The culinary event is organised under a joint initiative of the European Union Delegation, European Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Annam Fine Food and will showcase the diverse, rich and well-loved cuisine of the old continent that has been handed down over many generations and gained worldwide acclaim.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, European Union Delegation Chargé d’AffairesMichel Goffin said this fifth European Food Festival will help to promote cultural cooperation and tourism in Vientiane and will include numerous activities, especially concerning food, with various food tents designed to match each country’s most notable characteristics.

Drinks will be on sale including European wines and beverages, and there will be fun activities for children, as well as entertainment. Visitors will have the chance to win prizes in a lucky draw, including a round trip ticket to Europe.

The European Food Festival will highlight the sheer variety of restaurants found in Vientiane, which will all be at their creative best, so as to surprise and delight visitors of all ages.

More than 25 European restaurateurs and food vendors will be joining the festivities and guests will have a chance to enjoy a journey through the amazing culinary world of Europe.

Last year, the festival featured 34 booths which attracted about 2,000 people. This year’s event will feature 46 booths, according to the organisers.

Since last year, seven more European restaurants have opened their doors, of which four will take part in this year’s food festival.

The organisers also said one of the highlights will be performances of European music by Lao and European singers.

MrGoffin said Laos is not only well known for its natural resources and tourist attractions, but also for its good quality restaurants, which are acknowledged regionally and internationally.

He said more and more Lao people are attending the European Food Festival each year, contributing to cultural and tourism cooperation in Laos.

There are currently more than 120 restaurants in Laos that are owned by European nationals, mostly in LuangPrabang, Vientiane and Champassak provinces as well as the capital. These businesses contribute considerably to the promotion of tourism in Laos, local employment, and taxes paid to the government.

Also speaking at yesterday’s press conference were the Executive Director of the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Laos, Ramon Bruesseler, and the Managing Director of Annam Fine Food, Benjamin Daout.

This elitism is changing however. Following a “crazy” idea, which a famous Indonesian cultural activist, Taufik Rahzen, recently managed to “sell” to the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Art Institute of Surakarta, Central Java, as well as to the Tourism Ministry and other institutions, Western and African music are no longer the exclusive preserve of the rich, but can also be performed among and for ordinary villagers and fishermen.

When did this happen? On the occasion of a cultural “pilgrimage” organised on April 7-17 on the island of Sumbawa as a side-event to the recent Tambora Festival.

Tambora is the mountain whose 1815 eruption dwarfed the 1883 Krakatoa eruption and can only be compared to the Santorini (Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea) eruption that destroyed the ancient Cretan civilisation.

The present government is using the 200th anniversary of this extraordinary eruption as a means to promote tourism in Sumbawa. Hence the Tambora Festival which is Taufik Rahzen’s idea of a moving festival, hence a “pilgrimage” to ensure its success.

Taufik set up the Ziarah Tambora cultural “pilgrimage” as a multi-faceted event. For its foreign participants — British, Mexican, Sri Lankan, Mozambican, American, Polish — it was a discovery of wonderful Indonesia: as they hopped from island to island in the Saleh Gulf or trekked on the slopes of Tambora, they met smiling people everywhere and nature in all its wonders and diversity.

But it was also devised as a cultural encounter. They were welcomed by villagers with songs and flowers and repaid their hosts with music from the world over.

Westerners played violin; Arone, a young Mozambican, beat African percussions with a strange, gamelan-looking wooden instrument; Leon the Mexican sung Zapotek aubades, and Bilky mesmerised all with strange Sri Lankan laments.

In the first days, there was also Mustafa “Debu” the ex-American who played, to wild applause, Muslim gambus music to Sumbawan gambus lovers.

Not to forget, among the Indonesians, the mantra-like chanting and ululations that Bambang Besur (artist) addressed to the trees and gods.

All along the atmosphere was one of equality between the participants, as well as between the artists and their Sumbawan hosts. Seen from the latter’s point of view, it was a far cry from the too often alien foreign culture they watch on TV screens or on occasional visits to beach resorts.

On the whole the experience was indeed a fascinating “pilgrimage”, a friendly discovery of cultural “otherness”, with music as its medium.

The key to the success of this pilgrimage was in the selection of its participants. There was a small core of Indonesian artists and activists.

As for the foreigners, they were picked from among the holders of Indonesian scholarships found at the ISI Art Institute in Surakarta. Most were students of Javanese gamelan (traditional ensemble music of Java) or ethnomusicology, thus already open to diversity. Yet, they all had to descend from their ivory tower, which made it an experience they will probably recall for their whole life.

Of course the Ziarah Tambora program did not aim at being entirely idealistic. It was part of an endeavor to broaden the concept of cultural tourism by opening new areas to tourism and new modes of contact between foreign visitors and Indonesians.

It is in this context that the visits to islands and Tambora plantations were organised. It also comprised on-site evaluations of complementary activities and infrastructure such as village museums, libraries, contemporary art events etc.

Finally it aimed at identifying the type of visitors best suited to this new cultural approach to tourism.

Important lessons can be drawn from the program, the principal one being that the notion of cultural tourism must be broadened: It must become participative cultural tourism. With adaptations — having cultured tourists selected and paid in one way or another- this new concept has probably a bright future ahead.

When she was one, she dressed up as Chibi Mikasa, the female soldier from manga series Attack On Titan, for the Anime Festival Asia event at Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre.

A year later, she dressed as the revenge-seeking anti-heroine Ryuko Matoi from anime series Kill La Kill for The Cathay’s J-Obsession event. She wore a navy blue blouse and skirt, a red-and-blue bandana, and had a red streak in her hair, like the character.

She was styled by her parents – online marketer Joverst Lee and accountant Cassandra, both 23, who are avid cosplayers. They generally make their costumes themselves by modifying clothes from shops. “Cosplay is a good way for our family to spend time together,” Mr Lee says.

His wife adds: “Taking Chanel to cosplay events encourages her to be more social. It beats staying at home in front of the TV or iPad.”

Lee’s alter egos include the shy but cursed God of the Underworld Hades Aidoneus from anime series Kamigami no Asobi and the warrior Yasuo from the online game League Of Legends.

After he got married in 2010, his wife also picked up the hobby. She has dolled herself up as the goofy and energetic teenager Mako Mankanshoku from Kill La Kill, who incidentally is the best friend of Ryuko, Chanel’s character.

At Chanel’s first event when she was one, her father said she “cried and wanted to go home”.

He added: “I figured that she felt uncomfortable being around so many people. So we encouraged her to look at the pretty costumes and performances. She calmed down eventually”.

The next year, when she was dressed up as Ryuko Matoi from Kill La Kill, he went as teal-haired hacker Hoka Inumuta from the same series. He says: “This time, she had fun. She kept reaching out to touch the costumes and weapons, and smiled whenever people wanted to take photos with her.”

The couple live with their two children – they had a baby boy Jaylon last year – and Lee’s parents in a four-room HDB flat in Woodlands.

Another family which cosplays together regularly are Mr Yuen Xiang Hao, 38, his wife Rain, 35, and their daughter Xue Ling, seven.

Yuen, a physics teacher, says: “We treat it as a day out together. I like taking photos and being photographed. Rain loves meeting the other cosplayers. And for Xue Ling, it’s one long, unending adventure full of surprises.”

The family have been cosplaying together for the last three years, attending events such as The Cathay’s J-Obsession in 2014 and last year’s Comics Fiesta in Kuala Lumpur. They will also attend this year’s The Cathay’s J-Obsession.

The couple have dressed up as characters from the video game King Of Fighters: Mr Yuen as Kyo Kusanagi, a cocky high school student, and Mrs Yuen as his red-haired enemy, Iori Yagami.

Mrs Yuen, a translator in a games company, says: “Through cosplay, my daughter learns the importance of imagination.

“When she is in costume, she learns to imagine herself as someone else. And when she takes it off, I hope she learns that heroes and monsters are people, and it is our actions that ultimately define us.”

So far, Xue Ling’s characters tend to be Disney princesses such as Belle from Beauty And The Beast (1991) and Elsa from Frozen (2013). The trio have not appeared as an ensemble, but plan to do so.

Are the parents concerned about exposing their children to revealing or provocative cosplay costumes?

