Randai Macbeth

TYPE OF ART FORM

The intercultural Theatre which uses Malay theatre in the form of Randai, originating from West Sumatra, Indonesia and through the diaspora, this theatre is actively performed by the Minangkabau and Malay communities in Malaysia. Using this art form, William Shakespeare's Macbeth is assimilated into the Malay nuances. 

About ASWARA & PuTra

National Academy of Arts , Cultural and Heritage of Malaysia (ASWARA) is the only higher institute offering  degree in arts program under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia. ASWARA established in 1994, the students graduated as artist, performer and arts manager in various area including theatre, dance, music, filmmaking, creative writing, animation and multimedia, fine arts and arts management.Since 1994, ASWARA has producing many performances including in local and international.  PuTRA is the centre who focus on traditional and contemporary traditional theatre performance including mak yong, shadow play, bangsawan (malay opera), randai and mek mulong. Under PuTRA, all the traditional theatre classes being conducted and producing theatre performances every year. In October 2024, Randai ‘Macbeth’ was produced by PuTRA. This production won eight categories in Malaysia prestigous performing arts award,  20th BOH Cameronian Arts Award including best director, best actor, best supporting actor, best music director, best ensemble and best costume, make-up and styling. This production also won the highest category, The Best production of 2024.

Since PuTRA was established under ASWARA, apart from focusing on the production of traditional theatres in an effort to preserve heritage arts, PuTRA has also played an active role in Malaysia as a centre that carries out traditional experimentation work with local and foreign artists. Among the efforts carried out by PuTRA are the 2017 Throne of Thorns theatre performance (in collaboration with the University of Wollongong Australia), the 2018 Global Youth Project with the Faculty of Traditional Theatre, Korea National University of Arts, the Building Bridges programme with New York University, the Hawaii Tour through the East West Cultural Exchange 2016, staging at least three theatre productions a year, conducting workshops and masterclasses for traditional music and acting. In 2025, PuTRA has staged 10 traditional theatres including mak yong, wayang kulit, randai, bangsawan and mek mulong and is a co-organiser of the wayang kulit festival with the National Heritage Department.