If you’re a fan of Malaysian theatre, there is no doubt in our minds that you’ve either watched or heard of The Instant Cafe Theatre Company’s ’Parah.’ The play, written by Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa’at and directed by Malaysian treasure Jo Kukathas, tells the tale of a friendship between four friends that gets tested after finding a book with a missing page.
hotxpress sits down with one of the four actors, Gregory Sze who plays Kahoe, to talk about the show and it’s third staging since opening mid last year.
So Gregory, tell us a little about yourself. You mentioned you studied Performing Arts.
Yes, I studied Performing Arts at Sunway University College.
What was Sunway like? How did you get involved with Performing Arts?
Sunway was good. I learned a lot. Prior to that I was doing a few acting workshops here and there, so that’s pretty much how I got started.
Has it always been something of interest to you? It’s quite a brave thing to do, studying Performing Arts in Malaysia.
(laughs) Yes, I guess so. It started out as a weekend activity with some of my friends from school. We stumbled upon this Teen Theatre Workshop by Kenny Dowle at KLPac, so we decided to enrol. One thing led to another, and…
Tell us about some of the shows you were in.
My first show was Henrik Ibsen’s Enemy of the People. Most of my shows were under the T4YP (Theatre 4 Young People) troupe. Those shows were mostly pieces by Shakespeare – Hamlet, Twelfth Night and such. We also did one called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Apart from T4YP, I was also a part of the Electric Minds Project’s (EMP) inaugural performance, Stage Therapy. And of course, Parah by the Instant Cafe Theatre Company.
Tell us a little bit about ‘Parah.’
Parah is basically about four high school friends who happen to come across this book, ‘Interlok.’ Oddly enough one of the pages in the book, which belongs to the character Melur, has been torn out. Eventually the group starts to realise that the page that was torn out contains a very controversial word. That’s what gets the ball rolling. The friends – Kahoe, Mahesh, Hafiz and Melur – start getting a bit edgy. And that’s as much as I can say without spoiling it for you.
How did you get involved in this project?
The director, Jo Kukathas, got my number from one of my lecturers who at the time, happened to be a colleague of her’s at The Instant Cafe Theatre Company. They were looking around for actors who could play a Chinese student. So one day I got a call from Jo Kukathas, asking me to come in for a reading. I came in, got a call back, did a few experimental scenes with some other actors and now, here I am.
Did you know who Jo Kukathas was prior to ‘Parah?’
Yes! It’s…wow. Wow (laughs).
Jo Kukathas, in the theatre industry, is probably ‘the’ name you want to work with. So to have her call me up one day to come in for a reading, it’s just…I don’t even know what to say. Who’s going to say ‘no’ to that?
The show has been staged twice before – once in Singapore and once at the Annexe in Central Market, KL. How was the response?
We got a very interesting response from the Singaporean audience. It’s nice to see them relate to something that’s so quintessentially Malaysian. They related to it on an intellectual, maybe even racial level? I’m sure they had their own reasons.
But it was a very, very different case with the Malaysian audience. They were more expressive and vocal about their views.
What was the most interesting view you came across?
I can’t think of any, but off the top of my head – yellow. There was a lot of mention of the colour yellow in the play, and it so happened that the staging coincided with the 2011 Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur. Someone pointed that out and asked if it was deliberate.
As an actor in the show, were the two stagings very different?
Different, yes. But we did it within a really short period. We performed in KL almost right after Singapore. So there was a difference but not much changed.
How does it feel doing it again, more than half a year later?
Feels great! It feels great doing it again. Now it’s a little different though. The play revolves quite a lot around Abdullah Hussain’s ‘Interlok,’ which was the mandatory text for SPM last year. It was just announced that it’s been removed from the syllabus. I’m curious to see what people would have to say about the play now that the novel is no longer a part of SPM.
Do you think that affects the relevance of the play?
No, I don’t think so. The novel’s notorious for its content. That, and it’s been removed and reinstated so many times that it’s created enough hype.
Tell us about your character, Kahoe.
Kahoe is a relatively naive Chinese boy, and the youngest in his family. He’s always had this issue with relating to the Chinese community here in Malaysia. For many reasons, one of which is that he doesn’t speak Mandarin, and his Cantonese is rusty. So he feels, in a way, alienated in this country.
Like him, there are many people who don’t speak Chinese, and tend to look West. Going away to Australia, the UK, America. In the course of the play, Kahoe has an epiphany, where he realises that it’s not that nice to spend your life abroad. Physically he might be with other Chinese people who speak only English, but there’s something about Malaysia that gives him this impulse to stay on.
What’s his friendship like with the three other characters?
He’s good friends with all three Hafiz, Melur and Mahesh.
The relationship dynamics are different with each individual relationship. He and Hafiz share a very dude-like friendship – like jocks, very boyish. They’re always hitting each other, talking about rather dim stuff (laughs). It’s a very fun-loving relationship they have.
Kahoe has a crush on Melur, who happens to be Hafiz’s cousin. That’s a nice little back-story. His relationship with Mahesh? They’re good friends, but the way they click is nothing like Kahoe’s friendship with Hafiz. It’s more internal.
What do you think people should take home from the show?
The play is not written to highlight the racial differences. I guess I want the audience to walk out of the theatre with this notion that it’s never about race. When you look at how kids are with their friends, especially with interracial friendships, they don’t see the colour of each other’s skin. They mingle.
By watching this play you can see how these four friends – all from different racial and family backgrounds – have this friendship. And it’s sad to see how something like ‘Interlok’ can potentially ruin it.
Tell us why we should come and watch ‘Parah.‘
In a way, Parah is everyone’s fantasy of Malaysia. It’s a snapshot of an ideal Malaysia – friends from all these different races and walks of life, together without bias.
Also, it’s really funny. It’s got a lot of drama, conflict. All the elements that make good theatre.
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‘Parah’ opens at Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre on 1 February and runs until 5 February. Shows on 1-3 February start at 8.30pm, while 4 & 5 February include a matinee at 3pm along with the 8.30pm show.
Tickets are priced at RM38 for students/senior citizen/concession and RM48 for regular tickets. The show on 1 February is at a flat rate of RM38.
Written by Alfian Sa’at. Directed by Jo Kukathas. Starring Iedil Putra, Gregory Sze, Farah Rani and Branavan Aruljothi.
For more information visit www.instantcafetheatre.com or check out the Facebook event page here.
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