Mr Yuen says: “It is no different from going to the beach or walking down Orchard Road.”

Most cosplayers, he adds, are extremely considerate and those dressed as the villainous sidekick of the Joker, Harley Quinn, from the Batman comics, have taken great pains to look non-threatening and “non-insane” when speaking to his daughter. He adds: “One squatted down to talk to Xue Ling at eye level. Another put her baseball bat away. It was sweet of them.”

Lee says: “If anyone were to say that I force my daughter to cosplay, I would say that is the way I choose to raise her.

“I want her to have a happy childhood where she can dress up and imagine she can be anybody she wants. I don’t want to take away this bit of fantasy and innocence from her.”

Among the productions running between Aug 11 and Sept 17 are eight collaborations between Singaporean and international artists, in keeping with the festival theme of Potentialities and the potential inherent in the individual in today’s globalised world.

Israeli architect Ron Arad and Singapore’s Brian Gothong Tan will create a cinema-theatre hybrid at Gardens by the Bay called Tropical Traumas: A Series Of Cinematographic Choreographies, which runs from Sept 2 to 4. Arad will first create his crowd-pleasing interactive outdoor installation, 7200, previously showcased in London and Jerusalem. The cylinder, 18m in diameter, is made of 5,600 suspended silicon cords that serve as the screen for film projections. It also houses a runway across its centre.

This is the stage on which Tan will direct a 70-minute play inspired by the writings of Victorian- era explorers including Sophia Raffles. Six performers will interact with one another as well as with Tan’s multimedia creations.

Tan, 36, is no stranger to directing theatre; this is his fourth outing. But the stage in Gardens by the Bay presents challenges including competition from the nightly sound-and-light show.

Still, he says, he is excited. “Doing something for the festival, there’s no limit to the imagination.”

Festival director Ong Keng Sen says: “We are moving towards an entirely creation-driven festival. We are refusing to be a glamorous shopper going around the world shopping for productions, but instead, we’re investing in the artists and the process.”

This edition’s focus on the future follows from the 2014 theme of examining 20th-century legacies such as apartheid and last year’s theme, Post-Empires. The latter had 12 critically acclaimed homegrown productions re-examining Singapore’s history and present- day issues such as immigration and housing woes.

Ong adds: “We’ve looked at global issues in the last two festivals. In this edition, we have to bring attention to the individual who is changing the world in his context. This is very important in Singapore, which always talks about the large, engineered plan, but not the individual in this large, engineered plan.”

Other commissioned works in the $5-million festival include I Am LGB, artist Loo Zihan’s re-examination of America-born Ray Langenbach’s performance art created in Singapore in the 1990s – works which included drinking his own blood. Loo, 33, will use TheatreWorks’ space at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road for the four-hour performance tailored for 60 viewers at a time. He pored over a decade of footage and archival material for I Am LGB and also speaks regularly with Langenbach, now a professor at the University of Arts in Helsinki.

Loo says: “It’s probably the most ambitious work I’ve taken on. He was ahead of his time, talking about political ideology and indoctrination, and the audience was not ready for it.”

Also pushing the envelope is the festival co-produced Five Easy Pieces, directed by Switzerland’s Milo Rau. Performers are aged eight to 13, but perform for adults in a script about taboo topics such as paedophilia. Ong says he is curious how the Media Development Authority will rate this show; not all shows unveiled at the press preview yesterday have been rated.

He adds: “Will children be allowed to see it? It deals with the fact that children are harnessing power from a very young age. They know if they cry, their parents will react, for example. It’s important that we don’t shy away from that.”

Also making its Asian debut is Egyptian play The Last Supper, a comedy about a family after the Arab Spring, the wave of protests that started in Tunisia in 2010 and spread through the Arab world. Ong says that among the potentialities the festival addresses are the post 9-11 fears of terror and the Arab world.

Similarly, the pre-festival programme The O.P.E.N., from June 22 to July 9, features talks, works and performances from little-heard communities, including Newsha Tavakolian, an Iranian photojournalist, and Perhat Khaliq, a rock star from the mainly Muslim Uighur community in China.

