Ling (third from left) with the production team of ‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’.
KUCHING (October 24): An upcoming theater play aims to highlight the topic of mental health from different points of view and also ask the audience questions such as ‘what advice is good advice and what is not’.
A theatrethreesixty production, ‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’ is an immersive theater installation written by local playwright Alex Chua, directed and designed by Christopher Ling.
With the support of Befrienders Kuching and the Sarawak Mental Health Association, the play will be presented at Think + Tink on Jalan Tabuan here, where there will be two daily shows on October 28 and 29, from 3pm to 6pm and from 7:00pm. 30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; while on October 30, the set will work from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Ticket price is RM50 per ticket and purchase can be made through http://bit.ly/hyacinthsT360.
According to Ling, this immersive theater installation is running in conjunction with the ongoing What About Kuching (WAK) 2022 Festival.
“Unlike a conventional stage play, ‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’ invites the audience to take an active role in deciding how they would like to look, sound and feel throughout their time in the world of the protagonist of the play, Nadia, who has schizophrenia.
“There is no division between the actor and the audience: the latter is invited to literally enter Nadia’s mind and how she sees her situation in front of her,” said Ling, who is also co-founder and artistic director of teatrotressesenta.
In the role of Nadia is Shasha Fairus, who has just won the ‘Best Supporting Actress in Modern Theater Award’ at the Malaysian Theater Awards 2022 in Kuala Lumpur.
Award-winning theater artist Shasha Fairus stars as the main character, Nadia.
The theatrethreesixty is a collective of game makers dedicated to telling the stories they want to tell, paving the way for a new Malaysian theater scene. Established in March 2014, theatrethreesixty’s productions have been seen throughout Malaysia and Singapore.
In addition to WAK, his works have been featured at the Kota Kinabalu Arts Festival, Kakiseni International Arts Festival, The Other Festival Ipoh, Putrajaya Youth Festival, Gerak Angin Virtual Arts Festival and the Singapore Causeway Interchange Festival.
‘The Hyacinths Are Blooming’ marks their third collaboration with WAK, having previously hosted Duncan Macmillan’s monologue ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ in 2018, and Nick Choo’s musical ‘Lost/Found’ in 2019 with support from collaborators Two Much. Kuching drama.
