Instant Cafe Theatre Company goes online with screening of Nadirah

KUALA LUMPUR - The Instant Cafe Theatre Company is holding a special online screening of its production of 'Nadirah' by Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa’at this Saturday evening (October 24).

The production, starring Sharifah Amani, was performed in Japan's Festival Tokyo in 2016, and will be screened on online theatre platform CloudTheatre at 8pm.

For less than RM10, viewers can watch the entire production with their family and friends, while supporting an industry hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

But those who have the means are also encouraged to "pay-as-you-like", as admission prices start at RM8 and go up to RM13, RM23, RM33, RM53 and RM100.

Directed by the company's founder Jo Kukathas, Nadirah sees Sharifah Amani take on the main character, and also features cast members Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin, Farah Rani, Patrick Teoh and Neo Swee Lin.

Jo indicated that the screening is perhaps the first in a series to come and serve as a "statement" from the production company in facing the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

She also said the company has chosen this interactive screening platform to make the enjoyment of the production less of a solitary experience.

"We can all watch Netflix at home but we tend to watch by ourselves, it's a very solitary thing. And people are upset with the CMCO, they're tired of being so solitary," she told The Vibes when contacted.

In contrast to video-on-demand platforms like Netflix, Jo said theatre was a past-time that people engage in along with their friends and family.

The screening this Saturday, she said, would allow users to interact with each other through the chat functions on the platform.

"Theatre is coming together and having a shared experience, which is what is key here," she said, adding that those who prefer to enjoy the show without interacting also have a choice to do so.

Regardless, the Q&A session will be held with the main production members, including Sharifah Amani, after the end of the screening. The performance will be in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, with subtitles for both, as well as Japanese.

Set against the backdrop of modern day Singapore, the story depicts Nadirah as a popular and articulate Vice-President of her university's Muslim Society. 

With mixed parentage of a Malaysian Malay father and Singaporean Chinese mother who had converted to Islam, Nadhirah is caught between a rock and a hard place when her divorced mother tells her that she intends to re-marry a man who is not Muslim.

The plot goes on to address the question of faith for both mother and daughter, as well as the contentions of Nadirah's friends.

ICT Producer Tan Cher Kian said aside from addressing the problem of halted production that came about with the CMCO, the online screening allowed theatre to be more accessible to those living outside the Klang Valley.

Even before the pandemic, Tan said production costs were high to bring theatre shows to other places in the country.

"Now with a digital platform, we are able to bring our works to not only Malaysia, we can bring it all over the world, which is a possibility that we are very excited about," he said.

Those interested in catching the show can log on to www.cloudtheatres.com/shows/nadirah. - The Vibes, October 22, 2020