Tiga: 3 plays based on 3 objects

The pioneer batch of Tiga’s first production (from left, top): Inez Caryan, Sharifah Aryana, Nora Rahim and (seated, from left) Fahad Iman, Andy Darrel Gomes and Arshad Adam. Photo: Fahad Iman

A bed, a chair and a knife ... such common objects. As ubiquitous as they are, these items are also silent witnesses to the most intimate experiences in our lives.

Imagine the sort of conversations you have had on a chair, the person you shared your bed with or the tears you shed in the kitchen. This is exactly the direction 23-year-old Sharifah Aleysha, fondly called Leysha, took when she wrote Bed, Chair and Knife.

Tiga, an anthology of these short plays, opens April 21 at the Five Arts Centre Studio in Kuala Lumpur.

Inez Caryan, Sharifah Aryana and Nora Rahim play the protagonists in the respective plays.

The plays, directed by new directors Fahad Iman (Bed), Andy Darrel Gomes (Chair) and Arshad Adam (Knife), were all based on Leysha’s “own experiences but exaggerated versions of it.”

“I know they’re not going to change the world but if these pieces spark even one conversation about women, relationships or sexuality, then I’ll be pretty happy,” says Leysha, a performing arts diploma graduate from Sunway University.

Tiga, an initiative by Five Arts Centre, acts as a platform, says the community theatre company’s producer June Tan, for “emerging practitioners to essentially learn from the doing. At the same time, we hope for it to be a platform for emerging practitioners to take what they might see as risks, both from creative and production aspects, and to manage that.”

The modus operandi of Tiga is quite simple.

A new scriptwriter will be given the task to write three scripts based on three objects. After these scripts are performed, the scriptwriter will then nominate another scriptwriter and provide him or her with three new objects for three more new scripts.

Bed is based on Leysha’s own experiences with jealousy, insecurity and unusual possessiveness.

“A lot of women seem crazy to their partner sometimes and I wanted to show that there were legitimate reasons for them,” explains Leysha.

Leysha shares that Chair is possibly the most personal script out of the three as it was inspired by her relationship with her mother.

“Any mother-daughter relationship has its conflicts and for me the conflict has always been to grow up but without growing apart from my mother,” she points out.

Andy, the director for Chair, says the play “explores human relationships, especially in families and emotions of longing, regret and anger. These things are really universal and close to home”.

Speaking about Knife, its director Arshad believes the play, about a young woman who discusses her sexuality (in a cooking show no less!) can help audiences relate to their sexual relationships.

“They may sheepishly agree or repressively disagree with some of the lines,” says Arshad.

Tiga is on at the Five Arts Centre Studio at Taman Tun Dr Ismail in KL from April 21-24. Entry is by a minimum donation of RM15. For tickets, email [e-mail] or call 017-346 5108.