When Mak Yong Meets Shakespeare in Kuala Lumpur

Jacqueline Pereira | 9 July 2026

Just as KL has long been shaped by the meeting of cultures, this inventive adaptation brings Mak Yong and Shakespeare together to show that great stories continue to find new meaning across time and place. The production is directed by Norzizi Zulkifli and features acclaimed actress Vanidah Imran alongside rising talent Mhia Farhana Firdaus. – Photo: Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS

BEFORE a single word is spoken, the soulful rebab's haunting lament draws the audience into an intimate gathering. As the gendang gains momentum, its insistent rhythms rise towards the unfolding drama.

Clad in richly embroidered brocade, performers move with quiet elegance, songket and silk shimmering in the lights. The elaborate headdresses and glinting bejewelled neck-pieces evoke the splendour of an imagined Malay court.

Thus begins Mak Yong Shakespeare: The Comedy Of Errors – An Adaptation, with voices shifting effortlessly between Malay and English. Laughter fills the air and tears are shed as the comic chaos intensifies, with actors, dancers and musicians defying the conventions of a regular theatre performance.

This production – set to take the stage at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas on July 25 – unites Mak Yong and Shakespeare in a collaboration between DFP and Universiti Teknologi MARA's Faculty of Film, Theatre and Animation.

With creative curiosity and a deft balancing act, the play demonstrates how traditional arts and culture can remain relevant, through reimagination and continuing to evolve through the centuries.

Comic Misadventures

Under the direction of Norzizi Zulkifli, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Dean of Student Affairs, the intercultural staging brings together Mak Yong, recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, with William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

The shortest and most farcical of the Bard's work, it is a tale of mistaken identity caused by two sets of identical twins separated at birth, only to be reunited later following a series of comic misunderstandings. For Norzizi, Shakespeare is not a departure from Mak Yong but an extension of it. She sees striking parallels between The Comedy of Errors and the Mak Yong tale Anak Raja Dua Serupa, while preserving the tradition's storytelling framework.

Beneath its comic chaos lie striking similarities with Mak Yong: mistaken identities, larger-than-life characters, humour, music and stories rooted in family and belonging. The challenge for her lies in retaining the essence of Shakespeare while allowing Mak Yong's free-flowing blend of theatre, dance, music and improvisation to unfold naturally.

Even when she attended her first rehearsal of A Midsummer Night's Dream, she recalled thinking, "This is very Mak Yong, so steeped in mysticism."

Having previously adapted and staged the playwright's works internationally, she sees both traditions as sharing a common theatrical language despite their vastly different origins. Transforming an Elizabethan-era comedy of confusion into one of Malaysia's oldest forms of dance-theatre, in a tale of destiny, memory and reunion, allows both traditions to inhabit the same stage.

Timeless Stories

Watching the preview at DFP in late June, one thought kept returning: perhaps these two traditions were never as far apart as we imagined. Though both artforms have been performed for the public and royalty over the centuries and continents, one would never expect them to work well together.

While the language and theatrical conventions belong to another era, the emotions and contradictions that drive these stories remain timeless. Family, belonging, love, loss and mistaken identity remain remarkably familiar. In a city like Kuala Lumpur, where different cultures and communities coexist, these quiet complexities continue to surface in everyday life.

Over the centuries, our nation's capital has been shaped by the movement of people, cultures and ideas. It has always been a city of intersections, where languages, histories and traditions converge. Glass towers rise alongside century-old temples, mosques and churches, while tradition and modernity exist side by side. Beneath this urban landscape, family, community and belonging continue to anchor daily life.

The adaptation reflects that same rhythm. As they do on the city's streets, Malay and English flow effortlessly together. Mak Yong's haunting melodies embrace Shakespeare's comic wit. The result is neither wholly traditional nor wholly contemporary, but something that feels quite Malaysian.

Beyond Artistic Experimentation

If you pay attention to nuance, the value of adaptations like this extend beyond the production. In understanding our own cultural inheritance, traditions continue to matter instead of being merely preserved, admired and protected from change.

Performances such as Mak Yong were never meant to be static. They evolve through oral storytelling, improvisation and generations of performers responding to changing audiences and new ideas. By retelling The Comedy of Errors through Mak Yong, the play subtly reverses the usual cultural narrative. Shakespeare's tale is revealed through the lens of Mak Yong's theatrical language, music, movement, humour and improvisation.

The production reminds audiences that cultural identity is not strengthened by preserving tradition, but by trusting it to evolve. Absorbing new ideas without losing its own voice. In a multicultural society where identity is continually negotiated, such works remind us that heritage is not simply what we inherit. It is something we continue to create, challenge and reinterpret, allowing it to evolve, surprise and speak to new generations.

At times the production may feel ancient; at others, entirely contemporary. Long after the final note fades, it isn't Shakespeare that lingers. It is the rebab's poignant melody, the graceful swish of embroidered sleeves, the chorus of voices, and the sense that an ancient performance tradition has quietly hinted at its future.

Mak Yong Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors – An Adaptation features Mhia Farhana Firdaus, Rosdeen Suboh, Asrulfaizal Kamaruzaman, Salsabila Sofian, Issey, Shahkimin, Ismadian, JZ Jasli and Ain Sufia, with special appearances by Vanidah Imran and Norzizi Zulkifli. The performance takes place on Saturday, July 25, at 8pm. Tickets are priced between RM69 and RM249. A Mak Yong workshop will also be held at 10am, priced at RM50 per participant.