The Life of Death

I was lucky enough to buy a ticket to the Malaysian Society’s MNight long before the sales rush which rendered the Saturday showing sold out. It was a two-day production held in the Great Hall, and I attended the Sunday showing. It was the first time I’d been to such an event in my three years here, and my main motivation for going was to support one of my copy editors here in Felix who was on the cast. A review simply had to follow.

I took my seat with a few friends near the front, reading the provided synopsis of The Life Of Death, directed by Ray-Men Chua, Alia Johari and produced by Sheela Ratnam and Wui Yang Ee. Having taken over four months to organise, the show’s story was shaped as a murder mystery, following the antics of a team of cops chasing after a serial killer who called himself the Heartbreaker, preying on happy couples and leaving a heart-suited card at the scene of every crime, counting down from the King to the Ace.

It was a full house, and I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. When the hosts Ahmad Mustafa and Kim Guan Yeap began their introductions, I felt like I was sitting through a lengthy array of sponsor messages and commercials, but their banter-filled, amusingly confident double act was soundly humorous and served as a satisfying warm-up.

It wasn’t long before we were introduced to the police cast after a murder scene. With Clayton Qwah playing hairy – erm – Harry Kok, a hopeless romantic with a few screws loose, Carol Ann Cheah playing Dominique, an eager overachiever and Pak Tung Foong playing Sarge, their tough commander, the antics just kept coming.

The cast’s acting was very natural, with a variety of jokes peppered with stereotypes for additional effect. Undertones of the hopeless romantic chase we all know about too well were also present, giving the audience a chance to empathise with the characters’ bold antics. The Heartbreaker villain’s introduction brought a chilling parallel to the overall mood, giving the production a power to move the audience from an uproar of raucous laughter to a sorrowful mourning in seconds.

"a power to move the audience from an uproar of raucous laughter to a sorrowful mourning in seconds"

There were moments I felt compelled to sympathise with the masked Heartbreaker character/metaphor, whose gruff voice and pain-filled backstory shared similarities with Rorschach from Watchmen. The fourth wall was also cleverly broken, with an unfortunate friend of mine sitting in the front row feeling the brunt of this shadowy character’s voice after he stepped down from the stage and bellowed “you think I’m a heartless killer, don’t you?” whilst wielding a very convincing dagger.

Transitions between scenes frequently featured various dances, melding the play with a systematic and welcome exposure to culture, including a performance of Dikir Barat, a traditional Malay musical form, hip-hop and Stomp-like performances. Their choreography was top notch, and they managed to wedge some hefty humour in there with a troupe performing Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You” using cleverly reworked lyrics which lightly bashed other universities.

The interval saw the two avid hosts return with an extended effort to generate banter by exposing members of the audience from other universities, and my unfortunate friend in the front row was put under the spotlight again. Their attempts to gain audience participation saw an initial reluctance to answer questions such as “which of us is sexier?” but it wasn’t long before they received comments such as “neither”, and the banter resumed, with the hosts taking it in their stride.

The show certainly had me in stitches at various points, with unexpected humour spontaneously tickling the audience’s funny bones left, right and centre. A clever use of the Pokémon first generation battle music during a surprise Matrix-style fight scene complete with floating hit-point indicators reignited waves of nostalgia across the audience, and hearing “FIRST BLOOD!” sound at the initial hit was the icing on the cake. Such scenes appeared expertly choreographed and executed, with a strategic use of strobe lights for a time lapse and slow motion effect making the Heartbreaker’s murders that much more uneasy and convincing.

There were a few inside jokes made, with members of the cast slipping into Malaysian slang/pidgin purposefully at times which seemed to please the parts of the crowd who understood, though a translation was provided in the programme for such moments and they weren’t too difficult to derive the meaning of.

The show saw a touching end, with the Heartbreaker being revealed as one of the police officers, Harry Kok, all along, his angst stemming from his failure to be loved and his strict upbringing. Abruptly referencing previous events where he accidentally put the rest of his team in danger allowed us to piece together other occurrences where his stupidity could be re-evaluated as malice, providing the audience with that all-important, yet disturbing, penny drop moment.

Following the show’s end, Nasi Lemak was provided to every ticket holder, and although a bit spicy, I must say I really enjoyed Malaysia’s national dish. At risk of turning this into a review more fitting in the Food section, I’m going to sign off noting that Malaysian Night 2012 was an extraordinary experience and easily the best show I’ve seen in a while due to their sheer combination of humour, emotion and vibrant culture. The Malaysians pulled off a memorable evening, taking care of its audience entirely along the way, and I’m very pleased to have attended what was easily the best show I’ve seen for quite some time.