THREE plays for the price of one? A thrifty theatre-goers dream! KLPac presents Triple Bill: “Uncut”, “Untitled” & “Paper House”, the joint venture of writer/directors Teng Ky-Gan, Johann Lim, and Mark Beau de Silva. Kakiseni spoke to the talented three to find the truth behind the Triple Bill, and why they can kick each others’ butts.

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Tell us about yourselves.

Ky-Gan: I love musicals!

Johann: I’m new to the local performing arts scene. But I firmly believe that I can make a difference, and have been bloody lucky so far.

Mark: I teach in a private school and study at Universiti Malaya. Sometimes I write plays. Paper House is one of those plays.

Tell us about your respective plays in the "Triple Bill". What are they about?

J: Untitled is basically about how most Asian families would handle their child telling them that they’re going into the performing arts.

KG: Uncut is about the conflict between what society and religion want you to be, and who you really are.

M: Paper House is based on my aunt who owns an 'incense' shop in Kulim, where she sells hell notes. The play is about what happens to these businesses once modernity takes over. Will we still burn for the dead?

Whose idea was it to do a triple bill?

J: Mark’s. I think he just wants Ky-Gan and I to learn to direct well so he can get us to direct the hundreds of scripts he writes.

M: It was a collective idea!

Why would audiences enjoy a triple bill over a standard full-length production?

KG: Buy one ticket and you get to watch three plays!

J: Variety! Different subjects, different themes, different casts. And the element of comparison, of course -- who did better/where/how?

M: There's something for everyone.

What inspired your individual works?

J: Personal experience. But it was exaggerated and dramatized for the stage.

M: Family.

KG: My experience with moral police everywhere!

Why not develop your plays into full-length productions?

KG: Why drag it out if you can do it in 20 minutes?

J: It’s scary enough writing and directing for the first time, thank you very much.

M: I might yet.

How’s sharing the limelight with two other directors?

KG: That's a scarcity mentality. The limelight is big enough for all three of us! I'm proud to share it with Mark and Johann.

J: It’s very good -- I’m quite thankful actually. There’s a certain comfort in having the three of us take the flack. Plus the pressure of working with more experienced people has spurred me to make sure I don’t suffer in comparison.

What do you think would happen if you guys swapped plays?

KG: Great idea! Maybe we should have!

J: It would be a very different final show. Might be an interesting idea. Paper House, Uncut, Untitled in June, anyone?

M: I'd be clueless.

Well, if you had to choose one of the other plays from the production to direct, which would it be?

KG: I’d choose Paper House. It's the exact opposite from my style -- so it'll be interesting to see the result!

J: Uncut. I really like the subject matter.

M: I'd choose Uncut, because it's very different from my work -- hence the challenge.

How have rehearsals worked out?

KG: Fun, experimental, stressful, and intense. The actors -- Fish and Aishah Sinclair -- are the kind every director dreams of working with!

J: It’s been a great mixture of exploration, learning and fun. Things have taken a life of their own, and it’s quite a magical experience for me.

M: Every other day, 7.30 to 9.30.

Tell us a really bad joke you heard during rehearsals.

M: "We have rehearsal today?"

KG: Here’s a bad joke (but I didn’t here it during rehearsals). A friend asked me "what's Uncut"? She thought it was a Malay word, and pronounced it as Un-chut. Like meng-uncut-kan.

J: A man trying to console his enraged friend says, “You need to be more understanding.” The frustrated angry man responds with, “What! My under is really standing already!”

What are your hopes for the production?

M: That people come and get something from it.

J: That people will enjoy it and that we will receive a good mix of praise and constructive criticism.

KG: That the actors can engage the audience. That's my measure of success. I hope the audiences are drawn into the play, and are genuinely interested in following the story.

What are your greatest fears for the production?

M: That people come and don't get it.

J: That people won’t enjoy it and that we will receive a bad mix of both praise and pointless criticism.

KG: That it turns into one of those plays you just watch, but don't care about. You know, the kind where actors just talk and do things on stage, and you don't give a shit what's happening.

Any drama/gossip from behind the scenes you care to share?

KG: No one got pregnant as a result of this production, contrary to reports in a Malay-language tabloid.

J: Two members of my cast met at the audition of my play and have been dating since.

Who are your secret superhero alter-egos, and why?

KG: Ibsen. He is the best writer in the world.

J: I’m Anal-Man, the purveyor of thorough planning and clear organisation.

M: Cheetara, because she can run very fast.

If your superhero alter-egos had to face off, why would yours win?

KG: No one beats Ibsen.

J: Anal-Man would read them all the rules three times and bore them to death.

M: Cheetara can run very fast.

What's the most productive thing you could do in 60 seconds?

KG: Read!

J: Catch a breath and find Zen. You’d need to too, if you were Anal-Man.

M: Mark my student's objective paper.

What's next for you?

KG: A musical with Lim Chuang Yik (we worked on Broken Bridges and Tunku the Musical).

J: I’ll be performing in a play produced by The Oral Stage, which is Paula Vogel’s How I Learned To Drive. Come watch in June! After watching Uncut Untitled Paper House in March, of course.

M: More plays.

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Yasmin Zetti Martin writes for Kakiseni.

Triple Bill: “Uncut”, “Untitled”, & “Paper House” runs at Pentas 1, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Sentul Park, Jalan Strachan (Off Jalan Ipoh), Kuala Lumpur, from Fri 14 to Sun 23 March 2008 (Tue - Sat: 8.30pm; Sun: 3pm, NO show on Mon). Tickets cost RM25/15.