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What areyour ambitions for
theatrethreesixty?
I would like theatrethreesixty to be a
strong, grounded producing force not
only for theatre, but the broad spectrum
of performing arts. We want to be not
only constantly developing content but
also growing new talent, unearthing fresh
faces and encouraging young people to
become involved.
Why is theatre important in today’s
society?
Art imitates life – it’s a reflection of con-
temporary society. If you silence that
voice – block out that energy – it either
goes to waste or the energy is channelled
somewhere very unproductive, even
destructive. There is a lot that must be
said through the arts that cannot be said
elsewhere.
For more information, visit www.
theatrethreesixty.com.
Meet Chris
Tell us about the young Chris.
I am a bona-fide city boy, born and bred
in Kuala Lumpur. My earliest ambition
was to be a train engineer. In fact, my
mum never fails to remind me that my
first word was “locomotive”.
Why theatre?
I remember sitting in the back seat of
my father’s car at the age of 12 decid-
ing between a career in theatre or film.
Theatre won out in the end because I
reasoned that you (as the artist/cre-
ator/director) would find out more im-
mediately what your audience thought
of your work.
So you studied in the UK?
There weren’t many options at the time
to be trained locally, so a natural choice
was to go to the UK. This choice was
made a lot easier because my mother
had also spent a few years in the UK.
I went to the UK to do my A-levels in
boarding school and then did an eco-
nomics degree. I switched after my first
year to pursue theatre – my true call-
ing.
Why do you like your job?
I love the fact that as a director I am
able to sculpt the experience for the
audience and subject said audience
to my directorial vision – my view of
the world – for the set piece of time. I
love every aspect of being hands-on in
sculpting that moment.
The biggest challenge?
It is ensuring that the work is accessi-
ble and relevant to my audience. This is
a question that haunts me constantly,
it’s at the forefront of my mind – how
much does an audience relate to the
piece of work that I am staging? I feel
that the work must speak to the audi-
ence and engage them, otherwise it is
simply self-indulgent.
Any advice for an aspiring director?
You must know exactly what you want.
Go out and persist in achieving it. Plan
and strategise every step of your jour-
ney. Seize every opportunity for train-
ing that comes your way, work with
as many people as possible to develop
a breadth of experience, and involve
yourself in the scene, even if it’s the
smallest role.
scene. However, the usual questions of
quality and sustainability are always
present. Having said that, there are many
new platforms and avenues with which
anyone can break into the scene compared
to when I was trying to break into the
scene 20 years ago. Malaysian theatre
continues to evolve.
What’s on the stage for 2015?
Our 2015 season featured the second
instalment of our very popular wearethe-
atrethreesixty festival in March, which
gave us the opportunity to showcase as
many different facets of the work that
theatrethreesixty is involved in creatively
and is interested in doing. In the months
of August and September wewill hopefully
be involved in the festival circuit, hopefully
bringing works to the Georgetown Festival
and then back down to Kuala Lumpur.
We then hope to finish the year off with
a bang.
At Home at the Zoo (2014)
Angels in America (2014)