Our Engagement Intern, Yingbi Lee, spoke to Irfan Kasban, the director of THREE INCHES OF ALIVE to learn about his vision for the play and his experience presenting it.
“Having the opportunity to direct a play written by a young theatre enthusiast excites me. My hope is that she will continue writing plays.”
— Irfan Kasban, director of THREE INCHES OF ALIVE
As one of the performers in the dramatised script reading during the prize presentation of last year’s 24-Hour Playwriting Competition, Irfan had a great time. He enjoyed being directed by Game Master Becca d’Bus, and appreciated the warm response from audience members. Some even personally told him they found his performance moving. Through this, he was drawn to the story of THREE INCHES OF ALIVE, appreciating its “poetic nuances, the setting of the play and the core message it brings.”
Irfan refers to the recently uncovered 700-year old artefacts at Empress Place to illustrate his understanding of the themes behind the play — they indicate that history is more than passages we have brushes with in books, but rather “something we should be able to connect to in a visceral way.” THREE INCHES OF ALIVE tackles the subject of how a person is more than their name or accomplishments and what we know from written history. Protagonist Leila ‘Anjung’ Keats struggles with not fitting society’s expectations.
To this, Irfan can relate. Hailing from a Chinese, Indian, Arab and Javanese background, it was difficult for him to fit in when he tried to. “I found out that man is obsessed with categorising and have learnt to stray away from that,” Irfan shares. Instead, he embraced differences and mingled with people who fell between the world’s carefully demarcated boundaries, “taking life with a pinch of salt”.
Through his work, Irfan tries to address the themes of memory and legacy, and he uses his personal experience to present the script of THREE INCHES OF ALIVE through a new lens. Beyond that, Irfan also strove to balance action and dialogue, since the script features conversation more prominently. The result is a production where we can vividly connect to both the archivist’s attempts to analyse Anjung’s character, and Anjung’s frustration at always being told she had to fit into someone else’s idea of who she should be. After all, we must have all felt a lack of belonging at some point, in varying degrees, and be able to relate to Anjung’s story.
Having held the associate artistic director post at Teater Ekamatra, Irfan has a multitude of experience in writing, performing and directing. Even so, directing THREE INCHES OF ALIVE was a new experience for Irfan. He typically writes, directs and designs his own plays, so working with a creative team on this production felt foreign. Despite this, he found it fulfilling and feels thankful for his team. In our previous post, our set designer Gerald shared with us that the team were all on the same page, allowing them to work as artists on a truly collaborative level. Irfan agrees. As a director, he enjoys the control he has over the atmosphere of a rehearsal. “I bully the crew a lot mainly because I like a very easy environment when directing,” he jokes.
Irfan is currently a Clown Doctor with Clown Doctors Singapore, a non-profit organisation that aims to alleviate the stresses in a hospital environment. He expresses interest in TheatreWorks’ more experimental works and collaborations with local or international artists across disciplines, and hopes to see more of them in the future.
THREE INCHES OF ALIVE continues its tour of South East District at the Malay Heritage Centre, from 13 to 15 March, and at Siglap South CC on 20 & 21 March. Directed by Irfan Kasban, it is performed by Gyan Lee and Siti Zuraida, with set design by Gerald Leow.
Book your seats today at http://threeinchesofalive.eventbrite.sg !
The presentation of THREE INCHES OF ALIVE is part of TheatreWorks’ Writing & Community Programme in partnership with the South East Community Development Council to nurture and develop new playwrights from the community. Writing & Community is a holistic, unique writing programme that serves the community through harnessing individual talents and creatives.
Writing & Community is a strand of TheatreWorks Engagement to encourage audience appreciation of the Arts, and deepen the knowledge of its patrons as well as stakeholders.
Writing & Community 2015 