Children Should Not Play in the Dark Because They Might End Up Dead, or Worse, Lost

A boy is dying. The clock is ticking. Five directors are possessed by ten other directors, dead and alive. All hell breaks loose. The boy finally gets to play in the dark. Will he get lost? 

Children Should Not Play in the Dark is an experimental deconstruction of Rabindranath Tagore’s The Post Office. A different combination of approaches by past and present influential theatremakers is used in the direction of each piece. 
 
Given its intimate and immersive nature, each performance can only admit 10 audiences who will travel from one space to another. Children Should Not Play in the Dark explores themes of time, confinement, and demise. This production is strictly for mature audiences. 
 
We encourage our audiences to read up more about The Post Office before attending the performance for contextual clarity. Children Should Not Play in the Dark is supported by CENDANA.

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The Pieces

Malaigal Kooda Vilagi Pogum (Even Mountains Will Depart)
with Arjun Thanaraju & Thiyagaraja Marimuthu
devised together with Phraveen Arikiah 
Directed by Dhinesha Karthigesu
When confronted with a terminal news, Amal and Madhav are forced to confront the cycle of time. After all, what is death in the grand schemes of life and love? 

Pecah Kaca Pecah Gelas
with Nisya Aziz, Nikkhil, Nephi Shaine & Firdaus Sufiyan
Directed by Mia Sabrina Mahadir
Pat pat siku lipat, siapa cepat dia dapat.
Boy meets world. Girl meets world.
And here is a letter from them to Earth.
Pecah kaca pecah gelas, lepas baca harap balas.

nafas
with Aila Azizul
Directed by Dexter Zhen
They were confined against their will. Will they still be able to breathe?
 
sometimes my thoughts are violent
with Lee Min Hui & Tin Raman
Directed by Low Yee Choy
A girl is stuck in a room with a boy. In the attempt of escaping, she finds herself enjoying the boy’s company. It’s all fun and games… until it isn’t. 

I don’t feel like talking... I want to be completely still
with Eliza Atkinson, Timothy Leong, Lok Shi Hoong & Yee Heng Zeh
Directed by Dinesh Kumar Maganathan
In the moments before he exhales his final breath, a boy enters a state between dream and reality. In this hallucinatory realm, he confronts figures who refuse to let him go.

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The Directors

Dhinesha Karthigesu (far right) is a multidisciplinary storyteller and coach. Directing, curating & producing credits: ROJA: Weaving A Womxn, a performance and visual arts installation with Veshalini Naidu, and The Human Exhibit site-specific theatre series, with Ian Skatu. Additional directing credits: Brown Boy Dreams for Short + Sweet Musical 2019 (winning the Festival Director's Award) and the Snehidhane music video with PERA. dhinesha.com 
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Dinesh Kumar (second from left) began directing at the age of 16 for a school function and has not looked back. Acting credits include Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Hamlet, and Harold Pinter’s Betrayal. Directing credits: Manstruating, Rule #34 and Overheard at a Cafe in Taman Tun, all of which he won the Best Director's award. Dinesh is a journalist at a major English newspaper.
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Low Yee Choy (second from right) is the Artistic Director of lowercase laboratories. He debuted directorially with Dinsman’s Bukan Bunuh Diri under Anomalist Production. His short film, 疫见你, won first prize at the Ripple Film Festival in 2020. He recently produced lowercase laboratories' first theatre showcase, have a peace of my mind. Choy works full-time under the Creative & Communications department at Sevenvault. Sunway University: Diploma in Performing Arts.
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Mia Sabrina Mahadir (centre) is an actor, educator, content creator, cat fosterer, and Tarot reader. Her exploration in theatre began with Short+Sweet Theatre Malaysia, including Stay and Wayang, which she directed. Wayang also won her the Festival Director’s Award. @kutufutubom
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Dexter Zhen (far left) was trained in movement and seeks to create works that delve deep into the raw human psyche. He also plans to explore theatre education in the near future. Selected credits: Dulu. Saat Itu., INDICINELIVE! 6, Scenes from an Execution, The Seagull, Koulan, and Simultaneously Futura. University of California, San Diego: BA in Linguistics. @dexterzhen

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Conditions of Entry

Vaccination Status 
Only those who are fully vaccinated with valid MySejahtera digital certificates are permitted entry. Screenshots are not accepted. Audiences are highly encouraged to be boosted with a third dose. 

Health Status
Only low risk or casual contacts – both with no symptoms – on MySejahtera are permitted entry. Those who are close contacts, boosted or not, are not permitted. Theatresauce reserves the right to deny entry if above conditions are not fulfilled. No refunds will be made to those who have purchased tickets.

Masks
Audiences are required to keep their masks on at all times. Under no circumstances are they allowed to remove them while in the Theatresauce HQ. 

Prevention & Testing
All production members have received their booster shots. They are also tested on the RTK-Antigen every day throughout production week. They must present a negative result with no symptoms before taking on their tasks and roles. Despite all safety and prevention measures taken, the risk of exposure to Covid-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By visiting Theatresauce and its grounds, our audiences assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19.

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Theatresauce's Emerging Directors Lab (EDL), now in its third year, responds to the dearth of trained directors in the Kuala Lumpur theatre scene. This rigorous year-long program – run and overseen by Artistic Director Kelvin Wong – offers early-career directors with a conducive yet challenging space to hone, sharpen and personalize their craft. 
 
The EDL is among the few highly structured, long-term director-training programs by a theatre company in the country, if not the only one. The initiative came about as an alternative to MFA training programs abroad. Over a year, directors delve in seminars, research and practice. The EDL consists of three parts and includes more than 160 contact hours with the Artistic Director. Part one explores the foundations of drama, realism and dramaturgy while part two examines theatre theory, composition and style. In part three, directors investigate trends in post-drama, nonrealism, devising, and theatre criticism. Occasionally, guest speakers are invited. Each part culminates in a fully-supported collective project that is showcased to the public. 
 
Through this initiative, Theatresauce hopes to provide the local scene with a steady influx of inquisitive, critical and aesthetically-diverse theatre-makers. A few of our EDL graduates have gone on to found new theatre companies, of which they are Artistic Directors.
 
The 2021 cycle of the EDL is supported by the Cultural Development Economy Agency (CENDANA), while the inaugural 2017/18 cycle was supported by the Krishen Jit ASTRO Fund.

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The Theatresauce Production Team

General Manager: Emily Thea
Production & Stage Manager: Tan Chisa
Asst. Stage Manager: Shevone Seow
Technical Manager: Syamsul Azhar
Outreach Manager: Uihua Cheah
Multimedia Designer: Jazzie Lee
Season Archiver: Bemmie Tang
HQ Manager: Koo Shao Hang
Artistic Director: Kelvin Wong 

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