The main season features innovations in traditional theatre. The opening act at Drama Centre Theatre is Canadian theatre-maker Robert Lepage’s Hamlet/Collage with Russia’s Theatre Of Nations. This adaptation of the Shakespeare play is a one-man show performed by Evgeny Mironov in a spinning, suspended open-sided cube.

With Shakespeare on many minds this year – the Bard’s 400th death anniversary – Ong will direct Sandaime Richard (Japanese for Richard III), a playful take on the play, from Sept 8 to 10 at Victoria Theatre. Shakespeare himself is put on trial with Singaporean Janice Koh playing his prosecutor Maachan of Venice (a play on The Merchant Of Venice) and professional Kabuki onnagata (female impersonator) Kazutaro Nakamura as Richard Sandaime. The script is from well-known playwright Hideki Noda, whose play about xenophobia, Red Demon, has been staged here at least twice, but has been trimmed and will be performed in Japanese, English as well as Bahasa Indonesia.

“It’s a lot of international work with a deep local presence,” Ong says.

Española’s animation work in the long-running Fox Broadcasting Co. TV series “The Simpsons” won for the Filipino the Emmy, the coveted recognition for excellence in the television industry.

“My interest in drawing was discovered by my teacher at San Miguel Elementary School (Lubao). Then the other teachers started making me to draw, which they used as visual aids in their classes, displaying them on their bulletin boards,” he said. “They knew I was a hungry student and drawing for them helped me to have food to eat.”

Now 56, Española said life was hard when he was growing up in the rural village of San Francisco in Lubao town, north of Manila. “I [endured] some kind of initiation in life. As a child [I] honed my skill in drawing by necessity—for food, to survive,” he said.

Though he graduated valedictorian from grade school, he did not think he could go on to high school in Lubao. So he went to Manila, staying with poor relatives in Sampaloc and Tondo districts. In the city, he washed dishes in canteens and took on odd jobs, all the while continuing to sketch.

“It was [because of my] skill in drawing [that] I was able to make it through high school and go on to college. I used it (drawing) and [attracted the attention of] people—my teachers and fellow students,” Española said.

No money for tuitionAlthough he passed the talent test at the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts, he did not have money for tuition. The would-be painting major searched for his biological father and got to meet his wife, Lourdes, who worked for historian Renato Constantino.

Lourdes was very kind to Española. She contacted Constantino’s daughter, Karina David, who was then with the UP Institute of Social Work and Community Development. David lent Española the money he needed for enrollment. He repaid the loan by doing illustrations for her.

Aided by scholarships from the UP Fine Arts Alumni Foundation and the Melquiades M. Castro Foundation, the future Emmy winner graduated in 1984.

After college, Española began his career in animation in 1985 with the Makati City branch of Burbank Animation Inc. He moved to Hanna Barbera’s subsidiary Fil-Cartoons Inc. in Pasig City in 1988.

Española migrated to the United States in 1994. Based in California, he made CD-ROM educational games for 7th Level Inc. He joined Film Roman as assistant director for the television animation series “King of the Hill” in 1997.

The following year, he transferred to Rough Draft where he was involved in the making of the TV series “Futurama” for the 20th Century Fox TV network. “Futurama” won an Emmy in 2002.

Española returned to Film Roman in 2003 as assistant director for “The Simpsons.”

It was the episode “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind,” the ninth in the series’ 19th season in late 2007, that won Española the Emmy in 2008 and made him the first Filipino animator to win the prestigious award.

“It called attention to the talents of Filipino animators,” Española said. “I think I enhanced the comedy [of the Simpsons]. I inject some jokes, take swipes at certain things. I make Matt Groening (one of the programme creators) laugh.”

He spoke recently at the First ComicCon Philippines at the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Freeport in Pampanga, where he shared the stage with fellow Philippine-born animator Van Partible, creator of the TV animation series “Johnny Bravo.”

“I told them (local animators, cartoonists and visual artists) it was important to master the how-tos and to be basically good in drawing [manually or with the aid of the computer],” he said.

“A number of Filipinos are shadow artists,” he said, referring to “ghost illustrators” of top names in the animation and graphic novel business.

