Teater Ekamatra

Adam is sent away by his mother, Siti, to undergo the rite of passage of every Singaporean son: National Service. Except, he was born in Australia and has no sense of what Singapore means to him. His return is further complicated by Siti’s overzealous need for him to rekindle the ties she severed a long time ago — and experience the quintessential rite of passage of every Singaporean Malay son: circumcision.&nbsp;Aided by an uncle and grandmother who are not quite what they seem and an out of sorts ‘maker o

Potong (2023)

Producer

When a father takes his life, his wife grieves, his daughter wonders, and his mother laughs.&nbsp;Berak&nbsp;looks at the whimsical journey of a family dealing with mortality. Adapted from Chong Tze Chien’s award-winning&nbsp;Poop!,&nbsp;Berak&nbsp;stars the stellar cast of Siti Khalijah Zainal, Fir Rahman, Siti Hajar Abdul Gani, and Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit.With its humorous musings on family, love, and grief,&nbsp;Berak&nbsp;promises to speak to your heart in unexpected ways, filling it with magic, laughter, a

Berak (2022)

In 2003, Teater Ekamatra created Projek Suitcase, a project with a poor theatre format involving one actor and one suitcase. It is now presented as a site-specific mini-festival of monologues exploring the power of storytelling through the solitary voice. Projek Suitcase is inspired by the medicine man, selling ointments in back alleys, equipped with only his bag and many tales to convince his audience.

Die Before You Die:&nbsp;this powerful quote has managed to find its way into many religions, beliefs 

Projek Suitcase (2018)

Centre 42 currently has limited information on this archive entry. If you possess any relevant information and/or archival material, please contact us at&nbsp;archive@centre42.sg.


Bulan Madu (2018)

In 1943, the Japanese film 'The Tiger of Malaya' was released. Based on the life story of Tani Yutaka, a Japanese man who lived on the east coast of Malaya, the film portrayed him as a patriotic agent who liberated the Malay natives from British imperialists and Chinese capitalists.

Now, more than 70 years later, a group of actors are going to reenact scenes from the film. Real Malay actors will replace the 'brown face' Japanese actors in the original. Chinese actors will play antagonists who are 'less e

Tiger of Malaya (2018)

With elections around the corner, a political party is planning to field candidates in a five-member Group Representation Constituency. On the shortlist are a Minister, a Brigadier-General, a high-flying lawyer and a grassroots organiser.

But the team is not complete without a minority candidate. This candidate has to be likeable. He or she has to be a respected member of the community. Most importantly, he or she has to be... Chinese.

GRC examines what it means to be a part of a minority in a topsy-t

Geng Rebut Cabinet (2016)

In Kesamet, orgone is food, water, energy. Orgone is life. Dan works in the factory, producing orgone from his body day after day. At night, he dreams of a woman whose face he cannot see. Someone he believes is from a past he does not remember. His only friend, Talulah tells him it's for his own good. Kesamet survives when everyone plays their role. But is surviving enough?


Paradise (2014)

Production Manager

I had always wanted to write a play about Singapore's most famous fugitive/detainee - Mas Selamat Kastari.

But there was a problem. Because he was detained under the Internal Security Act, rather than convicted in a normal court, one never heard directly from him. What we had instead were statements from the Ministry of Home Affairs, based on their 'intelligence-gathering'. This is of course a deviation from the usual judicial process where evidence is produced in court and a defendant is allowed to repr

Kakak Kau Punya Laki (2013)

Unlike many, more popular, coming of age stories,&nbsp;TAHAN&nbsp;looks at the journey of a young man through his two years of National Service in the police force. Three years have passed since I completed my NS, but I keep re-assessing how the two years have affected me, and will continue to affect me in my decisions. This play was conceived from the echoes of silent discontent I have witnessed in the face of our society.&nbsp;

Being partly autobiographical,&nbsp;TAHAN&nbsp;is dedicated to all the law-

TAHAN (2013)

One hostage. One perpetrator. Two victims.

Benjamin Lik drives a BMW 7 series coupe, lives in a 3-floored bungalow in Upper Thomson, has a private shower in his office.

