks to Rosheen Fatima about the different aspects of the play

What is your role in the production?
Playwright, director, designer and disciplinarian.

Can you explain to us a little about the trilogy of plays?
Basically, the trilogy began with Bilik which was written and first performed in 1994, followed by Ahmad, which was written in 1996 and performed to a private audience as it was not awarded a performance license by the entertainment licensing body at that time. Bilik and Ahmad were then performed as a double-bill in 2008 and this time, Ahmad was given the green light for public performance. Berdaki, the final installment, was only written this year in 2009 due to severe procrastination on my part. So that's the basic history of this trilogy.
Now what this trilogy is all about, honestly I'm still unsure, other than the fact that each is a playground for me to re-examine my fetish with suppression and obedience, and the politics of gender and sexuality within the Malay psyche and domesticity. Maybe with this final trilogy, I should be more sure of what it's all about... but then again I hope not...

Why did you choose to do it in Malay and Hokkien?
Simply because I can. It could have been Cantonese, or Hakka, or Tamil, Javanese or Bawean. But I choose Hokkien because I find the musicality of the dialect to be so endearing. It's crude and violent, yet at the same time there's a tactile familiarity that is tender.

How has the progress been on the production so far?
Well, time is really not a luxury, since everyone in the cast (including myself) has other obligations. But it's really great that the cast and the production team are all committed and passionate, and possess great creative sensitivities and sensibilities, which is crucial.

Why choose to stage it in Malaysia and would you do the same for future
productions?
It's still an untapped scene, market, audience pool, collaborative and creative opportunities – whatever you want to call it. The potential is rich, and it's unthinkable for Malay language productions not to do cross-straits tours and engagement. Already the Malay-language audience in Singapore is limited, although we’re still exploring the non-English-speaking audience (primarily non-Malays, but not excluding Malays themselves) with encouraging, but limited success. Of course, but there has to be a conscious effort for serious engagement cross-straits, then only will the ministries and affiliate corporations see the economical benefits and viabilities for more dialogues and engagements. Who will/should win? The Malay-language arts scene and its audience.