For Española, interacting with fans and creators at the ComicCon was his way of “promoting Filipino talents.”

The award-winning animator likes to laugh and share jokes, do happy animation assignments and watch 20th-century silent films of comedian Charlie Chaplin.

(Editor’s Note: We have obtained permission from Jesus “Jess” Española to use the photos that come with this story,)

With the introduction of Timbre, you can now sate both desires in one fell scoop. Opened a few months ago along the newly-minted hipster enclave, The Row (formerly known as Asian Heritage Row), Timbre is a chain of Singaporean venues with a reputation for serving up the best live music in the city state.

With their first Malaysian outpost, co-founders Edward Chia and Danny Loong are hoping to recreate the magic across the border. Interestingly, the two have actually been on the lookout for a Malaysian venue for the past 10 years and even came to check out Asian Heritage Row a decade ago.

“Back then, it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. It’s changed a lot. When the new developers took over, it became the right space,” says Chia.

Timbre has become known for its off-beat location choices, so much so that Chia said if they were to roll out a Timbre outlet in a shopping mall, people would think it very weird!

“When it came to Malaysia, we wanted something similar as well. What we like about The Row is that there is a certain modernisation to it, but also a certain preservation,” says Chia.

The two spent RM700,000 to put together the first Malaysian Timbre and it’s definitely been money well spent. The eatery is large and spacious with an equal combination of low and high tables, and interesting additions like acoustic panels to mitigate the echo effect.

If you look closely at the columns in the venue, you’ll notice they’ve been stuffed with cork wood to absorb the sound, so it doesn’t bounce around too much.

Although aesthetics are important to Chia and Loong, everything ultimately has to serve a purpose.

Like the venue’s bar tables. Unlike conventional bar tables which are often so small there’s barely enough space to lift food into your mouth without also jamming your elbow into the face of the person next to you, Timbre’s bar top tables are wide and accommodating, allowing for plenty of space to comfortably fit drinks and food.

All the tables have two built-in drawers, one that stocks cutlery and another that has an iPad with the full menu, so you can order food without the hassle of hailing a waiter.

Although Timbre advertises itself as a “live music restaurant”, you can’t help wondering if music and food can truly be successful soul mates.

How many times have you been to a bar or pub and thought the music was fab but the food was a flop or vice versa?

One always suffers at the expense of the other and few outlets are able to claim victory in both areas.

Loong agrees and says, “I know what you mean because sometimes it’s just a bar or a pub and there’s food on the side. But food is very important here.”

And you’ll find out just how important when you first glimpse the menu, which is stocked with all sorts of tapas as well as Timbre’s signature thin crust pizzas.

Some of the items on the menu, like the Chilli, Cilantro and Coconut Cream Mussels (RM23) have been specially created for the Malaysian Timbre and are not available on the Singaporean menu.

This deliciously creamy, slightly spicy mussel offering is the perfect introduction to the venue’s culinary abilities. The portion of blackshell mussels is generous and properly cooked, with spicy coconut cream soup that is rich, sumptuous and so addictive, you’ll find yourself doing an Oliver: “Please sir, can I have some more?”

While the mussels soar, the Brochette of Beef Brisket (RM30) takes a dip. The menu advertises it as a “tender” beef brisket but the brisket I get is tough-as-nails and extremely hard to chew.

Thankfully, salvation arrives in the form of the restaurant’s much-heralded thin-crust pizzas.

The Crispy Caramel Anchovies Pizza (RM30) is specially crafted for local spice aficionados and features lots of crispy sweet anchovies on a sambal base, with sautéed red onion, pineapple, melted mozzarella cheese and cucumber. Over that is drizzled aioli.

Some of the components may seem like strange bedfellows, but let me assure you that it all works beautifully, and you’ll find yourself reaching for slice after slice, calories be damned.

The Cheeseburger Pizza (RM39) is very interesting and basically features all the flavours you would typically find in a cheeseburger, except that in this case, it’s mounted atop pizza dough.

It’s a strange, revelatory experience eating this, almost like a psychological experiment where your senses are tested. It seems so wrong to eat a cheeseburger that’s really a pizza, but then you keep asking yourself – how can something so wrong taste so good?

