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SINGAPORE: It was the play “Why Did the Cat Get So Fat?” that had people standing up and taking notice of this young actress in 2006. But it’s probably just coincidence that Siti Khalijah Zainal describes herself as a “scaredy cat”.
“You can call me that. I’m actually quite shy and damn blur,” revealed the sweet and bubbly actress — a revelation for those more used to her strong onstage personas.
Siti may not be a household name just yet, but the full-time actress has been chalking up quite an impressive resume.
It includes acting turns with everyone from Cake to Teater Ekamatra to I-Theatre to The Necessary Stage (TNS), where she’s been something of a “resident” actor, having starred in their past three productions — Good People, Gemuk Girls and Frozen Angels.
This week, she will be appearing in her fourth TNS play in a row, Past Caring, a co-production with the Tony Yap Company that explores the historical commonalities between Singapore and Australia.
Like her critically-acclaimed performance for “Fat Cat”, as it is nicknamed, she’ll be playing multiple characters: A young Malay girl, a travel guide, and a Chinese girl adopted by an Indian family.
“There’s a young energy about her and she’s very inspiring to work with. She’s an actress who has a lot of imagination, is versatile and serious in her craft,” said TNS’ resident director Alvin Tan.
He said that for Gemuk Girls, playwright Haresh Sharma had asked Siti to lose weight — which she promptly did. All 15 kilogrammes of it.
It seems the theatre company apparently really likes working with her because she is also set to come on board for another still-untitled work, a collaboration with a Russian theatre group that will be staged in 2010.
Can’t wait that long? In April, she will be seen in Panggung Arts’ Hero, a piece about two karaoke bar hostesses held hostage by a regular customer. Not bad for someone who’s only turning 24 this year.
The youngest of three daughters to now-full-time “house parents” (with whom she still lives with in Jurong West — “Super west end, near NTU!”), Siti was bitten by the acting bug when she was 18.
It was in her first year at ITE’s Bedok campus as a Building Drafting student that she plunged into the world of theatre, playing Hermia in the now-defunct Drama Plus production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Hooked, she signed up for TNS’ year-long Theatre for Youth Ensemble programme in 2003. In-between she cut her teeth doing school assembly programmes and backstage work. Before long, she decided to try acting full-time, setting a year-long period to try it out.
This will be her fifth year as a theatre actress — with the occasional television show, as well. Siti has appeared in various one-off episodes and shows for Kids Central (now Okto) and Suria. She can be seen in the Suria kids’ show Tahu Nahu every Tuesday at 7pm.
Siti Khalijah, local theatre’s next ‘It’ girl?
(Laughs) I think it’s quite scary and there’s a bit of a pressure — but a good kind. I think it’s because there aren’t that many young Malay theatre actresses (acting) full-time. I guess you see more of me ...
Any role you’d like to play that you haven’t?
Well, before, I was thinking how it would be like to play someone who was very sultry and that guys like. Then sekali (Malay for “suddenly”), I did with Ekamatra. Effendy (Director/playwright Noor Effendy Ibrahim) made me do it! I’m, like, okaaay, (playing) seducers is not my thing ... (Laughs).
If you didn’t act, what would you do?
I would like to ... (giggles) open a halal bakery. Every time I go to a Chinese bakery, I can only take the sweet stuff. The savoury bread, I wish I could buy, but cannot — got pork!
Have you ever felt like one of the ‘token Malay actresses’ in English theatre?
It’s more intercultural now. I guess I’m one of the lucky few. It’s nice to see more Malay theatre practitioners. Like, Najib (Soiman) used to only do Malay theatre and now he’s doing stuff with Cake and TNS. And we’re not only acting when they need Malay characters for a certain role.
How’s the current Malay theatre scene?
I think it’s been progressing, as compared to when I started out, when the two main companies were Teater Kami and Teater Ekamatra. Now there’s also Panggung Arts and Teater Artistik, and you’ve got different styles. Panggung Arts is not only doing Malay shows, they are collaborating with other theatre companies.
They are more daring in terms of what they want to say, too. I remembered when Alin (Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit) wrote Kosovo (in 1995). It was about religion where young Malay girls acted as nuns and Christians. It was quite a big hoo-hah in the early ’90s and Alin faced quite a lot, lah. But I thought it was quite daring.
Now, it’s something that’s quite normal already. But because we’re already small, we need to put ourselves out there.
When did your parents finally accept that their daughter is an actress?
I knew it was official when, after the one year was up, my mother started cutting articles or keeping the collaterals. It wasn’t verbal but I knew she’d accepted it. Like when I did my first TV show: She called my aunt and said: ‘Eh, watch ah, 7 o’ clock.’
Past Caring runs from Feb 25 to Mar 8, 8pm, The Necessary Stage Black Box, Marine Parade Community Building. With 3pm weekend matinees. Tickets at S$27 from Sistic. - TODAY/yb
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