 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
2003-03-18 - 3:41 p.m.
I have been an ardent fan of Jit Murad ever since I first caught a glimpse of him on local TV. I couldn’t remember when or where, but it must’ve been one of those Cerekaramas that he acted in, some time in the 90’s. That was one of his early attempts to make it to the local art scene. To me, Jit looks like a typical citizen of The People’s Republic of Bangsar (I saw him twice there) – educated, articulate and urbane. In every way, he is the true representation of a ‘Melayu bandar’.
Many will agree when I say that, his acting has indeed been great. I can hardly recall how well he did when he was acting in Malay-based dramas (not to mention a few advertisements) in his early days of acting, but his name was one of the many who got mentioned regularly in the dailies – a star was born. Through time, Jit has maneuvered his way to become actively involved in local English theatres where his flair for writing and acting became more apparent and well-accepted in the niche crowd of the locals – the few English-theatre goers.
Jit is one of the founder of Dramalab, one of the most productive theatre group in KL. He is responsible to write many plays for Dramalab, including the critically acclaimed, Visits, which was shown in the Actors Studio some time last week. His acting credits are equally 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 and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde and The Storyteller.
Recently Jit adds another feather to his cap by winning a couple of prizes at the Cameronian Arts Awards. He was awarded with the Best Original Script for his play Spilt Gravy on Rice and The Kakiseni Audience Choice Award for Best Play (Spilt Gravy on Rice).
I managed to catch up with Jit though an e-mail interview and asked him some questions regarding himself and his new play. And this is what I get:
1. Just to clarify, do your friends usually call you Jit or something else?
My real name is Aziz Mirzan Murad, but for some reason it was contracted into ‘Jit’ very early on. My entire family calls me Jit. On the first day of school when the teacher called out ‘Aziz’ I didn’t even reply.
Now everybody I know calls me Jit. They say it suits me but I’m not sure if your name becomes you or you end up becoming your name.
2. When did you write the script for Visits?
I originally wrote it as three monologues and it was performed (by Liza Othman, Sukania Venugopal and Ida Nerina) in 1994. It was only last year that I got around to ‘finishing’ it.
3. Why did you write it?
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
4. How much did the final draft change from the original draft?
For me the final draft is always the performance. Any script I bring is just my part of the collaboration between a bunch of creative people. Every night is a different final draft, with many variables including the moods of both actors and audience. If, for example, Visits gets re-staged according to a different ‘vision’, then that would be a whole new set of final drafts.
I know it sounds suspiciously like I’m avoiding your question, but the truth is I find the finality of the label ‘final draft’ inappropriate for how I see theatre. For me the magic and madness and sadness of theatre is in it’s evanescence, it’s temporary, over-in-two-hours quality. It’s about the shared moment and everybody is in complicity. The moment is the final draft. (Man, does that sound wanky or what?)
5. Was there a lot of improvisation?
You’ll have to ask Ida Nerina that. I never interfered with rehearsals. But I would guess there was quite a bit of improvisation. As an actor I don’t know anything more useful (or enjoyable).
6. The script seems to have a lot of really dark tales behind the lives of three women, like the unhappiness of a patient (Vanidah Imran) who seems to refuse to talk to anybody, a nurse (Liza Othman) who wants to be an aspiring writer, but seems to loose herself in the world of her patients. And then there's the unmarried sister-in-law (Sarah Shahrum) who seems to have more skeletons in the closet than her MNG's. Where did all of that come from?
I like your descriptions.
Where did Visits come from? From these and other guilty pleasures:
the neurotic southern belles of Tennessee Williams, the sobbing dramatics of Cerekaramas, the shock-gasp tactics of soap operas, the arch tragic-comedic style of early Almadovar etc. Also the pleasure of eavesdropping on a lot of women friends.
7. How did you go about casting Visit?
I had nothing to do with it. They’re warm and witty women and I’m proud as hell that they’re doing Visits, but Ida did the casting.
8. How satisfied are you with the play as a whole?
Pretty satisfied.
9. What do you still have to do? (answer this if you are not satisfied with the play)
(Okay, I won’t then)
10. Do you have anything else written that you're planning to do?
I’m working on something. But it’s difficult to get to it when I have no time-management skills (or any discipline for that matter). Insya’allah by the end of the year I’ll have something solid to show people.
11. What have the people who have seen it so far thought of Visits?
I don’t know. The people I spoke to seemed to have enjoyed it, but I can’t be sure that they’re not just being polite. What do you think of Visits?
12. Jit, you're a talented playwright, but have you done any writing in any other areas?
Thanks for the compliment but ease up dude, I’m already doing your interview-lah!
I’ve tried writing short stories. I enjoy it, but it’s a more solitary work, with, necessarily, a final draft.
13. Have you ever received any really weird gifts from fans?
I usually get books or kuih-muih. They either want to smarten me up or fatten me up. My ‘fans’ must be very shy people because I’ve never actually been bothered. Much.
14. What's the best piece of gossip you ever heard about yourself?
There’s no such thing as good gossip, it’s just another stupid human habit (like smoking), so I can’t give you a ‘best’ piece. But the most dramatic bit of crap gossiped about me was that I went abroad for medical treatment (AIDS) and died in October 2000. I’m doing pretty well for a corpse though.
15. What's your favourite book?
There are many favourite, beloved books. I live on books.
16. What's the worst three Malay films of all time?
Let’s not focus on the negative-lah. My top three Malay films of all time are:
Madu Tiga
Madu Tiga
Madu Tiga
17. What's your favourite vice?
Wasting time.
18. What's your favourite sin?
Lust.
19. The TV show you watch but never tell anyone you enjoy?
Fear Factor. I enjoy watching good-looking Americans put worms in their mouths.
20. Anything to say in closing?
Thanks for coming and goodnight
Oleh Nizam Zakaria
