Singapore festival to feature Melaka show

Encore Melaka’s dance troupe will be featured as a part of Dastak, Singapore’s Hindi theatre festival performance line-up for the first time.

MELAKA: Encore Melaka will be featured as a part of the Dastak festival, Singapore’s Hindi theatre festival in its fourth edition.

This will be the first time English language plays and performances will be showcased in the festival.

The precursor of the festival was launched at The Pines Hotel, Melaka by Encore Melaka general manager Tyan Poh Long and Ganesh Somwanshi who is the founder of Krescendo Communications – the alliance partner for Dastak.

The inclusion of Encore Melaka in Dastak is aimed at showcasing Peranakan culture where the immersive performance depicts Parameswara and his friends sailing to Melaka from Singapore with the legendary Chinese admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho).

Several types of Peranakan and Melaka’s traditional dances, such as zapin, wau, dikir barat and joget lambak together with grand Chinese percussion drums are set to charm the audience in Singapore.

Besides Encore Melaka, Dastak will also be featuring the true story of ex-prisoner Bruce Mathieu in a musical which the producers deem as inspirational.

Mathieu was imprisoned five times, serving a total of 20 years in jail.

He is now an anti-drug advocate and motivational speaker in Singapore.

The musical is curated by Shalaka Ranadive, theatre producer for Dastak.

The Dastak festival will be held until Nov 17 at Stamford Arts Centre, 155, Waterloo Street, Singapore and endorsed by the National Arts Council Singapore.