The cast of The Best Nyonya are decked out in vintage kebayas —a passion of Wee’s — which are bought or rented for the productions (All photos: Krate Creative Space)
"Nyonya-nyonya zaman sekarang tak boleh ditegur, tak boleh dilarang,” sings Wee Shyre May in her role as Lily, mother to protagonist Neo Lin in the musical comedy The Best Nyonya. The plot follows the 17-year-old daughter as she attempts to become the “best Nyonya” and impress her potential future mother-in-law within three days.
Full of comedic and heartwarming scenes, as well as renditions of childhood songs such as Lenggang Kangkung and Chan Mali Chan, the story situates intergenerational relationships in a nexus of Peranakan social norms and contemporary elements.
“Younger Peranakans now will say they are proud of their heritage, but they usually don’t know about how people would store objects in their shirts or spit in spittoons, for example. I wanted to put these into a fun musical form so everyone could see and understand the Peranakans, even if the shows themselves are quite modern,” explains Wee, 31, a Peranakan Chinese herself.
Now in its fifth iteration, The Best Nyonya is part of the opus of Peranakan cultural plays that she writes, directs and acts in alongside her dedicated troupe from Krate Creative Space, founded by Wee in 2016, and Melaka’s first independent theatre company. They work out of their art café in Taman Bukit Beruang, a well-loved hotspot for local creatives in the know, and frequently collaborate with other locations about town to stage their shows.
Bubbly and full of pep despite an intensive schedule of workshops and rehearsals, Wee radiates an enthusiastic and welcoming energy as she regales us with vivid tales of her past and how the company has grown — in between cradling her six-year-old Shih Tzu, Latte, and offering sightseeing recommendations.
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For Wee, the drive to create has accompanied her from her earliest days of drawing comics with cousins. But like many childhood artists attracted to that boundless world of possibility, once higher education came into question, it became increasingly difficult to prove the value of such pursuits on a professional level.
“It was very hard for me to convince my parents that I wanted to study art after high school. You can’t really survive in the arts, especially in Melaka,” she laments. Though a creative degree was not on the cards, it was during her days studying marketing and management at Melaka Multimedia University that she was first exposed to theatre through club activities. Taking the stage came naturally, she remembers, and she soon began teaching speech and drama to children over weekends. While helping out at her father’s bubble wrap business post-graduation, Wee also travelled regularly to Kuala Lumpur to connect with artists, and was eventually approached by someone to write a script for a client’s commercial. “So, I started writing, and found it very easy. There was no start or stop; it just came effortlessly. They loved it and hired me as their part-time creative producer.
“Basically, everything that came my way, I said yes to,” she chuckles. Between juggling part- and full-time jobs, dreams of carving out a space for her and her friends made Wee rent a run-down terraced house in Bukit Beruang, where, every night for months, they would come together to do the renovations, scraping walls until it became the original Krate space.
The company started out with RM30 workshops where people could teach crafts such as embroidery to others, but this model lacked long-term viability. Wee later got the idea to write interactive plays for adults and children, beginning with her first work Darios in 2017. The following year, Krate moved to a nearby shoplot — its current outpost — hosting classes in dance, yoga and creative sciences for kids. Sadly, the pandemic put an end to their wildly popular lessons, and the group turned to selling baked goods to sustain operations, transforming the shop’s lower floor into an F&B outlet.
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Today, Krate Cafe is a vibrant, homey den packed with charming knick-knacks, board games and a display case of delectable cakes and scones. Patrons can enjoy a coffee while trying out one of the many craft or painting kits available. “We call ourselves Krate because when we started, we were building our own crates,” she says, pointing to the wooden boxes and DIY projects decorating the room.
“The best thing about having the café is we get walk-ins just asking to try out [for our shows]. It creates a safe space for individuals to explore different aspects of art.” In fact, a main cast member of The Best Nyonya, Kimberly Chan, joined as a part-timer, until one day she started singing while mopping the floor “like Cinderella”, Wee recounts. “It’s about giving people the right opportunity. Anyone who is interested, we keep their phone numbers and text them when we have auditions.”
The store’s inner area is converted into a performance zone when the group has shows. “Nothing on the walls is drilled in — everything is removable and portable. We have a foldable stage and can seat up to 60; but most of the time, we like to collaborate.”
