THEATRE: 'ODISI ROMANSA'
Venue: DPAC, Empire Damansara, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends May 17
As one of the most talked-about theatre shows this year, Odisi Romansa is a modern-day parable that reflects the emotional fractures of contemporary life. It is a work that speaks both to the scroll generation and old-school theatre fans in search of thoughtful drama.
Moka Mocha Ink and Ensembel Teater Kaos Nol’s Bahasa Malaysia sci-fi production enters its final weekend, a last call to take audiences on a journey toward the primordial gravity of the Bima Sakti’s (Milky Way) core.
Written and directed by Ridhwan Saidi, the Teater Normcore work dives into a universe sustained by memory, data and the remnants of human thought. At DPAC, a new "world" has been created on stage.
The 70-minute, no-intermission performance with English surtitles features three young actors – Roshafiq Roslee, Lee Qi and Aliya Marissa – as androids in a future where humanity has disappeared.
They are joined by a four-person ensemble of Irsyad Yahi, Aish Mirza, Gloria Mujan and Rashid Akhmal, who operate puppets that add a tactile layer to the production’s futuristic multimedia design.
The staging combines visuals by digital collective FabU with live performance, alongside a giant puppet by artist-sculptor William Koong. Soundscapes and music by Eff Hakim, costumes by Nurul Aizam, and set design by Liew Chee Heai complete the world-building.
More info here.
KL FESTIVAL: WAYANG WOMEN: LIVE AT DATARAN
Venue: Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur
Date: May 16, 9pm
One of the standout free events at this year’s KL Festival, Wayang Women: Live At Dataran is set to transform Dataran Merdeka into an open-air shadow puppet theatre under the stars this Saturday.
Following a sold-out Kuala Lumpur run last year, the female-led collective of puppeteers and musicians returns home with its striking fusion of wayang kulit, electronic music, shadow play and immersive light effects.
Led by Malaysian founder Illya Sumanto alongside an international line-up, Wayang Women brings humour, folklore, and contemporary storytelling into the ancient art form.
This latest performance - clocking in at 150-minutes - revisits ghost stories from Malaysia and across the region with a playful, modern twist — featuring familiar spirits like the pontianak and penanggal, alongside newly imagined spectres shaped by present-day fears and anxieties.
It promises to be a memorable Saturday night gathering in the heart of the city — though audiences may want to keep an eye on the weather forecast, dress comfortably and come prepared in case of rain.
More info here.
KLPAC MINI OPEN DAY
Venue: KLPac, Sentul Park
Date: May 16
To mark its 21st anniversary month, KLPac, will open its doors to the public on May 16 with a Mini Open Day. For those who have yet to visit the arts centre, this Saturday's event offers an ideal introduction.
Running from 10am to 3.30pm, the free admission KLPac programme will feature a range of activities for all ages, including previews of upcoming productions, workshops and guided walkabouts.
Opening the day will be a community drum circle led by long-time collaborator The Colour of Sounds. Music enthusiasts can look forward to a KLPac’s preview of June’s K-pop and J-pop tribute concert “Tokyo x Seoul: Icons & Idols”, featuring the multi- award-winning Young KL Singers and dancers from the Kenny Shim Dance Collective. The KLPac String Ensemble will also present a selection of classical favourites.
Theatre audiences can catch a short excerpt from Desmond Sim’s Hungry, directed by Christopher Ling. Set against the backdrop of the Hungry Ghost Festival, the play explores themes of love and loss within a family of four, ahead of its June premiere at KLPac.
Children’s activities will include speech and drama trial classes, while one of the highlights of the day will be “Storytime with Uncle Joe & Aunty Faridah”, featuring KLPac co-founders Datuk Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham.
The public will also have the opportunity to explore KLPac’s backstage spaces through guided tours of the century-old building, offering insights into its award-winning design and the workings behind its stage productions.
KLPac is located in Sentul Park, Jalan Strachan, off Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah in Kuala Lumpur.
More info here.
KL FESTIVAL: 'PAK PENG ARCADE'
Venue: Bangunan Pak Peng, Petaling Street
Date: March 16 and 17
KL Festival is teaming up with the Zhongshan arts community and Instant Cafe Theatre to breathe new life into the long-quiet Bangunan Pak Peng in Petaling Street with a weekend takeover of pop-up arts events, performances, workshops, and cultural interventions — with karaoke and mahjong folded into the Chinatown atmosphere.
Running this Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 8pm, the Pak Peng Arcade programme turns the forgotten commercial building into a lively meeting point for artists, writers, musicians, activists, and curious city dwellers. The line-up alone makes it worth heading into this part of Kuala Lumpur.
