[In development] TERRITORI
SUPPORTED BY MALTHOUSE THEATRE AND TEATER EKAMATRA
FUNDED BY Australian Office for the Arts
playwright: Nabilah Said
Dramaturg: Mark Pritchard
A play exploring the history, reality and mythology of Christmas Island – an island closer to Asia than it is to Australia, sharing a close affinity to Singapore in being a somewhat forgotten legacy of British imperial power.
A Singaporean protagonist finds herself on the island completely unmoored. As she encounters the island’s unique community and ecology, her ideas of Malayness, identity, and coloniality are challenged. At its heart, this is a play about survival.
This play underwent a one-week developmental workshop in Singapore in September 2023, supported by Malthouse Theatre and Teater Ekamatra. Research was done in Christmas Island in Aug-Oct 2022, supported by the Shire of Christmas Island.
TERRITORI was presented at the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2024, as part of the Tomorrow and Tomorrow showcase.
A full-length play is intended to be presented in Singapore and Australia in 2025.
SELECTED RESPONSES
“Teater Ekamatra’s smartly directed and promisingly complex Territori by playwright Nabilah Said explores contemporary Malay identity and culture in a tale about a Unesco bid for Christmas Island’s Malay community.”