PETALING JAYA, April 22 — When Kandang, a Malaysian play adapted from the George Orwell classic Animal Farm made its debut a year before the 14th general election, it was a sold-out affair that went on to win multiple awards.
Almost a year after the shock results of the May 9 election, the play is back by popular demand, also in conjunction with The Actors Studio’s 30th anniversary.
Written in 1945 as a political allegory on Stalin’s communist rule in the Soviet Union after the 1917 Russian Revolution, Orwell’s “fairy story” begins with the animals on Manor Farm rebelling against their cruel farmer Mr Jones, led by two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon.
Life on the farm is fine and dandy with all animals declared equal but the initial idealisms are challenged when the seemingly egalitarian new order slowly declines into a system far worse than before.
In Kandang, the Orwellian nightmare is given a Malaysian face: the animals speak in Malay, the music has gamelan tones, sarong headgears are a distinctive feature in the cast’s wardrobe and the animals feed on dedak instead of apples and milk.
The politics too, seem a little too close for comfort.
“What we found while adapting the novella was how it fits into our own historical context,” Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (klpac) director in residence Omar Ali told Malay Mail.
Omar is best known for his thought-provoking Bahasa Malaysia.
His 2016 Malay adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth titled Dato’ Seri also waded into the territory of power dynamics.
He told Malay Mail he was excited for audiences to watch the production with new eyes.
“The country is in an interim position so it’s kind of interesting timing staging it a year after GE14,” said Omar, who adapted the play with his late father Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim.
“We are in Malaysia Baru now but are we really? In terms of leadership culture, something my father was passionate about, a lot is still the same.”
Just like Animal Farm, themes of constant change, power and control take centre stage in this localised adaptation.
It is perhaps important to mention that Kandang is not about which political party is right or wrong but rather explores the premise that absolute power corrupts.
“In the end, it all doesn’t matter who is in power but what matters is once you’re up there what do you do with it? That question was important for my dad.
“Sometimes we talk about power in terms of perks or status as opposed to responsibility."
Those familiar with Orwell’s novella might wonder where the pigs fit in (or if they are allowed to fit in) on a Malaysian farm.
Omar admitted he and his father considered replacing the pigs with another animal but realised it just wouldn’t be the same.
“Also, in our language babi (pig) means so many things, for example perangai macam babi (behaving like pigs) is used to describe bad behaviour which is why I think that image of the babi is very important,” said Omar.
“It’s that bad behaviour that should be our enemy, not that party or this party.”
Omar said when the play was first staged two years ago, some members of the public were enraged by the notion of pigs, in particular, Malay actors playing the four-legged animal.
“But at the same time, it’s also part of the statement — we are offended by a Malay actor playing pigs or all these pigs speaking Malay for example but we’re not offended by what’s going on in the country?
“We should be aware of what offends us. This whole idea of what is offensive and wrong, we want to question that.
Kandang went on to win the Best Director Award, Best Play, Best Costume Design Best Actor and the Best Of awards at last year’s BOH Cameronian Arts Awards.
The play stars Ashraf Zain, Rosheen Fatima, Joe Chin, Faez Malek, Clarence Kuna, Nabil Zakaria, Nik Waheeda, Zul Zamir, Benedict Chin, Chloe Tan, Oxford Tong, Riena Aisya, Endee Ahmad and Coebar Abel.
Catch Kandang from April 25 to 28 at Pentas 2, klpac. Tickets are priced at RM80, RM60, RM50 and RM40, available at Proticket.com.my or visit klpac.org for more information.
