Studio | SIFA X 2023

Best of Us by Ahmad Musta'ain

They say you make lifelong friends in NS. For Khai and Taj, their army bestie was the camp canteen lady, Juweeta. Now, in a space beyond living and dying, these two boys must find their way back to save Kak Ju in her time of crisis. Together the three friends embark on a journey of nostalgia saturated with Beyoncé, cackles, and the tragedies of illness, and perhaps the only person who can save Juweeta is herself. By turns raucous and melancholy, Ahmad Musta’ain Bin Khamis’s new play is about unlikely army friendships, queer families, and the healing power of memory.

Written by: Ahmad Musta’ain
Directed by: A Yagnya 
Performed by: Shahid Nasheer, Wan Haddad Salleh, Elnie Mashari

Asymptote by Danial Matin

A scientist digs up a skull in Antarctica, an exile reunites with his mother in a morgue, two trans-national lovers negotiate the future of their relationship, a pair of Malaysian parents grow apart from their child across the causeway... These are some of the beguiling, lyrical stories in Danial Matin's new play about how time acts on the heart. Each tender vignette explores the myriad ways ordinary people wrestle with loss, and the restless, unstable nature of home. In the end, what is left to hold on to? And do we hold on to what is left?

Written by: Danial Matin
Directed by: Rachel Chin

Performed by: Indumathi Tamilselvan, Gloria Tan, Neo Hai Bin, Raimi Safari

Help! Our Dead have Dementia, and Other Stories by A Yagnya

Queen Elizabeth has just died, sparking the sudden appearance of Dada, who seems to have risen from the dead, for whom memory- in death - is (was?) (what is time?) a tenuous thing. Devan (who’s about to move out of his childhood home) is suddenly launched into the unreliable mind of his late grandfather. But nothing will stop the old man from narrating from beyond the grave at his grandson, who’s just trying to Marie Kondo his dead Dada’s life. Hilarious and poignant, this bold new play by A Yagnya asks: if the world keeps rebuilding itself, what the hell are the dead going to hold on to?

Written by: A Yagnya
Directed by: Danial Matin

Performed by: Shrey Bhargava, Subin Subaiah, Joel Tan

Where the Hantus At? by Rachel Chin

When their dad passes, sisters Lynette and Leia must decide what to do with his estate: to preserve what is there, or to sell their house and move on. But they’ve forgotten how much each gets on the other’s nerves, and as the resentment builds, an ugly battle of wills ensues. Naturally, the dead get involved. Rachel Chin’s whacky and hard-hitting new play is about hantus, family, love and memory. After all, they’re the same thing… right?

Written by: Rachel Chin
Directed by: Ahmad Musta’ain

Performed by: Jane Chia, Tiara Yap, Lim Kay Siu, Suhaili Safari