Younger readers may find this hard to believe, but there used to be a time – before streaming or online uploads – when music wasn’t so easy to access. If you wanted to listen to your favourite song, you had to wait until it played on the radio, and then try to record it.
With today’s digital platforms, however, mixtapes are considered outdated. Still, many people look upon them fondly as mementos from a bygone era – symbols of youth and the complexities of growing up.
And it is these complexities that are poignantly explored in “Mixtape For Maz – A Memory Play by Adiwijaya Iskandar”, presented by Perempuan Productions and KongsiKL.
Performed in English and northern Malay, the play explores themes such as belonging, patriarchy, identity and oppression, though the story of Maz and Edi, teenage siblings who have returned to rural north Malaysia in the late 1990s after years of growing up overseas.
The pair not only have to deal with the usual stresses of secondary-school life, but also a clash of cultures as their western influences lock horns with the norms of conservative society around them.
As their identities are challenged and redefined, will they learn to reconcile the shattered fragments of themselves? Or will they succumb to the pressures of conformity?
“Mixtape for Maz” was written as part of The Actor’s Studio Seni Teater Rakyat’s New Play Project in 2018. Directed by Tung Jit Yang, it will be staged at KongsiKL, a former steel factory beautifully repurposed into a performance space in Kuala Lumpur.
Farah Rani and Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri play the siblings Maz and Edi, respectively, alongside Mia Sabrina Mahadir and Nabil Zakaria as their schoolmates Rokiah and Hisham.
Speaking with FMT, writer Adiwijaya said he was inspired by the strong women in his life who stood true to what they believed in, despite societal pressures.
“I spoke to several women and other marginalised people who faced bullying and oppression in school growing up outside of the Klang Valley, and it was important for me to centre these kinds of stories onstage,” the 39-year-old said.
True to the word “mixtape” in its title, the play features an eclectic soundscape with a spotlight on ’90s alternative rock. This genre played a crucial role in Adiwijaya’s teenage years, when certain radio stations began to broadcast beyond the Klang Valley.
“Growing up far from any city centres in Seberang Perai, this was the first time I began listening to artistes and songs that resonated with me, as a social misfit, beyond the pop music dominant at the time,” Adiwijaya explained.
He said this is reflected in the play itself. “Maz, in particular, really depends on the songs, the lyrics and the stories behind them, as a respite from the stress of being so different from the community around her.”
Further contributing to the aural aspects of the play, director Tung employs theatrical approaches inspired by radio and foley: the actors will sing and produce sound effects while playing their characters, led by sound and technical designer Bryan Chang.
And adding to the ’90s throwback is the costume and scenic design by Yusman Mokhtar, which will pay homage to, and draw inspiration from, the co-curricular activities Malaysian students enjoyed (or endured) at school.
“It was kind of theatrical, no? The changing costumes, playing dress-up, giving each other titles, trying out what it would be like to be corporals, doctors, nurses, athletes, scientists,” Tung, 33, mused.
“Teenagers seeking themselves, their part in society, with a club, a group, a change in uniform – the parallel between theatre and life is what we hope to draw and place centrestage.”
He considers “Mixtape for Maz” a play that is “deeply Malaysian in language and examines our values, told through the universal duet of siblings and the family unit”.
“I hope it allows audiences new insight into that part of our shared history,” Tung concluded, “our hour upon hour of that seemingly infinite time in sekolah.”
‘Mixtape For Maz- A Memory Play By Adiwijaya Iskandar’
Where:
KongsiKL,
Gudang Yee Seng 2,
Batu 4½ Jalan Klang Lama,
58200 Kuala Lumpur
When:
- May 27 & 28 (Saturday & Sunday) @ 8.30pm
- May 30-June 3 (Thursday-Saturday) @ 8.30pm
- May 28 & Jun 3 (Sundays) @ 3pm
Tickets, priced at RM55, can be purchased here. Also check out the KongsiKL website for more information.