Ling (third left) with the production team of ‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’.
KUCHING (Oct 24): An upcoming stage play aims to highlight the issue of mental health from different viewpoints, and also ask the audience questions such as ‘what advice is good advice, and what is not’.
A production by theatrethreesixty, ‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’ is an immersive theatre installation written by local playwright Alex Chua, with direction and design by Christopher Ling.
Supported by Befrienders Kuching and the Mental Health Association of Sarawak, the play will be staged on Think + Tink at Jalan Tabuan here, where there will be two shows daily on Oct 28 and 29, at 3pm-6pm and 7.30pm-10.30pm; while on Oct 30, the set will run from 3pm to 6pm.
Ticket price is RM50 per entry, and purchase can be done via http://bit.ly/hyacinthsT360.
According to Ling, this immersive theatre installation is run in conjunction with the ongoing What About Kuching (WAK) 2022 Festival.
“Unlike a conventional theatre performance, ‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’ invites the audience to take an active role in deciding what they would like to look, hear and feel throughout their time in the world of the play’s protagonist, Nadia, who has schizophrenia.
“There is no division between the actor and the audience – the latter is invited to literally step into the mind of Nadia and how she sees her situation playing out before her,” said Ling, who is also the co-founder and artistic director of theatrethreesixty.
Playing the role of Nadia is Shasha Fairus, who just won the ‘Best Supporting Actress Award-Modern Theatre’ at the Malaysian Theatre Awards 2022 in Kuala Lumpur.
Award-winning theatre performer Shasha Fairus is playing the key protagonist, Nadia.
The theatrethreesixty is a collective of playmakers dedicated to telling the stories that they want to tell, paving the way for a new Malaysian theatre scene. Established in March 2014, theatrethreesixty’s productions have been seen all over Malaysia and Singapore.
Apart from WAK, its works have been featured in the Kota Kinabalu Arts Festival, Kakiseni International Arts Festival, The Other Festival Ipoh, Putrajaya Youth Festival, Gerak Angin Virtual Arts Festival, as well as the Causeway Exchange Festival in Singapore.
‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’ is its third collaboration with WAK, having previously presented Duncan Macmillan’s monologue ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ in 2018, and Nick Choo’s musical ‘Lost/Found’ in 2019 with the support from Kuching-based collaborators Two Much Drama.