The National Classical Ballet of Moscow will light up the MPO's Ballet Festival at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas this month. Photo: Handout
As the year winds down, it’s hard not to look back on what a strong season it has been for theatre and the performaning arts in the Klang Valley – a mix of new works, revived favourites, and a steady run of local and international shows that kept the calendar full.
And while December signals the holidays, the stages aren’t slowing. With school breaks and year-end gatherings in full swing, there are still plenty of reasons to slip into a theatre for one last show before the new year.
If you’re after something festive, a classic, a rediscovered script, or a bold spin on folklore, December delivers: from a poolside comedy and a long-lost whodunit to two ballets, a Yap Ah Loy musical, and a multimedia festival.
Here are some shows you can catch this month:
A splashing comeback
Poolside laughter and quiet tensions surface as The Swimming Instructor returns to the stage, running at Pentas 2, KLPac from Dec 4-7.
This revival marks the first staging of Singaporean playwright Desmond Sim’s comedy-drama since its 2009 Malaysian debut, with director Christopher Ling once again teaming up with the playwright to present an updated take for 2025.
The play follows Johan, a no-nonsense swimming coach who unexpectedly draws the attention of Jan, a wealthy young woman, and Dave, a fast-moving advertising executive. What begin as casual encounters by the pool gradually deepen into more complicated entanglements.
Light banter gives way to undercurrents – desire, connection, and the personal baggage each character brings – unfolding with the quiet pull of waves beneath a still surface.
The 2025 production stars Kai Chalmers, Andy Poon and Tania Ashwini. The show also features brand new music by Italian-Malaysian singer-songwriter Marco George.
JitFest 2025 concludes its year-long celebration with the late Jit Murad’s lost play, 'Entourage – Murder Amongst Friends'. Photo: Filepic/The Star
A stage for a lost play
There’s a new stop for theatre-goers: Robert’s Theatre, an old school venue at The Campus in Ampang that’s quickly becoming a home for independent performances. This weekend, it hosts Entourage – Murder Amongst Friends, a special JitFest 2025 premiere running from Dec 5–11.
Written by the late Jit Murad in 2000 but never staged until now, the play is the only whodunit he ever completed – a sharp mix of dark humour and the subtle politics of friendship.
Set in late-1990s Kuala Lumpur, the story gathers a circle of friends whose evening slowly unravels as long-buried secrets surface. The tension lies not only in the mystery but in the cracks that appear between people who thought they knew one another well.
Directed by Datuk Zahim Albakri and executive produced by Ida Nerina, the production features a strong ensemble led by Ghafir Akbar.
It’s a rare chance to see a “lost” Jit script come alive onstage for the first time.
The staging also caps a year of theatre – through JitFest – that celebrates the enduring legacy of Jit Murad (1960–2022), a beloved force in Malaysian performing arts.
A festival of ballet
No festive season is complete without Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in KL presents both over two weekends as part of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra’s Ballet Festival.
Led by Russian conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky of the National Classical Ballet of Moscow, Swan Lake set to run from Dec 5-7 delivers the familiar tale of Odette and Odile with dramatic choreography and sweeping music – an emotionally intense highlight of the season.
The Nutcracker on Dec 12 and 13 offers a lighter, festive journey, following Clara into magical landscapes, with a beloved score and vibrant scenes perfect for families and younger audiences.
Together, the two family-friendly ballet classics provide a fitting finale to the MPO’s 2025 season, closing the year with elegance, tradition, and a touch of holiday magic.
Playwright and director Chin San Sooi (right) rehearsing with the cast of 'Kapitan – The Musical'. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli
Remembering a founding father
Step back into early Kuala Lumpur with Kapitan – The Musical, a production inspired by Yap Ah Loy and the city’s first pioneers. Staged at Thean Hou Temple Hall in KL from Dec 13–14, the show is presented in English with Chinese subtitles.
Drawing from Yap Ah Loy’s life (from tin miner to community leader), the musical doesn’t just recount history – it spotlights the values that helped shape Kuala Lumpur’s beginnings.
Through symphonic music and theatre, it celebrates unity, perseverance, and community building, themes that still resonate in a city continually remade by change.
