Istana Budaya, klpac to produce own shows during RMCO

KUALA LUMPUR: After more than three months’ “rest” as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Istana Budaya (IB) and Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (klpac) will be producing their own programmes during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) period.

IB deputy director Zaiton Md Desa said IB had taken the initiative due to the strict standard operation procedures (SOP) on closed premises, which allowed only 250 people at any one time, including the audience and production crew.

Such strict requirements, she said, would see production companies shunning staging major works at IB.

“With a limited audience capacity, most production companies are not keen as they do not want to suffer losses.

“We hope the government will gradually allow more people to come in. When that happens, foreign productions may just consider coming to IB,” she said yesterday.

Zaiton said due to the strict SOP, IB would have to come out with its own programmes that do not require a big crew, such as small-scale showcases.

She also said that IB had been keeping deposits paid by production companies for showcases scheduled this year and would have no issue with returning the deposits.

IB, she said, was planning to use digital platforms where audiences would get to view performances online in the future.

Meanwhile, klpac resumed operations on Wednesday with comprehensive precautionary measures in place.

Its head of marketing communications, Ang Yue May, said they had to make changes to their initial programming for the year and reduce capacities by almost a third to accommodate social distancing.

However, she said, the reopening would see a line up of klpac’s own shows from this month until December.

“Typically, our venue is booked a year in advance and we would have a line up of anywhere between 120 and 150 shows and events either by klpac or external hirers for the year.

“When Covid-19 hit, show presenters and event organisers were forced to postpone their bookings indefinitely.

“For the second half of the year, we are almost entirely starting on a clean slate. While some venue hirers have re-booked dates for the second half of the year, others are still in the ‘wait and see’ mode.”

Ang said klpac was setting up for its golden oldies concert, Yesterday Once More 3, when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced, thus the reopening would see the concert taking the stage from July 22 to 26.

The concert will be a monthly feature as part of klpac’s ongoing fundraising campaign to make up the RM1.36 million losses it has incurred due to Covid-19.

“There are forthcoming editions planned until October 2020. However, the theme and programme will be changed monthly as with the line-up of singers.

“We will be opening up our call for entries for Short+Sweet Malaysia 2020 later this week until the end of July. The format has been revamped for post-MCO conditions and is scheduled to take place in October.”

Ang said klpac had ramped up safety measures even before the MCO took effect by enforcing temperature checks at the door and increased sanitisation.

It has since adopted more comprehensive measures, such as health screening, physical distancing, sanitisation and disinfection, visitor education, contactless experience and staff training.

During shows, the front-ofhouse team would ensure physical distancing is adhered to and audiences sit only on their designated seats arranged one meter apart.

She said klpac had adapted to this new normal and had ample space indoors and outdoors so distancing could always be adhered to.

For now, only those between 13 and 60 are permitted to attend live performances in adherence to the National Security Council’s SOPs.

“In the meantime, we intend to release the recordings of our live performances online to the paid audience.”

Ang said klpac’s greatest challenge would be to raise a further RM300,000 by December to keep the centre afloat.

Now, with a reduced capacity of a third or more, it would be even more challenging for show presenters to make the financials work, she said, adding that they had raised only RM150,000 so far.