Budiey
This time, the show will be in collaboration with Teach For Malaysia in an effort to raise awareness about the inequity in education in Malaysia especially in rural areas.
Staged in Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) on August 17th till 19th, IQ.ROCK will meet some minor changes and a new actor – Fimie Don. Fimie Don, a child star, is most popular on national TV. Having been in more than 30 films, Fimie has decided to venture into the theatre scene to challenge himself by taking on the lead role of Azim, a studious hardworking student who helps his father in this time of hardship. Azim wants to step out of FELDA and experience the world but is bound by financial issues.
IQ.ROCK is set in Serting, Negeri Sembilan, where despite its peaceful backdrop of a vast rubber tapping community lays a quiet sense of chaos and underlying issues. Featuring a group of SPM students that are aimless delinquent products of the system who one day meets their new English teacher – Teacher Mary, played by Ranessa Theyakaraja. Teacher Mary goes above and beyond to not only tell the students but to show them that there is more to life beyond this reality.
“If I can’t change the system, I will change the right person!” – Teacher Mary
IQ.ROCK is loosely based on the life of co-writer Azmi Hud (Jimi) whose father works as a modest rubber tapper in FELDA. Both his parents know nothing about the life outside. “The community in FELDA grew up with little to no education where the children would succumb to things like drugs, underage sex, illegal motorbike racing because of frustration or boredom. There was no one to encourage us to explore the life outside of FELDA.” says Jimi.
“If it wasn’t for those who inspired and mentored me, I would have never had been able to tell my story, let alone get involved in theatre.” – Jimi
Director, writer, and founder of Anomalist Production – Khairi Anwar adds that “IQ.ROCK is a bold piece that tackles the Malaysian education system even with the new government in place, the story is still relevant and until we can reach out from rural to urban areas, our work here isn’t done.”
Tickets for IQ.ROCK are available at www.anomalistproduction.com and are ranged from RM45 for concessions and RM55 for general public. A purchase of 4 (FOUR) tickets will be entitled to 1 (ONE) free ticket.
In an effort to offer the best staging experience, Anomalist Production is running a crowdfunding campaign where contributions start from as low as RM 10 only. Check it out here:
