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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.
The Star
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Facing grief with grace: EJKLS Seni's heartfelt play finds hope amid loss
Moving on from the loss of a loved one is never easy – or straightforward – and that's precisely what audiences experience in theatre group EJKLS Seni's play, If There Is An Afterlife, I Hope It's Your Version Instead Of Mine. If you missed its debut run last year, don't worry – the play returns for a restaging at Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) from May 22-25. Written and directed by EJKLS Seni's founder and artistic director Asyraf Syahir, If There Is An Afterlife is a poignant tribute to his late mother, who died from cancer in 2021. The script was shaped by his own journey through grief and healing. Blending intimate storytelling with music, If There Is An Afterlife also features original compositions by Asyraf. The music will be performed by a live ensemble, featuring Asyraf, Radja Afif, and Sarah Sharkfins, adding an evocative layer to the production. Ryan (played by Leonie Tunez), left, and Vanessa (played by Alya Amani) share memories from their childhood in the theatre production. The play's themes of faith, loss, and existential doubt have drawn a cast whose own experiences resonate with the story. Myrra Baity Khan takes on the role of Sofia, a headstrong young woman who is pushed to reexamine her beliefs as she cares for her cancer-stricken mother. Three years after Sofia's mother's death, her childhood friends Ryan (played by LeonieTunez) and Vanessa (played by Alya Amani) must also go through a similar experience, as they learn of their mother's (played by Erie Woo) sudden cancer diagnosis. As she supports her friends through this difficult time, Sofia is finally forced to confront and come to terms with her own lingering grief. Blurring reality and fiction In this restaging, playwright and director Asyraf says the core elements remain unchanged, but the team has explored the play's themes and characters more deeply. 'The script has been edited and extended, and the directions have also changed, leading to significant changes in the characters and new character dynamics. The actors actually had to discard their previous understanding of the characters and 'relearn' them. 'We're also excited to have Nawfal Zamri join us as our scenographer, bringing fresh visuals to the set. Plus, we've added a few new original songs,' says Asyraf. Unlike his previous works, Asyraf says that If There Is An Afterlife highlights his own personal experiences very explicitly. 'I'm sharing real events, real experiences, and very personal photos in the play. I chose to use them to create a sense of hyperrealism, blurring the lines between reality and fiction for the audience.' 'I want the audience to sense very quickly that what they are watching is not mere fiction, and that by watching the play, they are joining me in revisiting the personal events that my family and I went through back in 2021 when our mother was battling cancer,' he explains. Asyraf adds that by writing, directing, and observing the events unfold again, he has been able to make sense of the occurrences that may have been previously left unprocessed. What it means to live fully For many, death is often still considered a difficult topic to broach. For actor Myrra Baity, she thinks there's both a taboo surrounding the subject, but also not. 'In one way, we're always encouraged to think of what will happen after death as a way to encourage good deeds over bad ones, like in the concept of heaven and hell. 'However, when it comes to discussing the emotions around grief and death with family members and friends ... understandably, not a lot of people know how to respond. People can also be hard on themselves about the way they grieve, but to be honest, there is no right way – there is just acceptance and how we can find it inside us,' she says. 'The play approaches death with honesty, but also with tenderness and even humour,' says Erie Woo, centre, who plays Ma in the play. Actor Woo adds that one of the things she appreciated about the play was that it doesn't shy away from the subject. 'The play approaches death with honesty, but also with tenderness and even humour. It shows the messiness of it: the fear, the denial, the moments of grace. It doesn't romanticise dying, but it also doesn't make it something to be afraid of facing," says Woo. 'Instead, it invites the audience into a very human story about saying goodbye, holding on and what it means to live fully, even when time is short,' she adds. Asyraf says he hopes that through the play, the audience will be able to learn a new outlook on what it means to heal and grieve. 'Healing is messy, healing is non-linear, but at the same time, healing is certain if we honestly search for it,' he concludes. If There Is An Afterlife, I Hope It's Your Version Instead Of Mine runs at Pentas 2, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) from May 22-25. More info:
