'Melur The Musical', which features Badrika Baluch (of 'Sepet The Musical' fame), is set for a workshop preview in London next month. Photo: Liver and Lung
If you don't mind celebrating Halloween a few months late, then keep an eye out for Liver and Lung's latest project Melur The Musical, which is set to hit the PJPAC stage in Petaling Jaya early next year.
The show is the Malaysian-British theatre company's blood-curling musical version of the legend of the pontianak.
Melur The Musical, set in colonial Malaya, offers the tale of two women Melur and Cempaka who have to deal with a "supernatural force".
In the plot, things take a dark turn when Cempaka’s husband, a British-born general in the East India Company, commits a murderous crime and the characters then incur the wrath of a blood thirsty pontianak determined for revenge.
“I love horror. There is something really unique about it as a genre because it reveals a lot about how a society feels, what it desires and, of course, what it’s afraid of,” says Shafeeq Shajahan, Liver and Lung co-founder.
“It’s especially interesting that Malaysians have always been drawn to the genre. I think it says a lot about who we are,” he adds.
In a twist, the Melur The Musical production also references two of Malaysia’s most terrifying horror stories. The first is the pontianak storyline, but the second remains a secret that the Liver And Lung creative team is not revealing yet.
The pontianak in the show is already something to guarantee a strong fright factor.
The musical is being workshopped in London currently with Nabilah Hamid, a recent Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts graduate in Britain. Photo: Liver and Lung
“With long, jet black hair and sharp nails, the pontianak is not the vibrant, pregnant woman she once was. Instead, she is a demonic force of nature that forces us to challenge societal notions of femininity and motherhood,” says Shafeeq.
“My mother told me the story of the pontianak and in many ways this musical is dedicated to her and all of the South East-Asian stories she brought me up with.”
Also, for the first time, Liver and Lung is organising an open call and auditioning emerging singers, actors and creatives to work on the production.
"We are looking for performers and like-minded creatives. If you're passionate about (Malaysian) storytelling, Liver and Lung could be your next home," says Shafeeq.
At the moment, Shafeeq is workshopping the musical with a few Malaysian actors in London; including Nabilah Hamid, a recent graduate from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, and Badrika Baluch, the star of Sepet The Musical and now a student at Arts Eds, London.
In November, the production company will preview the show at The Other Palace in London, a theatre owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production company, The Really Useful Group.
Melur The Musical will feature original music and lyrics, inspired by traditional Malay folk songs and horror influences across generations.
Shafeeq will compose the musical with frequent collaborators: Badrish Bahadur, co-composer of Sepet The Musical, Irena Taib, from local indie-band The Impatient Sisters, and Vasiliks Konstantinides, a Cypriot musician and accompanist.
The musical will be produced by Su En Hoh.
“The pontianak is one of South East Asia’s most terrifying legends and I am so excited to bring it to life on stage. Audiences can expect a fully immersive experience with haunting original music and a set that will transport them to a yesteryear that we have all forgotten,” says Shafeeq.
Liver and Lung was one of the recipients of the BOH Cameronian Grant for New Productions this year.
