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New Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
Staging the afterlife: A play that dares to talk about death
THE cast of If There Is an Afterlife, I Hope It's Your Version Instead of Mine will insist they're not particularly close. They'll laugh it off with jokes and playful teasing if you suggest otherwise, but spend five minutes in their company, and the truth reveals itself. There's an unspoken intimacy in the way they move around each other, finish each other's sentences and share easy, knowing laughter. It's the kind of bond forged by people who've walked through fire and recognised the same burn marks on others. The play, which returned to the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre recently, follows Sofia, a skeptical Malay woman wrestling with her faith while caring for her devout, cancer-stricken mother. Three years after her mother's death, grief resurfaces when childhood friends are confronted with a family crisis of their own. Writer-director Asyraf Syahir, better known as Acap, drew from his own experience of losing his mother three years ago. Clad in all black with the quiet intensity of someone well-acquainted with life, death, and the occasional black metal lyric, he speaks with clarity and conviction about his casting choices. "I find people with real experiences," begins the 33-year-old, adding: "Technical stuff can be taught. Real emotions have to come from within." That philosophy drives every choice. Myrra Baity Khan, 31, who plays Sofia, knows grief intimately. Her father died when she was five, followed by her grandparents. "I didn't cry for 18 years," she shares. Of mixed Pakistani, Arab, Malay and Chinese heritage, she spent her youth "shape-shifting to fit in" and her hunger for connection drives her performance. "When I was 17, I wrote a monologue that made this girl cry. We're still friends today. That's exactly what I want — connection," she adds, expression earnest. Leon Khoo, 27, known as LeonieTunez, recalls his first time reading the script. "It got me in tears," he admits, adding: "I was transitioning from who I was before to who I am now." Hailing from a conservative background, the stage became a form of liberation. "On stage, I get to play. Maybe one day, that'll manifest in real life," he says, voice low. For Alya Amani, a 27-year-old public relations executive and model, identity has always been complicated. Half Chinese, half Malay, she grew up feeling like she was never enough of either. "I fit everywhere but belonged nowhere," she shares. It was on stage that she finally found a place to call her own. Inspired by Glee and High School Musical, Alya has grown from chasing validation to chasing impact. "If they laugh, cry or get angry — as long as they feel something, I've done my job." Errie Woo, a clinical hypnotherapist and aerial yoga instructor, takes on the role of the mother. She first discovered theatre through workshops, and her experience working with cancer patients gave her a deeper connection to the story. "My first performance felt like a calling," confides the 47-year-old, adding: "Audiences tell us this is their story too." What sets this production apart is its willingness to confront questions of faith openly — and from a place of uncertainty. These are people who have wrestled with their own beliefs, not to dismiss them, but out of genuine curiosity and a need to understand. "There are so few safe spaces in Malaysia to talk about faith through doubt," says Myrra, adding: "When I saw a project with this kind of bravery, I was like, 'hell yeah!'" For Acap, he knew that he had to approach the subject with care, choosing to explore faith broadly rather than focus on a specific religion. "It would've been a problem narrowing it to just one, so we have two running in parallel," he explains. And asked what was his biggest hurdle? He doesn't miss a beat. "Money," he confides, before adding wryly: "It's all self-funded." SHARED HEALING Through this play, healing has taken on a new meaning for its cast. Leon describes it as "returning to your truest self, becoming better in every way." For Alya, it's about "learning to accept both the good and the bad." Myrra adds: "Most Malaysian families don't talk about someone once they're gone. And that silence keeps us from grieving, from healing." For audiences carrying their own losses, the production offers no easy comfort. "We want to show nuance," they say, continuing: "That it's okay to feel angry, to feel unhinged. Grief is messy — it doesn't follow a straight line." The cast hold different beliefs about what comes next. Errie believes in reunion. Acap quietly admits he thinks we simply cease to exist. Leon is more matter-of-fact: "I'd rather not think about it. I just want to live now." Yet within this work, they've built a space where those conflicting truths can sit side by side. Because when someone you love is gone, and they believed in peace beyond this life, maybe it's enough to hope they were right. That their version of the afterlife exists, even if it isn't yours. And sometimes, that fragile, imagined possibility is its own kind of peace. This isn't sugar-coated reassurance. It's an embrace. A quiet, unflinching reminder: we get it. It hurts. But you don't have to carry it alone.
