Jo Kukathas and the Instant Cafe Theatre
World travelers will remember important sites, lovely people, and scrumptious meals, for the entire lives, but the memory held at your favorite Malaysian hotel will hold secrets that none of the other places can offer. The amazing country is astounding in its exotic charm and rich, multi-cultural fabric, and the hotel will be a place of respite to rejuvenate for the next local adventure. The country offers many unique and unusual treats for the senses, but one of the more challenging treasures of the place is cultural transition.
Kuala Lumpur’s Instant Cafe Theatre, under the direction of Jo Kukathas, has consistently offered Malaysians a taste of sophisticated and extremely rich theatrical works, which serve as watermarks for the culture at large. Jo Kukathas’ work with the company has been as actor, director, and writer, and there is no evidence to suggest that she is not slowing down in just getting started. With recent productions, such as “Pulau Antara,” and “Break Ing Ji Poh Ka Si Pe Cah,” there seems to be a tendency to embrace works which are challenging, multi-layered in terms of language and theme, and also investigate the nature of contemporary Malaysian society. Unafraid to ask deeply political and sociological questions, the work of the Instant Cafe Theatre is really at the cutting edge of global theatrical traditions.
The company is also quite popular among non-locals, and it has toured to other places with very positive receptions. One possible reason for this is their emphasis on humor. Their works are characterized by a very strong and wickedly funny tendency toward the humorous. Even in the face of tragedy, or perhaps because of the sense of tragedy, laughter is a bridge, a bridge toward global understanding, and also a bridge to collective grieving.
Tellingly and touchingly, her wish for Malaysians is that: “That we can be more like our food. Rich, complex, subtle, ever evolving, varied: aware of our history, aware of our past, aware that our most local ingredients are immigrant.”
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