Jit Murad dies aged 62

Theatre icon: Jit, who died at home, will be missed by many.

PETALING JAYA: Social media was flooded with tributes for Jit Murad, a celebrated theatre actor-director-writer and icon of the Malaysian arts scene.

Actor and comedian Harith Iskander said “there will never be another Jit Murad”.

“Thank you for your wit, your intelligence and your ‘in your face’ honesty,” said Harith, as he recalled a time when they hung out day after day chatting about films, books and all sorts of unrelated topics.

Although they didn’t see each other personally over the last few years, Harith said they were consistently taking jabs at each other on Facebook.

“The country has lost a true genius. Thank you for your talent. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your comedy, your writings and your words.

“I will hold all other memories of you privately because – let’s be honest here – you openly lived a life so honest and unworried about what others thought that made you so special and true. Many will miss you, Jit. I will miss you too. Al-Fatihah,” Harith said.

Jit’s passing was confirmed by fellow theatre veteran Jo Kukathas, who said he died in his home in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

It is understood he was in poor health for the past few years.

Actor Sharifah Amani Syed Zainal Rashid Al-Yahya shared: “I love you so much, Uncle Jit. My heart is broken but I find solace in the hope that you will be reunited with your loved ones, InsyaAllah.

“I will forever tell the story of how you came to my kindergarten to pick up your nephew, but it was me that ran into your arms first,” she said.

Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil tweeted that he was “so very sad”.

“We worked together in A Man For All Seasons (a play presented by Actor’s Studio, directed by Joe Hasham) in 2004.

“His acerbic wit, incisive commentaries on social life, and bonhomie will forever be missed. Al-Fatihah,” he said.

Music producer and songwriter Aubrey Suwito also tweeted, “Al Fatihah Jit Murad. Yours is truly a creative soul.”

Comedian Phoon Chi Ho described Jit as “the only true genius in our local comedy scene”.

On Facebook, musician and filmmaker Pete Teo wrote that while they never got a chance to know each other really well, he wished it was otherwise.

“You were always the brightest star among us restless children. Peace at last, friend,” he said.

In a performing arts career that spanned more than 30 years, the Kuala Lumpur-born Jit established himself as one of the best playwrights in the country, with his influential theatre works and scripts often resonating beyond the stage.

In 1989, Jit co-founded Instant Cafe Theatre alongside theatre friends Jo Kukathas, Andrew Leci and Zahim Albakri. It was a local theatre company that went on to challenge and redefine theatre-making in Malaysia.

It did comedy in theatres and serious plays in nightclubs. It did Shakespeare in the outdoors and political satire at government functions.

Jit was also part of a generation of young Malaysian theatre-makers in the late 1980s who returned to Kuala Lumpur after studying abroad.

His acting credits in the early days and late 1990s were diverse and prolific, with appearances in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Death of a Salesman, Death & The Maiden, Black Comedy, An Actor’s Nightmare, Art, As Is, Talking AIDS, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and A Man For All Seasons.

As Instant Cafe Theatre grew from strength to strength, Jit also sharpened his skills as a playwright, actor and director, emerging as a prominent public intellectual with theatre shows examining contemporary society.

In 1992, he wrote his first play Gold Rain and Hailstones, which has gone on to be a celebrated work in the Malaysian theatre scene.

The play examines the notion of home, belonging and identity, issues which have resonated time and again through various versions of the production, including a successful restaging in 2019.

In 1993, Jit helped start Dramalab (with Zahim), an offshoot of Instant Cafe Theatre, which encouraged new writing and introduced new theatre players.

Jit’s other notable works include Storyteller (1996), based on South-East Asian spoken traditions; Visits (2002), a comedy reworked from a three-monologue effort from the early 1990s; and Spilt Gravy On Rice (2002), which won four awards at the inaugural Cameronian Arts Award 2003.