For generations, the classic Malay fairy tale of Bawang Putih and Bawang Merah (literally garlic and shallot) has been passed down from orator to captive listener, a story filled with magic that takes all kinds of twists and terms in all its iterations. Now, acclaimed local theatre company Teater Ekamatra is getting ready to reintroduce this yarn to a brand new audience, reimagining it for the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s annual Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts this May.

Reuniting director Mohd Fared Jainal and Malaysian writer Ridhwan Saidi after their successful 2022 collaboration on a Bangsawan version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this new production of Bawang Putih Bawang Merah promises to entertain and engross with its exploration of morality, fabulous entities, and family in the face of societal constraints. Speaking to Fared and Ridhwan, we found out more about the creative process behind this new version of the play, and the place of Malay culture in our modern world.

“In my younger days, I was introduced to the film version, and most people who’ve encountered it in some form would be aware of the main story threads,” says Fared. “Where Teater Ekamatra comes in is as storytellers, where we take more ownership and liberty in shifting elements around, adding our own ideas in there while still maintaining the overall integrity of the story.”

“With every project, we’re always trying to inject something new and fresh, and do something that takes us a little out of our comfort zone. For this project, we’re taking both the traditional and contemporary elements and putting them onstage, like traditional live instruments alongside onstage, but also having Safuan Johari producing electronic music too, alongside traditional songs,” adds Fared. “There’s a lot of space for the audience to imagine, but we wanted to really focus on cultural elements like wayang kulit-inspired shadow puppetry to help move the storytelling along, and mix both the ‘3D’ actors with this 2D world. I think all this reflects the liberty of living in the information age today, where we can be anything and everything, and resist easy classification.”

In most versions of the story, the narrative follows rival stepsisters Bawang Putih and Bawang Merah as they’re thrust into a journey of self-discovery and liberation, meeting fairy godmothers, mysterious pumpkins, magical fish and even rebellious princes, and often serves as a reminder that we can be the heroes of our own stories, even with patriarchy and monarchy stacked against us.

“It’s a relatively universal story, but in our version, we wanted to focus and bring out the issues of physical and psychological abuse in the story, and how the only way to counter the cruelty is empathy. It’s not as clear-cut who is evil or good, but a much greyer morality, where we even dive more into the ‘evil’ stepmother’s backstory to give it greater context,” says Ridhwan. “How you turn out in life is deciding what to do once you get out of the rut, and about being able to find the courage and strength within yourself. I was also trying to have more fun and experiment with the language in the script, playing with pronouns or the point of view, and throwing in modern jargon as well, which changes and shifts the relationship dynamics between characters.”

The star-studded cast of Bawang Putih Bawang Merah includes Nabila Huda, Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit, Fir Rahman, Munah Bagharib, Rizman Putra, Siti Hajar Abdul Gani, and Siti Khalijah Zainal, all of whom are frequent collaborators with Ekamatra and with each other. On how the Malay theatre scene continues to thrive and maintain its strong working relationship and bonds, Fared comments: “It has been a blessing to work with these people, and during rehearsals, it’s always filled with noise with our cast and creatives chatting backstage. It feels like a reunion for everyone, while I also appreciate their professionalism when they know it’s time to be serious – I only had about two weeks to nail the blocking, alongside the dancing, the songs and puppetry, and by some miracle we achieved that over the rehearsals, with everyone so open and willing to cooperate.”

“In a way, I do attribute it to everyone having this common understanding and goal of putting on a good show, and being willing to go along with this vision I have for them, and trying new things here and there. Everyone is pushing each other to excel, and this idea of pushing the traditional elements further is something we haven’t fully explored as a company yet, and we’re all just really embracing this opportunity,” he adds. “There are so many moving parts, sharing the stage with live musicians and ensemble members, with the dancing and puppets and making sure there’s time for everything, and we can’t wait to put it all together.”

On the adaptation process, Ridhwan explains the challenges, research and differences. “In Malaysia, I tend to take on both the roles of writing and directing, so to make life easier for myself, I tend to make my writing more sparse, so I have space to innovate and play with the direction,” he says. “Meanwhile, after Bangsawan Gemala Malam, I realised that I tend to allow the words to flow more when someone else is directing my work, not so much in the stage directions, but just focusing on the narrative and bringing out the story. For this work, because there are so many sources, I was trying to unite all these different elements from different sources and making it make sense when it all comes together, whether it’s the original oral source, the film versions, or even novelisations, and you imagine the whole constellation of the Bawang Putih Bawang Merah story, and allow us to reimagine it, play with meaning and what we convey.”

In terms of the preservation and continued presence of traditions and cultures in the modern day, Fared compares what it’s like here compared to across the Causeway. “Perhaps, one thing that sets Singapore apart from Malaysia is how over there, there really is this ‘kampung spirit’ and ‘gotong royong’ that carries on even in the modern day, while in urbanised Singapore, we’d probably only have such gatherings if we have relatives overseas, like how my wife has a relative in Malacca, so we still try to find opportunities to go back,” says Fared. “There is this idea that in Singapore, we’re still trying to move fast and keep pace with modern times, but maintain that sense of connection, and perhaps it’s time to look at how else we can do that beyond having a literal kampung in our backyard.”

“What I want the audience to walk away with for this play is to see all the layers we’ve put into this show, and realise that it is fine to be more open-minded and welcome change to these traditional stories they’ve known since young,” Fared concludes. “But within these stories, and hopefully in our version, you see the many values and lessons within that are still relevant today, and plenty to learn as long as you come in with an open heart to appreciate the show we’ll put on for you.”

Bawang Putih Bawang Merah plays from 10th to 12th May 2024 at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre. Tickets are sold out. More information available here

Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts 2024 runs from 9th to 12th May 2024 at the Esplanade. Tickets and full programme information available here