SINGAPORE – After a decade as artistic director of Teater Ekamatra, one of Singapore’s longest-running ethnic minority theatre companies, Mr Mohd Fared Jainal will cede the position to Ms Shaza Ishak on April 1.
Ms Shaza, who started out in Ekamatra as production crew and surtitlist in 2007, had risen through the ranks to become managing director in 2013.
The role of artistic director will give her control of Ekamatra’s productions, which have yet to be announced for the 2023 season.
There will be no managing director to take her place.
Company manager Khairina Khalid will assume the role of general manager in charge of the company’s day-to-day affairs, while Ms Anais Adjani has been appointed business development executive, responsible for broadening Ekamatra’s reach through marketing, media and public outreach.
Mr Fared describes Ekamatra as having been “like a second home to me” and “a shelter, companion, nourisher and incubator for many a wild, crazy journey of thoughtful exploration”.
Ms Shaza says: “Ekamatra has been the mainstay in Singapore’s ethnic minority theatre scene for decades, and I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been entrusted with this role, in an organisation that I have long respected and loved.”
The handover takes place after a hugely successful year for Ekamatra, with more than 5,000 people attending its productions and programmes in 2022 – the highest in the company’s 34-year history.
Its Singapore International Festival of Arts offering, Bangsawan Gemala Malam – a blend of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with traditional Malay operatic theatre – was also the biggest winner at this year’s The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards, winning Best Actor, Best Director and Best Costume.
The wins came despite the theatre company moving out of its home in Aliwal Arts Centre in 2022 and renting spaces from Goodman Arts Centre and Stamford Arts Centre to conduct rehearsals and put up productions.
Mr Fared was the production designer and dramaturg for Bangsawan Gemala Malam. During his tenure, he also directed and led acclaimed productions such as Kakak Kau Punya Lelaki (2014), Tiger Of Malaya (2018) and Berak (2022).
He says he has tried to broaden the idea of the community Ekamatra serves in his stint as artistic director.
While Ekamatra was founded by Mr Lut Ali and his wife Rubie Lazim in 1988 to develop contemporary experimental Malay theatre, it has since sought to transcend this lens to also be a voice for other minority groups.
Mr Fared says: “We see ourselves more as an ethnic minority theatre, and we are acutely aware of the weight and responsibility that role carries.
“We also realised that we are ready as a community to talk about challenging topics such as gender, mental issues and suicide, and in tackling these, it opened more doors for us to be connected with more of our broader community.”
He will join the company’s board of directors, and head the production and programmes committee.
Ms Shaza says she will keep pushing for a diversity of stories and voices “while we begin our journey in reclaiming our stake in creating for young audiences”.
Having been a part of Ekamatra’s youth development programme, she also wants to keep strengthening the pipeline of entry for young practitioners interested in ethnic minority theatre, at a time when more young people may be gravitating towards English-language or more mainstream productions.
Ms Shaza adds: “I am also invested in brokering international opportunities such as residencies and collaborations to have more ethnic minority representation on an international level.
“I want to build a well-supported community which can work together to create impactful work with greater reach.”
