RM3m theatre soon in KK for the performing arts
Published on: Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: The city will have its very own multi-million ringgit full-facility experimental theatre soon, founder of the Society of Performing Arts, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (SPArKS), Datuk Adeline Leong, said at its biennial general meeting last week."Our much-anticipated dream is going to be a reality soon, thanks to the generosity of a few private corporations and government agencies," she said.Leong said the fully-equipped theatre, estimated to cost RM3 million, already named The Black Box is in the final stages of discussion now.
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Once confirmed, work will go ahead as planned and the city will enjoy greater accessibility to performing arts events, she added.An experimental theatre, or a black box theatre, is a simple, somewhat unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor. While it is a relatively recent innovation in theatre, there are already several in the nation's capital city. Places like the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (klpac) and Pavilion Kuala Lumpur shopping mall have experimental theatres within their facilities."This will be the first of its kind here in Kota Kinabalu," said Leong.
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"It will provide artists with an affordable and manageable venue for their events. The Black Box will also have a fully-equipped experimental workshop area. "The availability of such a space here will help develop higher standard of performances; serving talents from a broad spectrum, from drama to story-telling, from film to puppetry, from mime to music and stand-up comedy," she said, it would be available to everyone in the arts scene and to private and public organisations.Leong credited the idea to Jude Day, festival director and founder of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival and to Christopher Liew, the founder and director of Synergy Dance.
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Meanwhile, finger style guitarist, Roger Wang, has been elected as the new President of the Society of Performing Arts, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (SPArKS) for the 2014-2016.The new vice president is Arthur E. Lee, founder of a lifestyle magazine and an online travel portal, while Racheal Narizo and May Ng retained their posts as secretary and treasurer, respectively. The three committee members were sound engineer Christopher Pereira, architect Rizal Banjar and vocalist Eilvane Chieng.In his maiden speech after the election, Wang, who was the vice president of SparKS since 2007, said the association's primary goal was to promote the advancement of the performing arts in Kota Kinabalu."We are not an event organising company nor are we a talent agency. We do not want to compete or take away opportunities from any businesses."As a performing arts association, we will do things that require the collective resources of all our members through the framework of an NGO," he said.Wang took over from Cheong Kok Ann who held the post for four years.Cheong had earlier presented his report outlining events supported by the association from 2012-2014. Among them were the Kota Kinabalu Arts Fest (June 2013), the Kota Kinabalu Jazz Fest, the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival, dances by Synergy Dance and ASWARA Dance, theatre performances by Green Leaf Theatre and PITaPAT Theatre.Cheong also highlighted the music competition that SPArKS had supported: UNPLUGGED 2 and UNPLUGGED 3."We see that these events play an important role in promoting and developing local talents, thus sharing the same vision as SPArKS." Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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