Pithy themes draw blood
Moving Malay play Orang Asing, which focussed on the irony of relationships, delivered the goods despite a few puzzling drawbacks, writes Subhadra Devan
IN a pretty small performing space on the fifth floor of a block of flats in Bandar Utama, the themes of isolation, loss and betrayal were played out for a duration of about 60 minutes in Asterik Anak Seni Production’s Orang Asing. It seemed poignant that the pithy humanes of the themes were voiced and emoted, admirably at that, at the top while below sat a thriving mamak restaurant.
The bespoke black box was filled with the smell of disinfectant that gave off an unmistakable ambience of a hospital space. The props aptly reminded you of a hospital waiting room, and the “stage” was long rather than wide with the actors walking in and out from one end.
Kudos to director Afendi Shah and his team for the vision materialised as the setting lent focus to the heart of the play, which revolved around a chief executive officer called Nora, played by Tria Aziz, and her second husband Aziz (Alif Adzham), aswellasthedynamicsoftheirrelationships with family.
Nora is distraught as her daughter Nisa, from her first marriage, is in the Intensive Care Unit. But when she discovers Aziz had given her first husband, Rashid, who had been jailed for murder, permission to visit Nisa, Nora’s spiking blood pressure then sets the room’s temperature to boiling point.
We also learn that Aziz had not been allowed to get close to his stepchildren. Orang Asing. Ah, the words did take on different meanings in different contexts.
The ever dependable Tria had been consistently making an impact on stage ever since winning ntv7’s Audition way back then to garnering musical theatre awards and participating in a string of theatrical productions such as the Tribute To Sudirman show and Tragedi Hamlet.
ORANG ASING
In that one-hour play, written by Hariry Jalil, she emoted strongly the anguish of a wife and a mother whose husband went to jail for her honour, as I had understood it to be. He had killed someone who was attempting to rape his wife. She asked, was it worth it to go to jail and leave me with the shame and the children to support?
She then lamented that she was treated like an orang asing as a result of that fateful and most unfortunate chain of events.
The cast was equally talented and committed to their roles admirably. Kirin Muhamad’s portrayal of the handcuffed murderer, and seemingly loving father, Rashid was certainly poignant. When his son Ikhwan, played by Haikal Hamdan, finally greeted him, with palpable love, I quickly noticed that some audience members had shed more than a tear or two.
Haikal, in his role as a mute son, expressed volumes with his expressions and hands and proved a heart-stealer, while Azman Hassan, who played the kind policeman guarding Rashid the murderer, gave a nuanced and subtle portrayal with his secondary role. Theatre Three Sixty’ s founder Christopher Ling also delivered his few lines as the doctor attending Nisa with great sympathy that could actually be felt.
Now, the drawbacks. One that was quite obvious was the fact that the play, at times, seemed to feel a little like a television drama. Kind of like a snippet of a soap opera series.
And the ending was also a resignation by Rashid, just to head back to prison, leaving it all to God’s great and mysterious plans. Some people would do that, while others would rail wildly at their lot in life!
Perhaps for a play of such brevity, closure had to come really quick? Orang Asing nevertheless was, ultimately, an engrossing watch.
The Malay theatre group’s new play, Kopiah Putih dan Straw Bergincu Dibibirnya, will end today. Visit their Facebook page for details.