Presented by Opus Harmonia Association, the production – with lyrics by veteran playwright Chin San Sooi and music by Lam Siu Chong – champions original Malaysian work and foregrounds stories rooted in local culture and identity.
The setting at Thean Hou Temple Hall adds a layer of meaning, blending tradition, heritage, and performance for a fitting year-end experience.
A meditative encounter
Multidisciplinary art collective Shaman Tearoom — the duo of Aiwei Foo and Kent Lee — return to The Godown in Kuala Lumpur from Dec 12-14 with a work that slips gently into the profound stillness beneath our ever-shifting world. Their performance traces the subtle, often imperceptible movements that surface in quiet moments, revealing the textures of change that only emerge when everything else grows hushed.
In Into Still Life, the New Age-inspired duo reframe the convention of “still life,” a genre traditionally devoted to inanimate forms, into a living inquiry that dissolves the boundary between observation and experience.
Presented at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum last year, Into Still Life embraces this paradox fully.
It considers how life can surface within stillness, and how stillness can pulse within life itself. The result is a meditation that invites audiences to witness the delicate reciprocity between these forces, echoing the Eastern philosophy of yin and yang. Here, yin’s quietude and yang’s momentum are not adversaries but companions — dualities that mirror and sustain one another, revealing the deeper rhythm that binds all existence.
New twist to classic folk
Malaysia’s classic folk tale archetypes get a fresh take in Nenek Kebayan & Putera Raja, presented by indie theatre outfit ejklseni at pangkin@ejklseni, Wangsa Maju in KL from Dec 12-14.
Written and directed by Aiman Zulhakim, the story follows three characters who meet beneath an old tree, sparking reflections on fate, promises, and truth.
Nenek Kebayan and Putera Raja are reimagined to explore how power, history, and storytelling shape ordinary lives. Themes of propaganda, legacy, and choice emerge as their paths cross, revealing how stories are made, altered, and remembered.
Performed in an intimate setting with a young, energetic cast, the independent production offers both a nod to folklore and a contemporary reflection on enduring human themes.
Add on the holiday joy
Rediscover a holiday favourite as Clara’s dream comes alive in Nutcracker & Clara’s Dream, presented by City Ballet Performing Arts at Pentas 1, KLPac from Dec 12–14.
This big stage show is supported by City Ballet Academy.
The production features a cast of 85, including six professional ballet artistes from Ballet Manila, alongside local young dancers from City Ballet Academy, Pointe & Music Dance Academy, Tutu Dance Ballet Academy, and The Performing Arts School – a large-scale, collaborative effort.
Blending classical ballet with cinematic stagecraft, the show transforms Clara’s dream into a vivid, magical journey. Familiar characters like the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Mouse King guide audiences through festive landscapes and the Land of Sweets.
With colourful sets, costumes, and snow-filled scenes, the performance is grand yet immersive, offering a family-friendly mix of nostalgia, beauty, and holiday cheer – and a rare chance to see local talent alongside international professionals.
Toru Izumida, a Japan-born audio and visual artist based in New York, is one of the highlights of the Tekka festival at KLPac. Photo: Handout
A new frequency at KLPac
Over three days, the inaugural Tekka festival transforms KLPac into a playground of sonic exploration and digital artistry. The debut edition – set to run from Dec 19-21 – features live audiovisual performances, workshops, and a sharing session.
“Tekka was born from a shared need to gather, listen, and experiment. We didn’t aim to build a conventional festival, but rather a living audiovisual space where sound, image, and system move together in tactile, honest ways," says Wee Jia Foong, co-founder and creative director of the festival.
Featured artists include a mix of regional and international talent, such as Malaysia’s euseng seto, Cerikapak, Anis Haron, rEmPiT g0dDe$$, Vasflow, Angqasa, Mulan Theory & cr.telur, Taiwan’s Chang Hsin Yu, Huang Wei and WhereIsChappie, Myanmar’s LnHD, alongside experimental luminary Toru Izumida from Japan.
In many ways, the Tekka festival wraps up KLPac’s 20th anniversary series with something unusually bold, hinting at future possibilities for the arts venue.
