Kota Kinabalu: Teenage pregnancy, land rights, traditional medicine, stereotyping and mother tongue are five issues that will be highlighted by Green Leaf Theatre House's "Talking Sabah" during the Theatre Week that will close the curtain for the Kota Kinabalu Arts Fest 2013 here.The play will take place in Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Sabah Auditorium on June 28 and 29 from 7.30pm to 9pm.
It is part of Sunshine Collaboration, an outreach programme to bring theatre education to the community of Sabah and also to bring Sabahans closer through theatre.
It is the first workshop production by Partners of the Community Organisation Sabah (Pacos) and Green Leaf Theatre House (GLTH).
The Sunshine Collaboration is broken down into two areas of focus where participants are educated in either directing or acting. The participants undergo a three-day workshop, and during the workshop, the directors are asked to develop scripts about the issues that they have chosen to explore.
A total of 14 participants of the workshop will be performing three plays for "Talking Sabah". They come from in and around Kota Kinabalu.
"This is an experimental workshop here and we will look to expand to other zones in the State soon. The programme will follow the standard schedule which is three-day workshop followed by one performance.
"The participants may talk about other issues unique to them in their area.
For example, people in rural areas may talk about the importance of river to their community," said GLTH President Mohd Hazli Ali Zapar during a press conference here, Friday.
Also present during the press conference were Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah (Sparks) KK Arts Fest Coordinator Claudina Wong, Artistic Director of the Mist Theatre Company Lily Piggs and Pacos Executive Director Anne Lasimbang.
Other than Kota Kinabalu, there are four other zones that make up the whole of Sabah as identified by Pacos.
"Instead of staging plays by Shakespeare, we purposely stage plays that are relevant to our audience. We do not know what our participants will talk about when on stage.
It is not our purpose to tell the audience what to think.
"Rather, our plays aim to express our views and to convey our messages to our audience, not to indoctrinate them," he added.
Hazli explained that other than Pacos, the Sabah Women's Action Resource Group (Sawo) also contributed to the play.
"Sawo wanted us to highlight the problem of stereotyping and teenage pregnancy while Pacos, who deal a lot with those in the rural areas, wanted us to highlight the land rights, traditional medicine and mother tongue issues," he said.
The three plays, Castle of Glass, The Climb and Begitu ka? (Like that ka?) will take approximately 75 minutes. The Castle of Glass is a play that aims to challenge stereotypes and perceptions of vulnerable girls.
The Climb is a tale of two people from different walks of life but share a common root.
A meeting between these two characters will cause them both to realise what is more significant; a story which questions cultural and personal identity.
The last play, Begitu ka? is an abstract performance highlighting the story of land rights.
"We expect around 300 people to attend the plays. This is the first time we will be using this venue which can accommodate up to 400 people," said Hazli.
The production was fully funded by Asia Foundation.
Further information regarding the event can be obtained by contacting Hazli at 016-5522 435 or http://greenleaftheatre.org.
