Coming Soon: Three Shows To Watch Solely Based On Their Key Artwork
What more is there to say about Malaysian theatre?
You’d be surprised! Here at The Daily Seni we’ve been so caught up with the performance aspect of the performing arts we’ve completely overlooked the facade. And this facade, dear readers, is the one that draws in random people from the general public to come and give theatre a try.
How do you market a show? It’s not the simplest of questions, but there is a simple, solid first step: good key art.
You could come up with an average show and sell it with an amazing poster and Facebook event banner. Case in point, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal by EJA Productions which even played to full houses.
By the way people, Facebook banners and cover photos are so underrated; you have no idea how many times we see them in our news feed.
Make the effort, spend a bit on a legit graphic designer; don’t just outsource it to your sepupu or anak saudara.
Or else, splurge on a really good photoshoot. If you do it well enough, who needs a poster? Theatrethreesixty‘s Love and Information had a photoshoot so gorgeous it was used almost everywhere by various online media publications as its primary promo art. The Alex Chua-designed poster in the meantime mostly made it only on print medium.
Let’s have a moment for all the productions with terrible artwork. Rest in peace, Revolution Stage‘s Sudirmania. Suffer no more, Big Nose Productions‘ Tales From The Bedroom (1 & 2). You’re free now, KLPAC‘s Speed The Plow.
In any case, here are a couple of stage productions to look out for next month solely based on their key artwork.
How I Learnt To Accept Reality By Sleeping Through It (Anak/Benih)
Theatrethreesixty
What a mouthful.
It seems like Theatrethreesixty is developing a penchant for overly long, wordy titles (I mean let’s not forget last year’s staging of Tony Kushner‘s Angels in America: Part One – Millenium Approaches, and to a slightly lesser extent Alex Chua‘s Emporium: Gallery of Death and Bounce Ep.1: Grasslamps) but that’s not going to stop local designer Azzad Mahdzir from making it work.
Featuring typography to die for, there will be more artwork coming from the campaign. The warmth and humility radiating from the designs feel like a thin cotton blanket during a breezy night in the kampung.
Theatrethreesixty really respects the entire promo art side of things for their bigger projects, taking time rolling out these pieces of art one by one. Follow them on to see what’s coming next from the campaign; you won’t be disappointed.
Fifteen
SIFU Production
How amazing is this, seriously?
We saw this swimming in our news feed and immediately thought it was a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Imagine our shock upon reading the tagline. Composed by designer Jansen Hoo, Fifteen‘s promo art is cold, sexy, highly stylized and painfully cool.
Who on earth had the idea to feature headless beings in corporate wear in front of a crumbling Kuala Lumpur skyline? We want to know what he’s been smoking, and we want some pronto.
This is only a dab of what they have to offer. Head over to their to stalk their cast members if you’re keen on some head.
Super Kam 3: It Gets Wetter
ToniQ Creative
Yes, it’s not going to win any awards but just look. That breathtaking diva at the back in the blond wig? That is vicious Singaporean stand-up comedian Sharul Channa. She will cut you with her words and you will physically bleed.
Although this is arguably one of those instances where a collective photo of the cast alone is enough to do the talking, compliments must go to graphic designer Steve Ooi for jazzing it up a bit further.
If the Malay movie posters of the 2000s have taught us one thing, it’s this. The number one rule of being a graphic designer in Malaysia? When in doubt, go for explosions.
You can’t go wrong with explosions.
* How I Learnt To Accept Reality By Sleeping Through It (Anak/Benih) will run from May 14 – 17 at Black Box, DPAC.
* Fifteen will run from June 11-14 at Theatre Kuash.
* Super Kam 3: It Gets Wetter will run from May 27-31 at PJ Live Arts, Jaya One.
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