Page 196 - Proceedings Collega2023

as A.Samad Said with his Lantai T.Pinkie (2006) and Usman Awang with his Uda dan Dara (2010). Both
dramas are performed in Panggung Sari Istana Budaya to promote the space as a national theatre with a
national identity.

There are performances related to Prime Ministers of Malaysia called Muzikal Perdana, such as
Muzikal Putra (2007), Muzikal Tun Abdul Razak (2009), and Muzikal Tun Mahathir (2010). The idea for
performing Muzikal Perdana in Istana Budaya back in the day was to bring more new audience members
to enjoy theatres in the space (Walid Ali et al., 2021). To accommodate more audience members to watch
performances in the space, most local productions in Istana Budaya suit most Malaysians with different
backgrounds, values, demographics, and ideologies.

Lambang Sari is a smaller space in Istana Budaya and works well with small-scale experimental
productions. Most of the time, local productions prefer using the space with a smaller budget and press
conference events. The space is a semi-arena theatre with 281 seats and 500 square metres. As a result,
the productions will get high-quality equipment with a smaller space that will only accommodate up to
281 seats. Panggung Sari promotes productions that are suitable for general viewers. This unwritten
guideline corresponds to Lambang Sari since both spaces are under one roof.

Besides Istana Budaya, Panggung Bandaraya is one of the vital theatre spaces in Malaysia. Located
in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city, Panggung Bandaraya has offered great shows even
though the performing space is smaller than Panggung Sari Istana Budaya. The stage is in the iconic old
city hall of Kuala Lumpur across the Merdeka Square. The theatre has three types of performances:
traditional theatres, musicals, and realism plays. Panggung Bandaraya is a proscenium theatre space with
more than 200 seats. However, productions that need a more intimate experience with the audience will
be challenging in the space since the staging area and audience members are far away.

MUD: The Story of Kuala Lumpur (2014-2017) is the longest-running theatre show in Malaysia.
Panggung Bandaraya is the vanue for the theatre. The show has been directed by three directors - Amsalan
Doraisingam, Pat Ibrahim and Tiara Jacquelina. The production has been a popular tourist attraction in
Kuala Lumpur. Many people come to watch the show since the performance is in the heart of Kuala
Lumpur. Besides that, Panggung Bandaraya was a staging space for Semarak Bangsawan from 2007 until
2016. Semarak Bangsawan event is proof that Panggung Bandaraya is suitable for traditional theatres.
Many productions also perform the traditional theatre of Bangsawan, not for the Semarak Bangsawan
event. Tickets for events in Panggung Bandaraya are cheaper than Istana Budaya due to the cheaper
renting rates, and the space also provided a few stage equipment, the same as Istana Budaya.

Thus, the viewers are more diverse and may give more opportunities to lower-income audience
members to watch the performances in the space in contrast to Istana Budaya, which has its dress code
for audience members. It makes Istana Budaya always accustomed to elite viewers. The proscenium space
of Panggung Bandaraya has a good depth and wings. The quality of the space has made productions who
wanted to perform in the space explore to produce big theatre set designs. The technical elements make
conventional mainstream theatre with a bigger budget; however, they cannot spend their money at Istana
Budaya. The production aims for the space are similar to Istana Budaya but on a smaller scale of
production.

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