Krate has notably staged shows at the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum and Heeren Mansion, for which Wee wrote The Case of the Missing Diamond, a thrilling whodunnit, and The Great Gossip, a tale of high-society scandal, respectively. Both presented the challenge of working around an unusual stage layout, with the latter taking Wee eight months to develop a script for.
“This is very unorthodox, but the first thing I like to see is the location. I can’t start until I know where I’m doing [the show]. After that, I think about the theme and concept, followed by the characters, and only then do I write. Now, I’m so used to working with unusual spaces that if you gave me a blank sheet, it might be even harder! I do very well with restrictions somehow,” laughs Wee. The results speak for themselves: The Great Gossip sold out a record 18 shows in under two weeks last year.
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The Best Nyonya is by far the group’s most iconic work, having debuted at the Riuh Nau Melaka Festival in 2022. This year, the company will be bringing it to Penang for the entire month of May, performing a total of 25 shows. To be hosted at the Georgetown Mansion museum, the production is being held in collaboration with Nyonya Palazzo café, which will be providing food and kebaya rentals to guests. The Penang shows will also feature subtitles, making it accessible to those unfamiliar with Peranakan lingo, and star a smaller team of only six or seven as opposed to prior 30-member casts.
When it comes to finding talents, Wee admits it is tough. Actors can be slim pickings in the Melakan market. “What I’ve learnt is, it’s best to know or have an idea of someone to do a certain role,” she advises. “If you think of a funny scenario, picture who you would want in that moment, what they would say, and take that as inspiration. It’s much easier than thinking anybody can be who you want them to be.”
On the bright side, a limited pool just means plenty more people to share the joy of acting with. “We train up interested individuals, starting from something not too daunting like background acting before moving to bigger positions.” It is important that participants not only have fun, but are also able to actively hone their skills when they are with the group — actors are frequently reshuffled to ensure everyone gets to experience a variety of roles. Scouting members from other theatre communities also helps strengthen the state’s creative network, which is currently segregated with little communication between factions, Wee remarks.
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Since Krate’s productions deal heavily with cultural and historical influences, authenticity, sensitivity and relatability are important factors to keep in mind. “There are pros and cons,” muses the playwright. “It’s so enlightening to learn more about my heritage. There are many pantang-larang [taboos], and it’s fascinating to see how mentalities have shifted. At the same time, you have to be very careful,” she says, noting that accusations of Krate “doing it wrong” have, unfortunately, drifted around. Details like how one walks or stands can attract great scrutiny from the strict Peranakan communities.
“I find it impossible to satisfy them while also creating a show that would entertain the audience. In a way, I’m the bridge between generations. The stories they tell and the way they tell them is very traditional — we’re talking about language even I as a Peranakan cannot understand. I try my best to do whatever I can to pay tribute to all the traditional elements — so long as I do not insult them,” Wee affirms.
“Every show I do, I challenge myself to make it one step above the last,” she promises. With 10 works ranging from comedies and musicals to murder mysteries under her belt, upping the ante every time is no small feat. The writer’s desire to elevate her craft motivates her to take on unfamiliar genres with each new piece — but one thing is a must in every Wee Shyre May production. “My works are all immersive and interactive. Breaking the fourth wall, improvising and working with the crowd is way more fun, it adds a comedic element and we get to absorb their energy.” That does not come without risk, though. Wee cringes as she recalls a session where jokes simply were not landing: “One of my actresses was struggling to cry for a scene — and an audience member started laughing!” Regardless of such hitches, the show must always go on, she says.
So, where is the saga of Krate heading next? “Honestly, the dream is having somewhere to call my own in town, where people can just come in for shows and food, and our shows are regular,” Wee says. “I believe if we had a space in Jonker [Street], we could reach tourists who are curious about Peranakan culture, as opposed to those who are looking purely for entertainment. I want to have a more sustainable set-up and be able to switch it up every few months — essentially, to be a full-on theatre company. Right now, we are dipping our toes into so many things, and my team sometimes gets really burnt out.”
She already has plans for a new show in KL on Aug 31, based on the folk tale Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, and another on her home turf earlier that month. For the moment, however, the company is fully focused on getting the Penang leg up and running.
“If you want to find out more about Peranakan culture or are just looking to have a good time, The Best Nyonya is a lot of fun. And for anyone who wants to learn more about themselves or discover something new they would love to try, please come check out the café — it’s a very happy, chill environment.”
Krate Cafe is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 10am to 6pm. Tickets for the May tour of 'The Best Nyonya' in Penang are available here.
This article first appeared on Apr 14, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
