In the Threshold of Darkness: Visualizing Power, Identity, and Ambiguity in Datuk H (2026)

This practice-based research examines the application of Film Noir visual aesthetics in the stage performance of Datuk H (2026), focusing on costumes and lighting as primary dramaturgical tools. The study explores how noir principles such as Chiaroscuro lighting, visual fragmentation, and symbolic costuming that can be translate from cinematic language into theatrical form to construct meanings of power, identity, and ambiguity. Framed as a “threshold of darkness,” the performance investigates how visual design functions beyond scenography, using instead as an active system of storytelling. Through controlled use of low-key lighting, shadow layering, and monochromatic costume design, the stage becomes a sifting visual field where presence and absence coexist, reflecting instability in authority and character perception. The research is grounded in practice-led methodology, combining performance experimentation, design exploration, and reflective analysis. Theoretical engagement with Existentialism further supports the interpretation of identity as fluid and constructed under conditions of power and psychological tension. Findings suggest that noir-inspired visual dramaturgy enhances the audience’s interpretive engagement by foregrounding ambiguity as an aesthetic and conceptual strategy. Costume and lighting are revealed not as decorative elements, but as critical devices that externalize internal conflict and destabilize fixed readings of character and narrative. This research contributes to contemporary performance studies by showing how noir visual language can be re-contextualized within Southeast Asian theatre practice, offering new possibilities for embodied storytelling through light, shadow, and material presence.

Noir Aesthetic; Visual Dramaturgy; Lighting Design

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