The only downer in the pizza selection is the Roasted Duck Pizza (RM36). Apparently a best-seller in Singapore, this particular pizza hasn’t done quite as well on the home front and it’s not hard to see why.

It’s like a deconstructed Peking roast duck wrapped in thin popiah skin, and features a cast of characters that includes roasted duck breast, sautéed shiitake mushrooms with hoisin sauce topped with mozzarella cheese and crispy popiah skin.

It sounds promising on paper, but doesn’t quite work as well in reality – the duck is a tad too sweet and the crispy popiah skin curls are distracting and not that nice to eat either.

Interestingly, you are allowed to mix-and-match your favourite pizzas, which means you can order half portions of different pizzas to make up a whole.

For mains, feast on the Citrus Crusted King Salmon (RM47). Served with a beetroot puree, sautéed asparagus and lemon chive butter sauce, this is an example of a dish where everything works. The salmon is cooked and seasoned perfectly and the acidity from the citrus scattered on top offers bright bursts of flavour. Plus, that beetroot puree is really good!

The main idea at Timbre is to eat, drink and be merry. No, seriously, that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do – enjoy a good meal and listen to good live music.

According to Loong, there will even be a series of live music sessions called Malaysia Originals that basically features up-and-coming and barely established local artistes who write their own songs. This is in line with Timbre’s plan to develop support for songwriters.

Also on the live music front, expect to be in for some surprises. Because guess who performed at the Timbre launch? Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, that’s who!

And in case you’re wondering, the man can sing like a rock god and has some mad guitar skills to boot. I’ve never seen anything like it from a politician (now the coolest Malaysian politician in my books), and I doubt you have either – at least not at any other music venue in town.

While I’m not sure Idris Jala will be making regular appearances, you can rest assured other equally talented singers, bands and songwriters will (from Wednesday through Saturday).

So if you’re looking for a great place to eat, relax and unwind to good music, Timbre hits all the right notes.

The annual screening festival for independent films will showcase 10 short movies and four feature films this year, more than in previous years. It screened four short movies and one feature film in 2015; and three short movies and one feature film in 2014.

This year’s screenings will include the premieres of two short films – The Floating Chopin by newcomer Wregas Bhanuteja and Serpong by director Lucky Kuswandi; and two long features – Potongan (Cuts) by documentary filmmaker Chairun Nissa and White Shoes & The Couples Company di Cikini (White Shoes & The Couples Company at Cikini) by director Henry Foundation (Betmen).

“We expect another full house this year,” the event’s initiator Meiske Taurisia said.

Last year, the tickets were sold out with more than 500 people attending the event. The same thing also happened in 2014, Meiske said.

Apart from the screenings, this year’s event also invites Southeast Asian Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) executive director Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who will introduce a SEAFIC script workshop that offers a grand prize of US$15,000 for the best script to be developed into a movie.

“Jakarta will be Raymond’s first stop before touring other countries in the region to announce the program,” Meiske said.

The event will also organize a discussion on censorship with 10 local universities, featuring a number of local film experts, including Hikmat Darmawan.

The event organizer chose the topic of censorship for this year because it was also raised by the film Potongan, Meiske said.

“My film raises the element of human rights [in regard to censorship]. Ironically, when the number of filmmakers that are interested in talking about human rights is growing, we have to deal with rejections from the Film Censorship Board [LSF],” the director, Chairun, said, adding her film explored the stories behind the cuts made by the LSF.

Meanwhile, another documentary White Shoes & The Couples Company di Cikini is a musical documentary featuring the journey of famous indie band White Shoes & The Couples Company from starting as a campus band in Cikini, Central Jakarta, to gaining international success and back again to its origins for a reunion concert.

“The [documentary] project was inspired by the urge to properly document the band’s performances over the years,” said the film’s producer, Indra Ameng.

Two other feature films are Josh Kim’s How to Win At Checkers (Every Time), which is a co-production between Indonesia, Thailand and the US; and Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites by Australian director Platon Theodoris.

For the music, the event will present another performance from DJ Irama Nusantara, a loyal guest star since 2014, and DJ MMS.

Meanwhile for the food, the special menu for this year is Papaya pudding ala Rocket Rain.

