‘Skrip Untuk Ali’ An Anomaly Of An Interesting Sort
If you’ve been involved in any sort of local theatre in the last six months, then you would have somehow bumped into these fellas.
Anomalist Production has finally got their first show ready and it’s called Skrip Untuk Ali.
Before we delve into that though, let’s say a few words about the anomalies responsible for the entire thing.
Made up of a group of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) students, the team has been slaving away doing volunteer work around Kuala Lumpur for as long as we can remember.
They were front of house for about three Revolution Stage shows. You might have seen them at Asrama-Ra AllStars, Superhero The Musical and Sekuntum Mawar Merah. Also on the list is the production support they provided at a fashion show for Hatta Dolmat earlier this year.
These are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Need to lift something heavy? They’ll dive in with a helping hand. Need a ride home? They’ve got it, even if it’s not exactly along their way.
Stick with them for too long and paranoia starts setting in; what are these guys trying to pull? Aren’t they mostly law students? Am I in trouble?
Khairi Anwar of Anomalist Production
Managing director of Anomalist Production Khairi Anwar however believes in sticking together for the arts.
“In my own personal opinion, we are all going on our own ways,” he states. “But all of those who are passionate about the arts have a common interest and goal, and this is to enhance the performing arts scene in Malaysia.”
“The only one connected properly to all the production houses at the moment is Kakiseni and the media, whereas production teams only know and are connected to within their own circles.”
Hoping to change that, it’s worth noting that the Anomalist team is not made up of art practitioners or students. Instead, they’re mostly trained in highly serious business matters and most are primed for the corporate ring.
Khairi takes this as a positive.
“This is an advantage, because we add colour to the industry,” he explains. “Most of the people in entertainment are either from ASWARA, or from Fakulti Filem Teater dan Animasi (FITA) in UiTM.”
“Not many in the industry are from more professional courses like us, even though I know there are a few. Most of us are in law, mass communications, actuarial science, architecture and the like.”
“This will bring new perspectives and mindsets into the industry,” Khairi insists.
Skrip Untuk Ali is officially Anomalist Production’s debut outside the halls of UiTM. Instead, they’ve gone over to Universiti Malaya this time round.
The production centers around the character of Khalifah, and his fight to retain and develop his ever growing love for performance art. His life is eternalised to be enslaved by his own passion.
We aren’t exactly sure what it all means, to be honest. We do however think it all sounds like one heck of a way to leave an impression with your official debut in the outside world.
Skrip Untuk Ali playwright, Nazerul Anaz.
The two-character play is based on an original script written by Nazerul Anaz and it’s staging will be experimental and minimal in nature.
We believe that this conforms to the latest trend evident in local theatre.
As previously discussed by Hariry Jalil in his piece “Peranan Cendekiawan, Media, ‘Haji 10%’ Dan Bimbo Dalam Teater“, new-generation theatre-makers are keener on original scripts and experimentation.
Our younger directors don’t really stage works from the past as often anymore.
Most recently, Alexis Wong with EJA Productions staged Harold Pinter‘s Betrayal but that seems to be the exception and no longer the rule.
“We believe in our own piece,” states Khairi proudly. “We want to deliver our own message. Kalau guna an older piece for staging, their message mungkin tidak sesuai, atau sudah ditelan zaman.“
“We need a fresh script for us to sampaikan our message in a way that will suit people nowadays.”
Skrip Untuk Ali is set to star Anomalist’s Perak-born Zulhusni Zamir and Kelantanese Amira Saberi. It will run from the 7th of May to the 10th of May at the Black Box of the Perdanasiswa Complex of Universiti Malaya.
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