Ma'ma Yong - About Nothing Much To Do (2015)

22 October 2015 – 24 October 2015 @ Theatre Studio, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Synopsis

Young love birds Claudio and Hero are about to be married. On the eve of their wedding, Claudio comes to the conclusion that Hero was unfaithful to her. The next day, Hero is humiliated at the altar and dies from grief.

Meanwhile, his cousin Beatrice is at loggerheads with Benedick. Both are perfectly suited for each other but are in denial. The others plot to get them together, and the couple is tricked into confessing their feelings for each other.

Adapted from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Ma’ma Yong (About Nothing Much To Do) is a romance comedy set against the backdrop of a mental asylum. Presented by an ethnically diverse group of actors, Ma’ma Yong serves you the local, the medieval, the cultural and the spiritual all on a single platter. 

1hr 30mins, no intermission.

Performed in Malay and various languages, with English surtitles.

Director/Playwright: Najib Soiman
Choreographer: Norhaizad Adam 

Production Manager: Sazali Hussain
Stage Manager: Azyy Alias 
Assistant Stage Manager: Hidayah Adnan

Lighting Designer: Fares Aljunied
Set Designer: Hairi Cromo
Sound Engineer: Hazli Mokhlas

Makeup: Mehroon
Makeup Assistant: Hafiz Alwi

Surtitlist: Muhammad Sufiyan Adam
Crew: Tan Jia Hui

Producer: Fezhah Maznan (Esplanade)
Curation: Pentas programming team (Esplanade) 
Production Management: Isis Koh (Esplanade)
Publicity Photography: Ruey Loon @ 36frames 

Performers:
Aidli 'Alin' Mosbit
Al-Matin Yatim
April Kong
Bib Mockram
Bright Ong
Noris 'Wandy' Mustafa
Norisham Osman
Pramila D/O Krishnasamy
Selma Alkaff
Sharon Frese 

Musicians: Aidil Akmal, Arman Abdul Rahman, Fadhli Ramlee, Jeffri Natawate, Ridwan Ramli

(Source: Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay Programme)


other stagings


credits

Najib Soiman
Director, Playwright
Norhaizad Adam
Choreographer
Sazali Hussain
Production Manager
Azyy Alias
Stage Manager
Hidayah Adnan
Assistant Stage Manager
Fares Aljunied
Lighting Designer
Hairi Cromo
Set Designer
Hazli Mokhlas
Sound Engineer

artefacts

Ma'ma Yong - About Nothing Much To Do (2015), Review
About Quite a Lot of Things, Actually A beautiful, raucous mash-up of languages, pop culture and Shakespeare, there seems to be nothing that cannot happen in Najib Soiman’s Ma’Ma Yong: About nothing much to do, a very loose adaptation of the Bard’s Much Ado About Nothing. Presented through Mak Yong as a framing form, this predominantly Malay production features a multi-ethnic cast, who sometimes speak in their mother tongues. Mak Yong combines singing, dancing, acting, an
Isaac Lim
Reviewed: 23 October 2015