Nyonya

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It’s 1.50 am on a Sunday morning and I just woke up. I mean I did go to sleep but somehow was awakened and now tried as I might, I could not go back to sleep. My mind kept thinking of the play we attended just now at Istana Budaya– Nyonya.

Written by Indonesian playwright Wisran Hadi and a line-up of theater’s who’s who - Juhara Ayob, Melissa Saila, Khadijah Tan, Tania Zainal and Yani Mae, Nyonya proved to be a worthwhile watch.

Story set in Indonesia, I love the way the play opened with rich keronchong music sung in Javanese. In fact the whole Malaysian cast carried the Indonesian dialogue very well indeed, although the Javanese peppered dialogue left some audiences wondering what they were talking about. I guess those who were sinetron addicts would not have any problems at all with the play.

On the surface, the play was a hilarious anecdote of a wife, Nyonya -played by Juhara Ayob, whose husband was in the hospital due to tongue cancer. The plot weaved around how she was harassed by a persistent antique furniture salesman and her husband’s 3 nieces fighting for his wealth, insisting that Nyonya was hiding the family’s inheritence.

The dialogue was so rich in personification, metaphors, imageries and connotations that it took me quite a while to digest what the themes in the play were; colonialism, trust, honour, family feuds, greed and illiteracy. It was a very skillful product by artistic director Rosminah Mohd Tahir especially the way she sent many intense messages across in a light hearted and wacky way.

Apparently this round of performance is the second round to be staged. The first round in 2004 toured around Malaysia and is supported by the Ministry of Arts and Culture. First time for me seeing Melissa Saila up close and not on TV. She’s tiny…

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