Muhammad Ashraf drives a yellow Hyundai Sonata, lives in a maisonette that is about to be repossessed, has two estranged daughters and an absent son.

Two men who live in completely different worlds, cross paths only when Ashraf storms Benjamin's office on afternoon. Barricading the door, he demands a job in Benjamin's company. With 

Not Counted (2012)

A city is never complete...
No space to run,
no place to hide.
No. No. No.
No memories to hold,
no memories to be told.
No eye to eye.
No heart to heart. No fires.
No one. Nobody. Nobody.&nbsp;
Nobody. Nobody really here.
Just songs of migrating birds passing by.
Just symphonies of metal, concrete and glass.
Just echoes of silent discontent.&nbsp;
This content, displaced.&nbsp;


This Placement (2012)

A man and a woman find themselves in a cemetery, lost and trying to find their way. As they attempt to regain their bearings, they find themselves contemplating what it means to move on without leaving other things behind. Along the way, they meet a makcik with an unusual job - she is tasked to keep time and ensure the cemetery runs efficiently. In another time and place, another couple sit down and talk about their lives, leaving no stone unturned and without mincing words. The characters attempt to grasp 

Sesat (2012)

A young student visits an activist for an interview. However, as the interview unravels, secrets come out and it emerges that the two supposed strangers are not entirely unrelated. The student will either leave with questions answered, or with more questions to ask.&nbsp;14:27&nbsp;investigates, challenges and unravels a story connected to notions around gender.&nbsp;


14:27 (2012)

Two best friends, a girl, and a story about love. Two men meet as old souls over a last meal and a bowl of water. One reminiscing about the past in an attempt to find relief, unaware of the other's own unsettled heart. Old promises, old jokes, old dreams, old life, old death... and old love? Will they find peace before departing at the end of this story, or will it be, if not already, too late?&nbsp;


Last Meal (2012)

A parallel universe bereft of most ideals is close to apocalypse. The big Corporations are running out of protection plans. Everyone who is eligible has received theirs. When one customer decides to leave for Yes Us Corp, two slightly ineligible people vie for the last chance to insure themselves against the afterlife. Buying what's left of salvation is not easy - they are pitted against each other to find out that they are inextricably connected. What is this relationship that transcends their existence an

Protection Plan (2012)

Cast

Amir Mahmood had the nation at his feet. A respected community leader, charismatic and enigmatic, he was a spitfire destined for greatness.&nbsp;

Yet at the cusp of success, a lapse in judgment, unravels first his career, then his family and finally, himself.


Mata Hati (2011)

Nadirah is the popular and articulate Vice-President of her university's Muslim Society. She convenes inter-faith meetings where students talk about how they should respect on another's spaces.

Nadirah is also the product of a mixed marriage. Her father is a Malaysian Malay and her mother a Singaporean Chinese who had converted to Islam.&nbsp;

One day, Nadirah's mother tells her that she's going to re-marry. To a man who's not Muslim. Nadirah's best friend Maznah believes that everyone has a right to 

Nadirah (2011)

Front of House Manager

It's Chinese New Year and the only soldiers in camp on guard duty are Malay or Indian. That is, until Corporal Russell Lim turns up. Things start turning ugly when the insults start flying and all that's taboo becomes fair game. By the end of the night, a Chinese and a Malay soldier are found dead.

Enter Investigating Officer Victor de Souza, who needs to uncover the chain of events that have led to the tragedy.&nbsp;

The stakes are high because the incident has led to an eruption of tension between t

Charged (2011)

Sumbang&nbsp;tells a story of Ara, a Muslim undertaker at the end of her era. For over 40 years, Ara has been the only Muslim undertaker in the precinct, which makes her feel inevitably at the helm for the sins of the people who have no knowledge of the process of laying the dead to rest. Saddened by the diminishing course of her traditions, Ara pays her last tribute, a swan song to the souls of those whom she sets free.&nbsp;


Sumbang (2011)

Front of House

Marketing

Mak Bidan Hazimah has been out of work as a masseuse for pregnant women for a long time. One day, a mother, Cik Nia and a soon-to-be mother, Mariam, visits her in pursuit of her services. As she goes through the procedures of her services, she realises that Cik Nia has a different intention to her visit. This script explores the use of tradition and taking advantage of it to cover personal shames and problems.&nbsp;


Perut (2011)

Meet Dian Atika. Young, overzealous and yearning to be heard - but what happens when she has to do things the orthodox way, the only way that her elders have ever known? Instrumental to their success as the collective Orang Putih is old Tok Wan, a bomoh who uses his gift of magic to bring about changes to the world from his Tanjong Pagar three-room flat. Yet he himself doesn't want any change of fate. But will Dian's visit change him in some way? Or will Dian herself, be changed.


