22/07/2020
ZOOM PARAH
Saturday 25 Jul, 8 PM
Sunday 26 Jul, 3 PM
More details and tickets at: https://www.cloudtheatres.com/shows/zoom-parah
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Performed in Malay with no subtitles. An online copy of the English text will be available during the show.
There will be 2 post-show discussions with the playwright, director, producer, and actors.
Credits: The Instant Café Theatre Company
Funny, provocative and moving, Parah asks questions about friendship, race, nation and belonging.
Parah by Alfian Sa’at
Produced by The Instant Café Theatre Company
Director Jo Kukathas
Producer Tan Cher Kian
Actors Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin, Gregory Sze, Farah Rani and Branavan Aruljothi
"ZOOM PARAH" will be performed LIVE! in Malay.
Date: Saturday July 25th 8pm & Sunday July 26 3pm
Ticketing & Streaming : www.cloudtheatres.com
Tickets: Pay as you like basis - RM5, RM10, RM30, RM50, RM100
With Covid19 the arts have been struggling to survive. However Instant Café is committed to making theatre financially accessible to everyone so we have tiered our tickets to allow you to pay what you can afford. The more expensive ticket is an opportunity for you to contribute to the cost of this production and to the survival of Instant Café, the cheaper ticket is for those who are struggling financially. We know these are difficult times for everyone. No matter what you pay you get a front row ticket.
5% of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Pet Adoption Network Malaysia
SYNOPSIS
Melur, Kahoe, Mahesh and Hafiz are Form 5 students studying in KL. Best friends, they always find themselves in Melur’s house hanging out, monkeying around and sometime even studying. However, their innocent lives are thrown into turmoil when Mahesh sides with the Indian boys in his class in refusing to study their literature textbook, Interlok, on the grounds that it is racist. Mahesh tries to explain his position to his friends but this divides them even further. Every innocent thing from their beloved badminton to their jokey wordplay is seen through a racial lens. Without the proper vocabulary to interrogate the wounds of history their lives are thrown in turmoil.
Can their friendship survive?
WHY “ZOOM PARAH”?
We started rehearsals on Zoom with the idea of exploring a new way to bring theatre to people. If Covid19 had created a situation where people could not go to the theatre or even to rehearsal rooms then we would find a way to bring theatre to people. We decided to make a Zoom performance of Parah with all its limitations and strengths. The actors were confined to their homes. Rehearsals were done online. We knew we could not replicate the act of theatre with fancy sets and lights but neither did we want to just do a simple Zoom reading. But we discovered some strengths. One strength was that we had four powerful actors who could communicate the intense emotion and events of the play across the digital divide. Another strength was that the audience could get front row seats to the actors! The performance suddenly became very intimate. And finally, with Zoom we could take Parah performed LIVE into homes all over Malaysia! In fact, into homes all over the world! This was very exciting! This is why despite theatres reopening we decided to continue our plans to broadcast Parah through Zoom and the new online digital platform Cloud Theatre
Please enjoy ‘Zoom’ Parah.
Thank you Brickfields Asia College (BAC) for your support of this production and Cultural Economy Development Agency for being Instant Cafe Theatre's strategic partner for 2020.
