KL Shakespeare Players’ celebrates its 10th anniversary with a virtual performance of 'King Lear'. Photo: KLSP
This year marks the KL Shakespeare Players’ (KLSP) 10th anniversary. The theatre company’s first ever show was the Bard’s Julius Caesar, under its Shakespeare Demystified series, performed at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre.
If it wasn’t for the pandemic and the movement control order (MCO), theatregoers and Shakespeare fans alike would have been treated to a physical staging of one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies King Lear as an anniversary celebration.
With a live show not a feasible option, the KLSP decided to pivot to an online offering of the tragedy, calling it Online Shakespeare Demystified: King Lear (King Lear).
Directed by KLSP’s co-founder Lim Kien Lee, the play will be streamed live via Zoom on May 26 (11am), May 27 (3pm) and May 28 (11am). Each actor will be performing from their respective homes.
This is a ticketed digital event, with a post-show discussion with the director and actors after every performance.
The 90-minute play features Lim Soon Heng, Anne James, Zul Zamir, Hana Nadira, Arief Hamizan and Tika Mu’tamir.
“We are not shooting a film, or a recorded version of a stage show. And with a limited budget, we can’t create fantastic special effects, nor control many of the possible technical challenges for a live show.
“So, after much exploration, we decided to offer the audience an experience different from watching a live in-person show and different from a recorded film or video, ” offers Kien Lee.
With the green screen, different virtual scene set-ups will be used in this staging of 'King Lear'. Photo: KLSP
He says more technical and interactive elements will be added to give this staging a "new normal" feel.
“We will create a virtual stage, where the actors will perform with different virtual scene set-ups. Meanwhile, we will also show the audience (on separate windows) what the actors are actually doing ‘behind the scenes’.
“We will also include some interactive moments, when the actors will speak directly to the audience, discussing or commenting on what they have just seen, ” he explains.
“Sometimes we will launch a poll to ask the audience to vote. Other times we will spotlight them side by side with our virtual stage, to have a brief discussion.
“There is even a moment when the audience will appear on the virtual stage. This is fun because the audience will get to be part of the play, instead of just watching passively as they do for a film or TV, ” adds Kien Lee.
King Lear is funded by the Cultural Economy Development Agency’s (Cendana) Performing Arts Presentation Funding Programme and is supported by MyCreative Ventures and Program Penjana Malaysia.
In this classic story, an ageing King Lear decides to carve up his kingdom fairly. The beneficiaries are his three daughters: whoever loves him the most will earn the best part of England. Unfortunately, King Lear makes a terrible mistake and gives the land to the flattering Goneril and Regan. He banishes the only daughter who truly loves him, Cordelia.
Meanwhile, the Earl of Gloucester is also deceived by his evil son Edmund. Like all the best Shakespearean tales you know, King Lear and Gloucester’s foolish decisions have tragic consequences.
In keeping to the format of the Shakespeare Demystified series, the actors will present canonical scenes and speeches from the play in the original text, all knit together by narration in English.
Today, online shows are nothing new for KLSP, which has adapted the best it can to the pandemic times.
Last year, it conducted folk storytelling sessions via Zoom from April to November, with 40 ticketed shows, with a global audience.
Last in November, KLSP undertook live, interactive storytelling for public primary schools. Over three weeks, it managed to reach out to 1,600 young students, representing over 40 schools, via Zoom.
The theatre company is showing no signs of slowing down in its new role in education. This year, with sponsorship by Yayasan Sime Darby and support from the Ministry of Education, KLSP will be live streaming “Sang Kancil” stories to selected public primary schools. This programme runs until October. More than 230 schools have registered.
Additionally, KLSP will continue with some of its ongoing projects such as online storytelling sessions, sponsored by Yayasan Sime Darby, which will run until October and Objecting Shakespeare, a research project sponsored by the British Council, which runs till June.
The KSLP also lifted the pandemic gloom when its A Tale Of Star-Crossed Lovers show, which was co-presented by Butoh dance company Nyoba Kan, won the Special Mention of the International Jury of Experts prize the 11th edition of International Prize: The Naked Theatre Of Teresa Pomodoro (International Prize) series last November.
Facebook: Shakespeare Demystified