Rakyat Post
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Rakyat Post
‘If There is an Afterlife, I Hope It's Your Version Instead of Mine': A Reflection On Grief, Faith & Theatrical Intimacy
Subscribe to our FREE Written and directed by EJKLS Seni's founder and artistic director Asyraf Syahir, If There is an Afterlife, I Hope It's Your Version Instead of Mine ran at Pentas 2, KLPAC, from 22 May – 25 May 2025. A deeply personal tribute to Asyraf's late mother, the play blends intimate storytelling with music, featuring original compositions by Asyraf himself, performed by a live ensemble. The story examines the pain of watching a loved one wither away, the messiness of grief, and the enduring questions surrounding the afterlife. Although this theme echoes works like Mentega Terbang , the play offers something more tender and intimate in its portrayal of familial loss. READ MORE: While the story stems from Asyraf's own life, its exploration of grief and healing is one many of us can relate to. Adeline/TRP Adeline/TRP Adeline: Watching the actors portray their characters' fear and grief of losing their mother gave me flashbacks. I lost my mum suddenly, and then my grandmother to cancer soon after. In both incidents, I can attest that the quietest part of the journey happens after the funeral. And the stages of grief are not linear. It is also the time where your faith or belief system is challenged to the max. Friends may try to understand but they cannot grasp the depth of your despair unless they have been through something similar. Chandini: And yet, while grief and loss are universal experiences, it is a delicate path to traverse, and the play does seem to play it safe – a bit too safe, for my liking. Despite the themes being universal, personal stories can be difficult to resonate with if they are not properly expressed. There were many intimate texts between Asyraf, his mother, and his family, and real images of his mother's journey with cancer projected to us on screen in If There is an Afterlife, but it is also this artistic choice that I felt robbed the play of the theatrical essence of 'show, don't tell.' Adeline/TRP Adeline/TRP Adeline/TRP At the heart of the story is the mother, Ma (played by Erie Woo), and her children Ryan (LeonieTunez) and Vanessa (Alya Armani), alongside their childhood friend Sofia (Myrra Baity Khan), who has also experienced the loss of her own mother. Their interactions, especially the banter and lighthearted moments amidst the sadness, added much-needed levity to the otherwise somber tone. It was nice seeing how the friends and siblings banter despite the looming grief over their heads. These lighthearted moments punctuate at the right time, breaking up the melancholic segments so it's not all dread and sadness. Adeline: Despite being bedridden most of the time, Erie managed to show us the bright light Ma was to everyone around her. Ryan, Vanessa, and Ma play a believable family unit from their playful bickering down to the somber moments. The play thoughtfully explores the challenges of faith during this trying time in a scene between Ryan and his mum. Like Ryan, I couldn't understand how Ma could still fervently believe there's an afterlife waiting after all she had been put through by a higher power. Ryan and the audience know praying will not reverse Ma's diagnosis but her unshakeable faith provides some steely comfort to everyone watching. Chandini/TRP Adeline/TRP Chandini: I agree that the themes were powerful, especially around coping mechanisms. But some choices felt overly direct. For instance, when characters discussed turning to substances or porn to numb their pain, those exact words – 'cigarettes', 'pornography', 'self-harm' – were projected behind them. It felt like the play was trying to tell us how heavy the moment was, rather than trusting us to feel it through performance. Maybe if real life visuals were shown to us at the end instead of during, I would feel a lot differently. (Adeline/TRP) We both found strengths in the play's earnest attempt to grapple with an incredibly painful subject, despite having some reservations about the choice of creative expressions. There were also dance elements integrated throughout the play that we felt didn't really gel well with the rest of the performance, with no fault of the choreography itself. While one will undoubtedly be moved by the familiarity, truth, and the personal courage it took to make this play, we can still hope for a bolder, more theatrically expressive restaging in the future. Overall, If There is an Afterlife, I Hope It's Your Version Instead of Mine is a sincere and vulnerable production, anchored by a real-life loss that gives it heart. Some might walk away in tears, others in quiet thought. Either way, this play opens up the space for reflection – and maybe that's all that matters when it comes to grief. Share your thoughts with us via TRP's Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.
