Post-Modernism Malay Theater Performance as the Medium of Political Commentary About Political Events Surrounding Contemporary Malay Community in Malaysia

This recent decade shows a very clear tendency among the national theater artists to display political events in the arts archive of post-modernism Malay theater. In line with the development and change of the political climate taking place in Malaysia today, this paper work questions the post-modernism Malay theater arts that is also playing the role as the medium, tool and the subject of ‘power and dominance’ of theater artists by encode the political ideology and propaganda in the performance. Thus, a qualitative study is carried out to identify the ideology and aesthetics form that have been encode in the performance sign system of post-modernist Malay theater today. The focus of this study rests on the themes of political commentary and the form of aesthetics produced in a post modern malay theater performance. The study methodology employs the qualitative approach by pertaining the post-semiotic theory and the whitmore theater signal system model as the theoretical framework of the study. The significance of this study verifies the study hypothesis that there is the existence of the local counter culture movement that manifests various political issues and turmoil in the post-modernist Malay theater performance. The results of the study are able to synthesise the political commentary of the political events surrounding the Malay society in Malaysia created by the theater director and his creative team on the Malay post modern theater performances.