Marshall Cavendish Plays


Marshall Cavendish
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Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
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Latest Plays - click on covers to see full Publisher's details

by Kee Thuan Chye
1984 Here & Now
Nick Hern Books:

1984 Here and Now is based on George Orwell's classic 1984, but is "Malaysianised" through its setting, content and address. In this play Big Brother reigns supreme and controls the minds of the people. Wiran attempts to break Big Brother's tyrrannical power, and joins the Opposition Party.He is played out and caught in the end, and has to denounce his beliefs so that he will be one with Big Brother's ideals. The play is a fast-paced political satire. It was staged to packed houses in 1985, under the scrutiny of the Special Branch police because it dared to criticise governmental policies openly. Poignant and well-written,1984 Here and Now moves the readers' heart and soul to root for the underdog and hope that there'll never be a Big Brother in Malaysia.

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by Kee Thuan Chye
Big Purge, The
Nick Hern Books:

In Equaland, the Chief Minister is firmly in charge. So much so that using the state machinery at his disposal, he can inflate a small issue into a big one in order to keep the populace in line, especially the non-Equas (the immigrant races) who are institutionally discriminated against in Equaland. Despite the oppressive nature of his rule, Thang Rong, a non-Equa, joins forces with his Equa friends to fight the system even as a national crisis is developing that threatens to break out into racial riots. The crisis is of course manipulated by none other than the Chief Minister himself. "The Big Purge" is a biting satire of Malaysian politics enacted with humour, human actors and Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppetry).

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by Kee Thuan Chye
We Could **** You, Mr Birch
Nick Hern Books:

The central premise of this play is an episode from history  the murder of James Wheeler Woodford Birch, the first British Resident in colonial Malaya. We Could **** You, Mr Birch makes for a different play as it doesnt narrate a story, rather it alternates between real-life drama and historical episodes. Here we have the characters questioning the authenticity of the historical facts presented, making the audience wonder how real history really is. At the end J.W.W. Birch is murdered but the facts surrounding his killing, as the readers know them, becomes questionable. Switching between reality and fiction, legend and history, Kee Thuan Chyes play makes the audience think about the realities of life, and how history can be subjected to a writers interpretations.

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