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Manogaran Maniam, a well-known Malaysian actor and director,
has played a myriad of roles over his 30-year career-King Lear
(when he was 24), a 16-year-old Punjabi girl (when he was considerably
older), Macbeth, the Duke in Merchant of Venice, Siam's King in
The King and I, and the Guru in Ramli Ibrahim's Adorations, to
name a few. He's also been a key character in the popular Malaysian
television sitcom, Kopitiam, and appeared in the 1999 movie remake
of Anna and the King as Moonshee, the Indian male servant of Anna
(played by Jodie Foster).
Maniam's latest role, however, has been as a Fulbright Scholar
on a study tour of multicultural and ethnic theater in the United
States. He came, he says, "to see what the American model
for
multicultural theater is and what Malaysia can learn from it."
His interest comes from his conviction that the people of Malaysia
must transcend their ethnic identities-Malay, Indian and Chinese-and
"become Malaysian."
"You can be black, white, red or yellow in the U.S., but
you're still an American," he explains. "We haven't
quite reached this point in Malaysia, and I believe it is essential
that we do. No matter what politicians say or purists want, in
order to survive in the 21st century, we need to transcend ethnicity,
and I believe theater can help achieve that."
Maniam wanted to see and experience a wide range of multicultural
theater across America. He was affiliated with theater departments
at Loyola University in Chicago and San Diego State
University, where he audited courses and participated in seminars,
workshops and performances. He also met with theater practitioners
in other cities and universities in Illinois and California. In
Los Angeles, he was a dramaturge for a three-day Native American
Festival at the Autry Museum.
To get an even more complete view of U.S. multicultural theater,
Maniam also visited theaters and theater departments in New York,
Ohio, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. Along the way, he gave
public lectures and presentations on Malaysian culture and politics
and on the role of education and the arts in developing a multicultural
country. In New York, he teamed up with another Malaysian actor,
Ming Lee, to take part in the stage-reading of At a Plank Bridge,
a new play written by Malaysian director Kannan Menon.
The actor/director says it was a busy but comprehensive and satisfying
itinerary. "It was also exhilarating and I am returning home
with many new ideas on how to use theater to create a multicultural
society. My stay in America reinforced my view that in the arts
we can push the boundaries. We can ask the pertinent questions
and also ask why not? We can dare to dream, and the storyteller
is the visionary."
Maniam says his metaphor for a truly multicultural society would
be a tapestry where the weaving is never-ending. "It is the
blending that creates the motif. The secret is not in assimilation
or
forcing into shape, but in blending and cross-stitching."
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