Admission is 150,000 rupiah (US$11.30) for a daily pass screening and 250,000 rupiah for a two-day pass.

Film enthusiasts have argued that the tickets are too expensive with some of them rethinking their attendance at the event.

But Meiske begs to differ, as more films will be screened this year.

For those who do not want to pay the full price, she said the organizer also offered a 50,000 rupiah ticket for each screening, the same as in previous years.

“I don’t think it is expensive. People can spend 50,000 rupiah to buy a coffee and pastry in a coffee shop. So in the same way people appreciate coffee, this is how we appreciate our movies,” she said.

Typical? Think again.

There will be no dialogue, no narration, and no text to help the plot move along. You won’t even see the actors’ faces or the clothes that they are wearing.

Instead, Masakini Theatre Company founder Sabera Shaik, 63, has set out to craft a tale from light and shadows, shapes and sounds. Sixteen actors and dancers have come together to weave magic behind the screen and beyond, at the company’s latest shadow theatre production, Malaysia Kita. It is the third instalment in the Wayang Series.

The first, The Story Of Kuala Lumpur, was staged in 2012, followed by Malaysian Stories last year.

“All of Masakini Theatre’s productions are very much focused on Malaysia and telling Malaysian stories. The theme of Malaysia Kita is no different. But instead of looking at stories from the past, we are going to delve into the present this time,” says Sabera of the show’s setting.

Part travelogue, part metamorphosis, and part journey of self-discovery, Malaysia Kita brings audiences on a whirlwind one-hour journey to every state in the country.

The ancient art of shadow play is once again thrown into sharp relief in this show, offering a unique insight into this country we call home, presented in a familiar art form that has been given an innovative twist by Masakini Theatre.

Be blown away by a cave exploration, try your hand at polo, test your patience in our notorious traffic jams, and watch the infamous mat rempit (motorcycle racers) whizz by.

Go on a river cruise and get up close and personal with a larger-than-life prawns, immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle of Chow Kit Road and then, when the sun sets, head on over to Kuala Selangor for the breathtaking fireflies.

A visit to a national park also means saying hello to all creatures great and small. And while you are at it, why not scale Mount Kinabalu and touch the sky?

More often than not, a shadow theatre show involves puppetry and cut-outs, but Masakini Theatre has spent many years exploring the possibilities of the human form in telling stories through shadow, silhouette and movement.

“Masakini’s interpretation uses the human form as its medium to craft everything audiences will see on the stage. A certain element of contortionism is required from the actors to ensure the realism of the story they are telling,” says Sabera.

At a recent rehearsal, the actors spent considerable time perfecting their take on squids propelling themselves lazily through the depths of the ocean, complete with wriggly tentacles.

Behind the screen, they took on the role of contortionists, twisting and holding somewhat bizarre poses to collectively form a coherent form when viewed from the opposite side of the screen. In a blink of an eye, they switched from marine creatures to a tapir ambling in the wild, then morphed into a car … and then a puffer fish.

Malaysia Kita, directed by Sabera and Chi Azim, is brought to life by nine actors who have teamed up with seven dancers from local dance company Dua Space. It is the second time Masakini Theatre and Dua Space Dance Theatre are collaborating on such a project.

Malaysia Kita’s music is composed by musician and composer Kevin Vong, with choreography by Anthony Meh and Aman Yap of Dua Space Dance Theatre.

“Having dancers on the team brings a different sort of synergy behind the scenes, which I like. I also think having them on board inspires the actors to push themselves further,” explains Sabera, before adding that it is indeed a big challenge to put together a show of this nature.

And she doesn’t just mean physical strength; she believes that being part of a shadow theatre show requires so much more than that.

“The actors, whose ages range from 21 to 37 years old, had to do lots of stretching and strength exercises so that they would be supply enough to meld with the dancers. But the mental aspect is also important, especially as we practise up to four hours a day, and sometimes more,” she shares.

As to what Masakini Theatre has up its sleeve, Sabera already has big plans for the next performance that will be partially presented outdoors, though she is keeping mum on what exactly this entails. But one thing’s for sure – audience participation is most welcome.