“Inside Voices”: There’s Something About Malay Women
about 64 months ago (02/12/2019)
“Inside Voices”: There’s Something About Malay Women | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Danté Kim February 12, 2019 By Shanon Shah (983 words, four-minute read) I love plays with Malay women characters. Call it my Malaysian Bumiputera baggage, call it internalised Orientalism – perhaps these are two sides of the same coin – but I have long relished the wit, feistiness, vulnerability and sensuality of Malay women captured in the growing canon of Malaysian and Singaporean plays in English and Malay. Some of my favourites include Alfian Sa’at’s majestic Madu Dua , Haresh Sharma’s politically prescient Gemuk Girls , and several gems by the wonderful Jit Murad (most obviously the female-led Visits , but don’t forget Gold Rain and Hailstones ).