KL Shakespeare Players - Shakespeare Demystified

05/06/2026

Theatre... live performances

Ahead of the 2026 Tony Awards, Wesley Morris invites Helen Shaw, The Times’s chief theater critic, to help him understand this season of Broadway plays.

05/06/2026

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐎𝐊𝐘𝐎 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐀 𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐑

The next major production from KL Shakespeare Players is here.
After its premiere in Tokyo, DESDEMONA returns to Malaysia.

Shakespeare Meets Noh: DESDEMONA reimagines Shakespeare's Othello through the aesthetics and discipline of Japanese Noh theatre. Haunting movement, evocative music, vocalisation, and Shakespeare's timeless text come together in a performance unlike anything we have presented before.

Led by renowned Noh actor Jinya Imai, six Japanese artists will collaborate with five Malaysian performers in an intensive creative process that bridges two rich theatrical traditions.

What began as a private showcase in Kuala Lumpur went on to premiere in Tokyo in July 2025. Following enthusiastic responses from audiences there—and requests from Malaysian audiences for the work to return—DESDEMONA will now be restaged and expanded for public performances in Kuala Lumpur and Penang (to be announced in a separate post).

𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠: 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 & 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ
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Dates & Times:
30 Jul - 1 Aug (Thu-Sat) @8.00pm
2 Aug (Sun) @3.00pm

Venue:
Theatre, Damansara Performing Arts Centre - DPAC

Duration:
approx. 90 minutes (No intermission)

Ticket:
RM90 - Standard
RM80 - Student/Senior Citizen/Disabled
RM45 - Group Booking of 40 and above
Ticket link: https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/6312-shakespeare-meets-noh-desdemona

WhatsApp for Enquiries: +6012 6530987
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Co-organised by:
The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur | KL Shakespeare Players | Life Art Union

Supported by:
Embassy of Japan in Malaysia | The Japan-Malaysia Cultural Exchange Project | Santosh Logandran

Embassy of Japan in Malaysia （在マレーシア日本国大使館） The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur CloudJoi

05/06/2026

Shakespeare was a playwright, an actor, and... an entrepreneur.

He and his company had to confront, manage, and overcome a wide range of challenges: limited audiences, funding pressures, censorship, plague outbreaks, and changing political conditions.

Yesterday's presentation also gave KLSP an opportunity to reflect on our own journey over the past 15 years—how much we have consciously taken inspiration from Shakespeare and his company, and how much of what we do may simply be coincidences born from the same necessity: to SURVIVE.

The presentation was attended by over 100 students and lecturers from the Department of English at University of Malaya.

04/06/2026

This afternoon, sharing what inspirations we have taken from Shakespeare to run our company which is 15 years old.

22/05/2026

It's been quite a ride so far this year. Right after Chinese New Year, we started serious rehearsals on two plays--𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 and 𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐴𝑑𝑜 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑁𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔--in tandem, and the constant juggling, because several performers were in both productions. The latter play engaged 17 performers on stage, and eight were in 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡. And in between--Exchange Theatre and other workshops. The productions were staged only two weeks apart!

May is almost over, and on the horizon is 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑵𝑶𝑯: 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒂. Our collaborators will arrive and performances will be 𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐩𝐚𝐜 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟑𝟎 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭, and after that up to the 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 for shows on 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟖 & 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟗 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭.

Then, during 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏 - 𝟐𝟕, at dpac, a restaging of our sold-out 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 for those who informed they didn't know it was on or that they couldn't get tickets or that they were out of town. But, of course, we will be adding a new storytelling production for our younger audience. We're holding that closer to our chest.

In 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 something totally not-a-Shakespeare play. It will be directed by Ghafir Akbar, who has declared he is inclined toward Chekhov...but we'll do Chekhov with a twist at 𝐤𝐥𝐩𝐚𝐜.

That's celebrating KL Shakespeare Players' 15th Anniversary in 2026

16/05/2026

In the afterlife you'll still desire good literature. Mummies know best

For the deceased of Roman-era Egypt, Greek literature may have offered a cheat code to a more comfortable afterlife.

13/05/2026

We will be in JB this Friday at JOTIC

12/05/2026

https://www.thetimes.com/article/90bf864c-a436-4df7-ac66-47e20a644d90?shareToken=136ee2396bc3b1b2f4c87fc49d5c63a7
This morning, a friend shared an article in 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒, an obituary for 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑷𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒐𝒏, a distinguished English Shakespearean actor and a contemporary of Judy Dench. He was 82 years old. While many aspects of his playing Shakespeare won praise, one quote by Pennington inspired me.

He said that he found great satisfaction in "going into schools and inspiring and enlightening kids who had never really had any dealings with Shakespeare or who were bored with the way it was taught”.

11/05/2026

from a fresh graduate who watched 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆:

"After watching the [Merchant of Venice by KL Shakespeare Players at klpac] I found it truly shocking and impactful. It was my first time attending a theatre performance, and the experience was genuinely precious.

What stood out most to me was how user-friendly and accessible the production was. The use of Malaysian humour and subtitles made it much easier for the audience to understand and engage with the performance. I was also very impressed by the actors’ ability to play multiple roles.

From the play, I found myself reflecting internally on the complex tensions surrounding the relationship between Jews and Christians, particularly the portrayal of Shylock and Antonio. Their motivations are layered, and the play does not clearly present a “right” or “wrong” side, especially since Antonio did agree to the bond.

I also found Portia’s use of mercy and legal strategy particularly interesting and clever, especially in how she manoeuvred the situation so that Shylock could not claim the pound of flesh without shedding blood. It was both creative and thought-provoking.

So, I really feel that the performance was very well-acted and gave me a much deeper understanding of the story. Previously, I struggled quite a bit with the old [𝑠𝑖𝑐] English text, but watching it performed on stage made it much clearer and more engaging."

Picture credit: Goh B**g Hiang