Malaysia - HIKAYAT Qaziq, which begins its run tonight at Auditorium Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), is the 50th play staged by the organisation. DBP has played an important role in the development and promotion of local plays, particularly in the Malay language.
DBP was inaugurated in 1956, one year before Malaya was declared a sovereign nation. That speaks volumes of the role of the organisation in preparing the mindset of the people and providing the intellectual "software" before independence. DBP was the product of an era of "linguistic nationalism", a culmination of many decades of Malay self-consciousness and political awakening.
DBP was given the role of developing and promoting language and literature — critical ingredients of a fledgling nation. It was also entrusted to publish books in Bahasa Melayu, since very few Malay publishers and printers existed back in the 1950s. Part of its role, as interpreted by the founding fathers, was to promote the use of language in literature. Drama naturally came into the picture.
DBP, too, will be remembered for the literary talents who once graced its offices — the likes of Usman Awang (Tongkat Warrant) Kamaluddin Muhammad (Keri Mas), Abu Yazid Abidin (Wijaya Mala), A. Wahab Muhamad (Awam il Sarkam), Baharuddin Zainal (Baha Zain), Abdullah Hussein, Muhammad Kamal Abdullah (Kemala), Shamsuddin Jaafar, Syed Jaafar Husin, Che Shamsuddin Othman (Dinsman), Anwar Rithwan and Sutung Umar RS, to name a few. They were novelists, short story writers, poets and playwrights of substance.
Drama production came late to DBP. The first play staged by the staff was Usman Awang‘s Tamu di Bukit Kenny, directed by Baharuddin Zainal, who was a researcher at the time. It was staged at Balai Budaya (now renamed Balai Budaya Tun Syed Nasir) in 1967. Unofficially labelled "Badan Budaya", the loose grouping of directors, actors and stage hands became synonymous with theatre production in the country.
The late Krishen Jit, in one of his articles, noted that Badan Budaya is the most consistent drama group in the country. Drama groups are normally short-lived, some existing merely for the sake of drama competitions. But Badan Budaya, with the support of DBP, has been around for the last 40 years.
Hikayat Qaziq, written by Siti Jasmina Ibrahim, is part of the so-called "Drama Perdana" programme, to be staged as the premier play of the year by DBP or once every two years. The script won the drama-writing competition organised by DBP in conjunction with its 50th anniversary celebration last year. The play is directed by A. Wahab Hamzah, better known as a film critic, another illustrious alumni of Badan Budaya.
I became involved with Badan Budaya back in 1979, two years after I joined the organisation. I was active with Anak Alam before that, writing and directing some of the most incomprehensible plays ever staged in the country. After all, together with Nordin Hassan, Dinsman, Hatta Azad Khan, Anuar Nor Arai and Mana Sikana, I was lumped as a proponent of "absurd theatre" in the country. The first Badan Budaya play I was involved with was Hatta‘s Mayat, which I directed. I adapted and directed Anwar Rithwan‘s novel Hari-hari Terakhir Seorang Seniman for the stage in 1984 and 1985. It recorded more than 50 performances in two years, probably one of the longest-running plays in the history of this country.
Two years later, I adapted A. Samad Said‘s novel Salina. The adaptation of A. Samad Ismail‘s short story Rumah Kedai di Jalan Seladang was my last directorial work for Badan Budaya in 1989. I acted in four of its plays. To name two of my characters: the scheming Pateh Kerma Wijaya in Titah Tuanku and the notorious Sultan Mahmud Shah in Zaman Gerhana, both directed by Othman Zainuddin.
These last 40 years of Badan Budaya has produced some of the finest stage actors the country has ever seen. Wan Hanafi Su, Sabri Yunus, Ahmad Busu, Mior Hashim Manap, Imuda, Liza Othman, Jalil Hamid, Wan Maimunah. Khatijah Tan, Bohari Ibrahim, Ali Osman and Shahrizan Ahmad — all DBP staff — were "graduates" of Badan Budaya.
Jins Shamsuddin, Rohani Yusof, Hani Mokhsein, Tiara Jacquelina, Eman Manan, Jalaluddin Hassan, Juhara Ayub, Zaidi Omar, Yalal Chin and Vanida Imran, to name a few, were "outsiders" who acted in plays staged by the group. Since Baharuddin Zainal, Badan Budaya has been the training ground for its own stage directors: Othman Haji Zainuddin, Dinsman, Ismail Dahaman, Zakaria Ariffin, Anwar Rithwan, A. Ghani Abdullah, A. Wahab Hamzah, Sabri Yunus and this scribe.
Badan Keluarga has traditionally accommodated activists from outside DBP — it has welcomed the likes of Fauziah Nawi, Nordin Hassan and U-Wei Shaari to direct its plays. U-Wei was, in fact, given the honour of staging Wangi Jadi Saksi at the newly completed Auditorium DBP last year.
There is another element to the history of drama productions at DBP. Wahab Hamzah came out with a brilliant idea — a "Stor Teater" (literally, "Theatre at the Store"). As the name suggests, an old DBP store was transformed into an experimental theatre. Faizal Tehrani staged the first play at Stor Teater with his Tivi in May 2003. Stor Teater suddenly became a buzzword among theatre enthusiasts in town.
In fact, Stor Teater is what Universiti Malaya‘s Experimental Theatre once was — a stage for experimentation. New plays are tested, new directors discovered and new talent thrust into the limelight.
Names like Anuar Nor Arai, Namron, Ladin Nawi, Dinsman, Rahman Shaari, David Lim, Lim How Ngean and Chris Jacobs have directed their plays at Stor Teater. Even our literary laureate A. Samad Said did so in September 2004 with his Memori di Sebuah Pulau. No, not just Malay plays were staged; there were many productions in English too. In fact, the three plays in "Kasi Pecah Theater Collaboration" initiated by Namron, Jo Kukathas and Loh Kok Man were staged in Malay, English, Tamil and Chinese. To illustrate the impact of Stor Teater on the local drama scene, many of the plays staged have won coveted prizes, including the Cameronian Awards.
Theatre has come a long way for DBP, which is still very much alive and kicking in terms of its contribution to the performing arts in this country.
Source: www.nst.com.my (18 Agustus 2007)
