Bringing George Town Festival to a vibrant close, “CTRL A+C” (Control Arts and the City) transforms the streets, parks, and public spaces of George Town into stages for unexpected encounters and shared experiences. Taking art beyond conventional venues, this closing weekend programme invites audiences to discover performances that unfold amidst the city’s everyday rhythms, where passers-by become participants and familiar places are reimagined through creativity.
Featuring an exciting line-up of local and international artists, “CTRL A+C” presents site-responsive theatre, movement, street performances, and interdisciplinary works that explore themes of identity, belonging, memory, resilience, and our relationship with one another and the world around us. Blending visual storytelling, music, ritual, and audience participation, each work offers a unique way of experiencing the city through art.
Step outside the theatre and into the city, where every street, square, and open space becomes a stage, and every encounter offers a new perspective on the connections that bind us together.
Steamplant Movement
Dates: 8 & 9 August 2026
Time: 10am & 5pm
Venue: Armenian Street
Journey into a post-apocalyptic steampunk world where six wandering survivors search for a single seed—the fragile promise of renewal in a world scarred by environmental collapse and conflict. “Steamplant Movement” is a visually captivating street theatre performance that transforms public space into a living stage through expressive movement, physical theatre, and playful interaction with audiences.
Performed entirely without spoken dialogue, the work transcends language to tell a universal story of resilience, cooperation, and hope. Blending humour with moments of quiet reflection, it invites audiences of all ages to imagine how humanity might rebuild, reconnect, and flourish in the face of uncertainty.
Presented by Italy’s Shedan Theater, an internationally acclaimed company renowned for creating immersive performances in public spaces, “Steamplant Movement” combines street theatre, contemporary movement, and visual storytelling to create accessible experiences that bring people together. Through its poetic and thought-provoking work, the company transforms streets and squares into places of encounter, imagination, and shared possibility.
Click Click
Dates & Times:
7 August 2026 | 8pm
8 August 2026 | 11am & 8pm
9 August 2026 | 8pm
What begins as a simple attempt to take a family photograph soon unfolds into a heartwarming journey filled with laughter, magic, and cherished memories. “Click Click” follows an elderly couple as they navigate the charming mishaps of capturing the perfect picture, revealing a touching story about love, family, and the moments that bind us together.
Presented by South Korea’s Lumos Theatre, the non-verbal performance combines magic, mask theatre, object play, physical comedy, and audience participation to create a joyful theatrical experience that transcends language. Bursting with humour, warmth, and imagination, “Click Click” invites audiences of all ages to celebrate the beauty of connection through the universal language of play.
FENCE
Dates & Times:
6 August 2026 | 8pm (Gurney Plaza)
8 August 2026 | 4pm
9 August 2026 | 11am & 4pm
“FENCE” is a poignant physical theatre performance that explores the invisible barriers that can grow between those closest to us. Through the story of a family fractured by addiction, the work reveals how silence, misunderstanding, and emotional distance can slowly erode relationships, while reminding us of the enduring importance of love, empathy, and connection.
Created by South Korea’s Baek.S.Factory, the production combines expressive movement, mime, and object theatre to tell a deeply human story without relying on words. Blending striking visual imagery with emotional storytelling, “FENCE” transcends language to offer a moving reflection on family, healing, and the courage to reconnect.
Nenda: Fruit in Palm
Dates: 7 – 9 August 2026
Time: 7pm
“Nenda: Fruit in Palm” is a poetic site-responsive performance that invites audiences to slow down, listen, and reconnect with the living landscapes around them. Through ritualising movement, masks, music, and gesture, performers transform the site into a space where land, sea, and sky become active participants in a shared act of remembrance and renewal.
Blurring the boundaries between performance and ceremony, the work explores humanity’s relationship with the more-than-human world, reflecting on the visible and invisible forms of grief that arise when we lose touch with our environment. Accompanied by a semi-improvised live soundscape, the performance unfolds as an immersive journey that encourages audiences to experience their surroundings through the senses rather than words.
Presented by Singapore-based Off Root Theatrics, a transdisciplinary collective known for creating works at the intersection of ritual, performance, and speculative myth-making, “Nenda: Fruit in Palm” is followed by an informal post-performance gathering over tea, inviting audiences to connect, converse and continue the shared experience together.
Beyond Borders
Dates: 8 & 9 August 2026
Time: 6pm & 9.30pm
Inspired by real stories of migration, identity, and belonging, “Borders” is a powerful interdisciplinary performance that blurs the lines between theatre, dance, music, and ritual. Created by Italian theatre company Instabili Vaganti, the work unfolds as a poetic journey across visible and invisible borders, exploring the spaces that both divide and connect us.
Created especially for George Town Festival, this unique edition brings together Malaysian and international artists in a vibrant collaboration shaped by the city’s rich multicultural identity. Through multilingual text, evocative movement, and immersive staging, Borders reflects on freedom, memory, and our shared humanity, transforming separation into dialogue and difference into connection.
Inspired by the figure of the Mauerspringer—the “wall jumper” who crossed the Berlin Wall in search of a different future—the performance invites audiences to imagine crossing boundaries not as acts of division, but of hope, transformation, and renewal. The journey culminates in a shared participatory finale, where audiences are invited to join a contemporary ritual celebrating unity through movement
LOS | Kembali
Dates: 8 & 9 August 2026
Time: 8.30pm
“Los | Kembali” follows Agil, a young Orang Asli boy whose quiet resilience is tested by bullying, isolation, and the pressure to abandon the traditions that have shaped his identity. As he drifts towards a group of fellow outcasts, Agil finds himself caught between the expectations of the modern world and the ancestral teachings he has always held close.
Rooted in Orang Asli culture and spiritual beliefs, the performance explores themes of identity, belonging, and the enduring wisdom passed down through generations. When ancient taboos are broken, the consequences force Agil to confront what it truly means to lose his way—and what it takes to find his way home.
Presented by Sekolah Main Wayang, an experimental theatre collective dedicated to empowering underserved and at-risk youth through the arts, “Los | Kembali” is the latest production by its acclaimed Wayang TEKtek programme. Created in collaboration with Indigenous Semai youths from Kampung Tumbuh Hangat, Perak, the production combines shadow puppetry, mask performance, movement, and live music to amplify voices often overlooked in contemporary society. Both deeply rooted in tradition and boldly contemporary, “Los | Kembali” is a moving reflection on heritage, resilience, and the enduring power of returning to one’s roots.
