Makyung Titis Sakti: Reflections on Malay Traditional Performance, Culture and the Malay Worldview through an Adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

This chapter examines Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream rendered in the Malay traditional theater form of makyung thereby focusing on Malay beliefs, customs and worldview that are conveyed through the adaptation. The intersections between Malay traditional politics and culture as embodied in the feudal Malay ruler are presented as the general milieu against which the adaptation was attempted while selected scenes in the adaptation are interrogated against Shakespeare’s text as well as the conventions of the traditional theater form in question. Through this analysis, the essay seeks to highlight issues related to Malay cultural and religious identity that the adaptation raises.