#10TahunRS: 5 Scripts With Khairunazwan Rodzy

In conjunction with their tenth anniversary in theatre, The Daily Seni asked Revolution Stage founder Khairunazwan Rodzy several questions about his written works! As the man behind the well-known theatre troupe, Khairunazwan has written many original stage plays. We last spoke to the BOH Cameronian Arts Award-winning writer/director last week, which you can read more about here.

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What was the first play you wrote?

My first script was Pokok Kelapa Sayang, which starred Amerul Affendi, Sherry Al-Hadad and Dina Zainal.

It was staged with Rumah Anak Teater, which formed after Revolution Stage. Nam Ron met up with K’n and I, and we came up with this “rumah anak teater tanpa rumah“, just as a platform to do guerilla theatre — no permits no formal applications. Nam Ron was still a lecturer at ASWARA back then.

And so we did out first theatre compilation, and I submitted Pokok Kelapa Sayang, the first script I wrote. I didn’t know what to expect from it. I don’t think it stands out, but people still seem to like it and there were even talks of a television adaptation.

PS: Pokok Kelapa Sayang went on to nab Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 2009 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for Sherry Al-Hadad’s  performance.

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Which one was the easiest to finish?

Ramleefestasi was a combination of scenes from P. Ramlee‘s films — I only needed to write the connecting thread which linked all the scenes. By the way, there’s a new version called Ramleefestasi 2.0 which is coming this March. We will be making use of our Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) grant for the performance.

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Most difficult to write?

Asrama-Ra, because it’s about a girl. I write about a girl and her secrets. It’s about her suicidal tendencies and internal conflict — due to sexual harassment, this girl becomes extremely guarded. She only trusts one person in the whole world. Her teacher, perceived as a noble figure, turns out to be the one damning everyone else.

I began writing the play with intention of it being serious, but soon I thought, this is starting to become comedic. I didn’t plan any treatment to start with; all I did was create these characters and come up with a rough guide of how they are connected.

When I wrote it — this took place in MARA — I was inside the world of my characters. The toughest part was probably connecting each character successfully, and coming up with dialogue. It was a tiring and difficult process overall.

PS: Amerul Affendi took home Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 2015 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for his performance in Asrama-Ra AllStars.

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Which one is your favourite?

This is a tough one. [thinks for a minute] I would say… Tyickoouns. It’s a script I really do love, but was also hard to write.

PS: A film adaptation of Tyickoouns has been produced starring Remy Ishak, Bront Palarae and Aaron Aziz, but remains unreleased.

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And the deepest?

Perang Terakhir was about the Islamic ages, and revolved around figures like the rasulullah, nabi, and khalifah.

It takes place during the fifth age of war, the armageddon before kiamat. I did a lot of research with my religious teacher and studied the stories in the Quran in order to write this play.

It’s about courage — fighting fear and self-importance. We had three characters played by Sharifah Aleya, Azman Hassan and Amerul Affendi — all three took the time to discuss the script because there were lines they couldn’t understand.

It’s also the first Revolution Stage production with a proper, full set!

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Revolution Stage presents Siput Man, which runs from 11 – 14 February and 19 – 21 February, and THISability, which  runs from 25 – 28 February and 3 – 6 March. Both shows form part of Projek Bilik Sempit, and will take place at 5-11, Dataran Pelangi Utama, One Avenue, Jalan Masjid, PJU 6A, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tickets are priced at RM15 and can be obtained via Ika ().