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Brainchild of theatre director Low Yee Choy, “So Happy I Could Die” takes audiences on a journey of self-discovery, consequence, and mortality.
Audiences are drawn into the intimate conflict between two main characters, the Protagonist and a character called “Death”.
The play works as a choose-your-own-path adventure. At fixed points in the narrative, audience members vote for the choice they want. The play proceeds based on the majority vote.
At each step, the audience members join in and decide what action the protagonist should take, whether it’s to run away from Death, or embrace her in a waltz. With the simple expedient of colour-coded lights, audiences are allowed to control the actions of the Protagonist.
According to Choy, there are 3 endings that the audience can lead the Protagonist towards. If they choose the wrong path, the main character may be led to an untimely demise. It’s left up to the audience to piece together which actions are ultimately beneficial or detrimental to the Protagonist.
A play about life choices and their unintended consequences
Image: Curated by set designers Jun Ong & Wee Jia Foong, the set piece is marked by a subtle interplay of light and shadow, bringing to mind an eerie, liminal no-man’s-land.
Inspired by ideas in modern media, Choy says: “With traditional theatre, the performers act on a stage, while the audience sits passively in chairs. The plot is usually pushed forward with lots of dialogue. I wanted to break away from these conventions.”
Choy’s play incorporates elements of audience participation, mythical symbolism, and interpretive dance. There is no stage, and the objects on display double as an interactive art piece.
It is not outright stated who the Protagonist is, why he is sucked into this Purgatory-like landscape, and why he is being tormented by this personification of Death.
Without a single line of dialogue between the main characters, the audience is invited to create a narrative about what is happening based on what they see, hear, and feel throughout the performance. The idea is to blur the lines between the audience and the performer.
The starkness of the set piece was matched only by the intensity of the actors
It’s through the strength of the performances by the two main characters that sold the story.
Since there is zero dialogue, the performers acted entirely with body language, facial expressions, and an eclectic mix of yelps, hisses, growls, and oinks.
Played by the electric Mia Sara Shauki, the personification of Death isn’t a “guide to the afterlife”. At times she coaxes the Protagonist out of his stupor, sings sweetly to him, while at other times she scorns him, and beckons him.
The Protagonist, played with dionysian frenzy by Dinesh Kumar Maganathan, spends the entire play struggling, dancing, contorting, crying, and wailing as he searches for something to give him meaning to his existence. His performance is magnetic, such as when he eats an apple as if it’s the last apple he will ever eat in his life.
Reviews from the audience praised the intensity of the characters, saying that they made them feel the full spectrum of emotions, from humour, anxiety, horror, anger, happiness, and catharsis. They also praised the set design, atmosphere, and unpredictability of the story.
Introducing experimental theatre to first-time audiences
There is a perception amongst Malaysians that theatre is this “artsy-fartsy” intellectual person’s hobby that you need a Master’s degree to understand.
That’s a misconception that Theatresauce is actively working to challenge. Including Choy’s offering, there are 7 plays by 7 directors that are being played out this year that appeal to a younger crowd looking for something different than what’s currently on Netflix.
According to director Choy, the intention of this production is to bring people who aren’t theatre geeks into theatre, by touching on universal concepts of relationships, faith, destiny, loss, and love.
There’s a certain rawness to live performances that you can’t get in commercially polished and pre-packaged content.
Instead of being detached and voyeuristic, it’s intimate, scary and exhilarating. You get to see the performers’ expressions, connect with them, and respond to them as a human being.
If you’re open-minded and are looking for something different from what’s on Netflix or in the cinema, why not give locally-produced theatre plays a try?
This weekend, catch the Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival at KLPAC, Sentul
Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival (YSDAF) 2023 is Malaysia’s biggest free-for-all arts festival, boasting 350 plus free arts activities for the public on 19 and 20 August 2023 at KLPAC, Sentul.
The line-up includes performances, hands-on workshops, art installations, film screenings and more.
There will be a variety of acts and activities taking place around KLPAC, such as True Love Waits: Tribute to Radiohead (concert), Teochew Opera (showcase), Handyzone (workshops), Physiotherapy for Parkinsons (cause), and local music performances featuring Fuad of Kyoto Protocol and friends.
Join the epic live dance battle Dance the Scene, screenings of P. Ramlee classics, Dato’ Dr Faridah Merican’s Life Sdn Bhd theatre performance, and an exclusive Gala Night Unforgettable: Lagenda Malaysia performance.
From the contemporary to the traditional, mainstream to the experimental, expect to feast on something different at every turn and every corner.
For more information, check out KLPAC’s Facebook and Instagram.
Would you see a theatre play?
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