Mark Beau De Silva & Kalai Vaani Rajandram

Abstract:

Scholarship on contemporary Malaysian theatre has been in tandem with discussions related to nation-building. race, and identity, illustrating its importance as an archival tool of the social and political milieu of the times. However, the longstanding debate has always been about racial issues. While its relevance has been acknowledged, a comprehensive analysis that traces the chronological progression of racially inclusive identity in Malaysian theatre is absent. Hence, this systematic review is conducted to explore pertinent publications that have discussed eras in Malaysian theatre that have responded to racial issues by proposing the idea of racial inclusivity in the creative process and product. It also investigates the extent to which racial inclusivity is injected into this art form to understand how Malaysian theatre has over the years created a landscape for the fostering of the country’s socio-political agendas regarding racial inclusivity. A systematic literature review was conducted to answer the research question on what efforts have been taken to cultivate a racially inclusive identity in Malaysian theatre from 1930 to 2015. To address this, the paper systematically reviewed published research papers and book chapters on the chronological progression in Malaysian theatre that has been sensitive to racial inclusivity from its initial inception in the 1930s to the development of contemporary theatre in the 1970s. The papers were studied according to three criteria: Bangsawan theatre, theatre post independence and theatre post May 13. The findings in this study led to a discussion on how forms of social rupture initiated efforts and engaged the theatre community to further the creative exploration into racial inclusivity through a reflection on casting and creative mechanisms, and the depiction of issues via performance. In the light of embracing racial inclusivity, this study concludes by providing future research directions to endeavor for a more holistic picture of the topic.

Keywords: Nation-building, race, racially-inclusive identity, Malaysian theatre, social rupture