Orang Putih (2011)

Siap Sedia&nbsp;revolves around the working life of the Tok Kadi officiating most Malay-Muslim marriages. The Tok Kadi meets a variety of couples on a daily basis, inundating them with advice and educating them about the hard life as a married couple. In most marriages, the couples end up living happily ever after. What happens when it all fails and ends up in a bitter divorce?&nbsp;


Siap Sedia (2011)

Alas, times have changed, and so has its people. Names have been forgotten, remembered only to be discarded. There is no room for superstition. There is no space for tradition. There is no time for culture.&nbsp;


Mereka Datang Dan Pergi II (2011)

Ahmad is a grave digger who recently has an added undertaking. He now not only buries the dead, but digs their remains up after a certain period of time. New superstitions are uncovered, as new laws overrule the dead. He often contemplates their fates, trying to imagine the life they had lived, the sorrows they held, only certain of the names they bore. Names planted like crops, waiting to be harvested. Ahmad is the story teller who digs up the stories across time, before burying them again.


Mereka Datang Dan Pergi (2011)

Rotan Mak Guru&nbsp;is a play about the writer's memories when he was a kid. As we know, the work of a Mak Guru is a dying trade. These days, children are sent to Mosques or Madrasahs to learn how to recite the Quran. Gone are the days when children had to go to people's houses to learn it.&nbsp;


Rotan Mak Guru (2011)

What happens in a society where simple things such as love have boundaries and restrictions?&nbsp;Strangers&nbsp;contrasts two extremes in a short scene about the conversation between a cynical make up artist and a gleeful bride. Despite the two extremes, both of them are also strangers in the sense that both are in a place where love has its boundaries set by society and the people around them.&nbsp;


Strangers (2011)

A gift is often taken as something to be celebrated. But what happens when the gift is also a curse? Will it be polite to return it? What if you can't? What if someone's life depended on it? Sometimes we think that certain things no longer exist in modern society until they pay us a visit in cryptic dreams.&nbsp;


Nenek (2011)

He looked for the newspaper article that he'd found a few days ago. He wanted to prepare himself for the next phase. 'Is he ready?' Not a question he has the will to answer. It would be easier to say that he was seeking solace in the dusk of the looming night.&nbsp;

Zara&nbsp;follows the journey of someone who wishes to venture so high up into the skies that he forgets to look back down to earth for measure. A smile is not always joyful.&nbsp;


Zara (2011)

Male circumcision remains the last bastion of painful memories for even the manliest of Muslim men, with many able to recount their experiences in vivid detail. This piece explores the themes of manhood and memory, and in it, humour sits uncomfortably next to emotional upheaval like a sharp blade placed next to a goreng pisang, maintaining a safe, yet menacing distance.&nbsp;


Goreng Pisang (2011)

Behind every beautiful woman is herself. Behind every beautiful bride, is another woman. In this woman lies an idea - an idea that somehow never changed. Well, some things never change. Not to this woman. Why, beauty... it isn't that timeless after all.&nbsp;


Alahai Andam (2011)

It started with a wild idea: what if I were to create a mashup of Yasmin Ahmad's final film, 'Talentime', as well as the controversial novel, 'Interlok', by Abdullah Hussain? I count myself very lucky to have been able to work closely with Jo Kukathas on this project, a director and artist whom I respect for her formidable literary knowledge as well as her sensitivity to a playwright's text. It has been such a joy to create this work where the director deals with a non-native language while the playwright w

Pariah (2011)

Centre 42 currently has limited information on this archive entry. If you possess any relevant information and/or archival material, please contact us at&nbsp;archive@centre42.sg.&nbsp;


Bilik Ahmad (2008)

Surtitle Operator

Centre 42 currently has limited information on this archive entry. If you possess any relevant information and/or archival material, please contact us at archive@centre42.sg.&nbsp;


Peti Kayu Ibuku (2008)

This mini-theatre festival is Teater Ekamatra's first attempt to use performances, be it dance, theatre or music as a platform for inter-faith dialogue. We've had experience in producing works that provoked the audience into asking us, and themselves, difficult questions pertaining to social, cultural, political and religious issues before, but never specifically works that examine what it means to be a Muslim in Singapore.