Saturday opens with “Pak Peng: A Story Through Objects” by researcher-curator Ong Kar Jin at 11am. For added celebratory blessings and cultural insight, audiences can catch a Hadrah performance by Dr Rosdeen Suboh at 11am while the “Curi Curi Baca” literary session happens with Amir Muhammad at 5pm.
Workshops on Saturday include “Benda Berbayang” by Sekolah Main Wayang, “Sharing Time With Place” with Ren Xin, “The Knife Sharpener And Other Stories” with Jo Kukathas, “Teatime In The City” by The Migrant Teahouse, “Gerak Serumpun” with Beh Chin, and “Tape Magik!” by Tandang Records.
Sunday leans into history and storytelling, beginning with Kam Raslan’s “What Did They Do For Fun: A History of KL in the 1890s” at 11am. Later highlights include Long Tang’s “The Stories of Others”, “Theatrical Cantopop” by Tan Cher Kian at 6pm, and another edition of “Curi Curi Baca” with Amir Muhammad. Workshops include “Stand Up Lab: Decoding Comedy Scripts” with Chiew Ruoh Peng, “D.I.Y DanDanan Workshop” with Umar Sharif, a return of “Teatime In The City”, and “Replay: Rewind, Rest, Play, Ponteng” with Jo Kukathas.
Free admission event.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'INSPIRED BY TEKAT'
Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends May 31
This month, the Temu House bungalow in Petaling Jaya is showing Inspired By Tekat, a group exhibition reimagining Malaysia’s traditional tekat embroidery.
Through a series of diverse styles and mediums, it offers audiences contemporary interpretations of the heritage craft.
Featuring artists such as Afiza Abubakar, Chau Xhien, Daisy Ooi, Hannah Nazamil, Nadirah Zakariya, Ummi Junid, Xeem Noor, Yann and Yante Ismail, the show is the inaugural project under 3R Media’s Arts Heritage Artists programme, supported by Yayasan Hasanah through the Arts for All Seasons (ArtsFAS) grant to sustain Malaysia’s artistic heritage.
Tekat, which dates back to the 15th-century Melaka Sultanate, is a traditional Malay embroidery technique involving the intricate couching of gold or silver threads over a raised fabric base to form elaborate motifs.
The exhibition also features demonstrations, artist talks and interactive sessions, inviting visitors to engage directly with the craft and its makers.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: SILAS OO’S ‘ROADKILL’
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: ends June 7
The Back Room's new solo exhibition reframes something inherently unsettling through a different lens. In the wake of rapid urbanisation, animals increasingly appear on highways and busy streets – a reality KL-based multidisciplinary artist Silas Oo, known for his sculptures and fine line drawings, documents through pen and paper, preserving their tragic end.
Marking his first solo gallery outing and his first fully realised series, Roadkill comprises 10 drawings on paper, framed in custom, cut-to-size acrylic mounts.
In keeping with the bluntness of its title, Oo's works depict roadkill encountered across the city: bodies streaked and smeared across hot tar, rendered with stark immediacy, their forms at times interwoven with fragments of car parts to create hybrid chimera of machine and animal matter.
Admission is free.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: 'INHERITED SOULS'
Venue: Galeri Puteh, KL Eco City, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends May 23
Galeri Puteh is showing a husband-and-wife exhibition featuring Tengku Sabri Ibrahim and Mastura Abdul Rahman, two established figures in the Malaysian contemporary art landscape whose practices have developed since the 1980s.
Tengku Sabri is known for a career steeped in sculptural form and material experimentation, often drawing on cultural memory and symbolic references that bridge traditional and contemporary vocabularies.
At Galeri Puteh, he presents a series of wooden sculptures and drawings inspired by childhood bedtime stories narrated by his grandmother, alongside his enduring fascination with The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a favourite from his student years.
Mastura, meanwhile, has built a distinctive practice rooted in painting, where abstraction and figuration intersect through a refined sensitivity to surface, colour and composition.
An ancient Kelantanese queen inspires her seven mixed-media works, presented as Cerita Anak Wan Kembang. Drawing from the legend of Wan Kembang, the semi-mythical Kelantan ruler, the series reinterprets history through memory and myth, weaving fragments of feminine authority, royal symbolism and cultural inheritance.
The exhibition also includes debut drawings and doodles by their granddaughter Tengku Yasmin Naraya, or affectionately known as Yaya, introducing an intergenerational dialogue that extends the family’s artistic lineage.
More info here.