Events all around the world involving Muslims and non-Muslims have brought us clo

Pondok 2000 (2007)

Stage Manager

Madu II&nbsp;touches on the issue of polygamy in a modern Malay household. The play excavates the struggle of 2 women who not only share a husband, but also live under one roof. While their husband is away, both women exchange remarks and curses; and find themselves lost in a game where the instructions need a complete revision.&nbsp;

Madu II&nbsp;is a well-crafted light-hearted yet poignant look at the sensitive and difficult issue of polygamy in modern Malay marriage.


Madu II (2007)

Anak Bulan Di Kampong Wa' Hassan&nbsp;tells the story of Kampong Wa' Hassan, the last Malay kampung to fall victim to Singapore's efforts at modernisation. Not quite a nostalgic trip down memory lane to a romanticised Malay kampung, this is a journey of discovery of the true worth of a kampung, filled with real-life characters in all their rawness, and their true loss in the dispossession of it.&nbsp;

Anak Bulan&nbsp;explores the kampung as the crucible of 'Malay Romanticism', investigating how Malay Sin

Anak Bulan Di Kampung Wa' Hassan (2007)

Aku dan/si Mat CD&nbsp;tells the story of a young man thrown out of his comfort zone while serving his nation. Rizal, fresh from completing his 'A' Levels is enlisted into the Singapore Civil Defence Force, finds himself surrounded by unfamiliar characters. Having lived in a bubble all his life, Rizal now shares a bunk with gang members, school dropouts and drug users.&nbsp;Aku dan/si Mat CD&nbsp;explores the stigma attached to the Mat CD through the juxtaposition of two extreme ends of the Malay community.

Aku dan/si Mat CD (2007)

Rendezvous Point&nbsp;focuses on a band during a jamming session. A seemingly routine activity is turned upside down when an accident claimed the life of their band member. Can this microcosm hold on and continue to pursue their dreams of making it big or will the 'ghost of band's past' haunt them from beyond?&nbsp;Rendezvous Point&nbsp;is a critique on today's society seen through the eyes of an absurdist peeking in from behind the curtains.&nbsp;


Rendezvous Point (2007)

Managing Director

<p>Shaza Ishak&nbsp;is the managing director of Teater Ekamatra, an ethnic minority theatre company in Singapore established in 1988. She believes in effecting social change through the art of storytelling on stage and is committed to forging progress for the ethnic minority arts scene in Singapore and beyond.</p>

<p>Last Updated: 2022&nbsp;</p>


Centre 42

The New Scripts Garage is an offer of dramaturgical support for new scripts, with low barriers to entry. On a regular basis, we open our inboxes for script submissions from playwrights seeking dramaturgical support for their work.For the November 2025 cycle, we are collaborating with Teater Ekamatra to concurrently run a Malay-language edition,&nbsp;that will accept up to eight scripts through an Open Call. The first eight eligible scripts will receive considered dramaturgical support in the form of either 

New Scripts Garage, November 2025 (Malay-language Edition)

Evaluation Panelist

ArtsEquator

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JENG JENG JENG…! Year in Review is back!

Where did 2021 go? How did the year unravel, and where have we arrived at?&nbsp;

In a year where the arts has had to acquiesce to multiple rules, hopeful for a return to normalcy, 2021 had us hurtling through an unknown abyss of multiple emotions best captured through this year’s theme: JENG JENG JENG!

From anticipation, to tentative excitement, shock, surprise and even the indescribable, our beloved colloquialism JENG JENG JENG covers it all.&nbsp;Into its 

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