JitFest 2025 spotlights 'Visits', a darkly comic take on three women's stories

The Star

13 hours ago

After 22 years, the late Jit Murad's morbidly witty and emotionally layered play Visits returns to the stage with renewed force. This bold revival features a striking cast – Sofia Jane, Nabila Huda and Nadia Aqilah – breathing new life into a work that remains as sharp, unsettling, and relevant as ever.
Presented by Dramalab and directed by Ida Nerina, the play is part of the year-long JitFest 2025, held in memory of the beloved Malaysian theatre icon, who died of a heart attack in 2022 at the age of 62.
Visits will be performed at the Nero theatre space, Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPac), 1 Utama Shopping Centre from June 20-29.
Originally staged at The Actors Studio Box, Plaza Putra, Dataran Merdeka in KL in January 2002, this upcoming revival revisits the psychological and surreal layers of Jit's text while preserving his signature razor-sharp wit.
'Visits holds a mirror to everything we're almost afraid to admit – and makes us laugh through it. Jit wrote women like no one else: layered, contradictory, loving, cruel, and heartbreakingly human, perhaps even stronger than his male characters,' says Ida, who first stepped into directing for the stage with Visits all those years ago.
The inaugural JitFest 2025, organised by Dramalab, honours the legacy of Jit Murad and keeps his memory alive through stage, storytelling, and celebration. Photo: The Star/Filepic
It was part of the "Director's Workshop" series in 2001 organised by Five Arts Centre and The Actors Studio, with Ida participating as one of the directors. Back in February 2003, Ida also directed Visits at The Actors Studio Bangsar, as part of Dramalab's 10th anniversary celebrations.
For Ida, Visits holds a special place – both as an actor and director – having been involved since its earliest iteration. She was part of the initial reading when Jit first presented the work as three short monologues at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur in 1994, alongside Liza Othman and Sukania Venugopal.
The Visits story unfolds in a room at a high-end mental wellness facility, where the recovering Woman (Nabila), her relentless Sister-in-Law (Nadia), and the enigmatic Nurse (Sofia) engage in a tightly-wound power play.
Together, they confront themes of mental health, class, motherhood, and the delicate balance between care and control.In this new iteration, however, Ida hints that she's giving it 'a slightly different twist'.
Sofia steps into the role of the Nurse in the upcoming staging of Jit Murad's 'Visits', bringing her own presence and perspective to one of the play's most emotionally grounded characters. Photo: The Star/Glenn Guan
'The first couple of times I directed it, I kept it safe and stuck to the surface. So this time, I wanted to go deeper on the subject of mental health and mental well-being," says Ida.
'The humour is still very much there, there's no escaping it in a Jit Murad production, but I think the deeper layers of his intentions are also there now,' she adds.
Even if Jit once called it a straightforward work, there's no such thing as a truly straightforward play in his world – only layers hidden in plain sight, waiting to be felt between the lines.
"This is perhaps the simplest play I've written. Which isn't to say I don't love it as much as all the other plays I've have spawned. Let me try to explain what I mean by 'simple': I wasn't driven by too large a theme," wrote Jit in his playwright notes in the Jit Murad Plays drama anthology (2017).
The weight we carry
For Nabila, who's more often seen on screen in films and TV dramas, theatre offers a unique challenge – one she finds herself continually drawn back to.
'One of the things I love about theatre is that I can play multiple characters that I might not get to on screen. The vibe is totally different," says Nabila.
'In Visits, there's a lot of layers to 'Woman' – she's raw and wild and outspoken. But she also kept a lot of things to herself, which weighed her down. Portraying her highlighted to me the importance of speaking out,' she adds.
For Nadia, Visits marks her return to the stage after a five-year hiatus, and stepping into the role of the Sister-in-Law carries added significance.
Nabila plays The Woman in a restaging of Jit Murad's 'Visits', a sharp, surreal take on mental health, class, and the fine line between care and control. Photo: The Star/Glenn Guan
As a new mother, she feels a deeper connection to the emotional complexities of the character, and is grateful for the chance to re-enter theatre through a role that mirrors the contradictions and intensity of care, identity, and womanhood.
'Becoming a mother has changed my perspective on things, which influences how I take on my roles. I think I'm more empathetic now," says Nadia.
'In this version, we're trying to put a different spin on each character – humanise them and give them more nuance. So for Sister-in-Law, things aren't as they seem on the surface,' she adds.
For Sofia, Visits is both familiar ground and fresh terrain. She first inhabited the role of the Sister-in-Law in the original 2002 staging, but returns now as the Nurse – an enigmatic presence in the play's psychological triangle.
'Before, Liza Othman's take was very motherly, like your typical 'makcik' next door. But when we read the script again, we realised that there's a darkness to the character that hasn't been fully explored yet in previous stagings," says Sofia.
'So hopefully we'll bring a fresh take that surprises those who saw the previous productions. And for first-time audiences, I think there'll be plenty that resonates –things that will feel relatable and spark conversations afterward,' she adds.
For Nadia, 'Visits' marks her return to the stage after a five-year hiatus, and stepping into the role of the Sister-in-Law carries added significance. Photo: The Star/Glenn Guan
In her director's notes for Visits in the Jit Murad Plays collection, Ida penned an insightful reflection on character work and Jit's writing: 'I learned relatively early on in my own acting career that a good character causes you to dig deep and find layers and layers, much like an onion. For me, Jit's women are always so interesting, to say the least. I believe he bases them on his own beloveds – his mother, aunts, sisters and friends – as they're all so perfectly imperfect.'
On stage at PJPac this week, these roles will once again come alive – complex, flawed, and deeply human – a testament to how vividly Jit wrote the women in his life into his plays.
Reaching out
To support mental health awareness, organisers Dramalab will also hold a charity matinee on June 22.
All the proceeds for the show will go towards the Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA) in support of its work in helping women and children in mental crisis.
'Even though we often struggle in securing funding for our shows, I felt that it was really important to give to those who might need it even more," says Ida.
'The play talks about different backgrounds, the dynamics of social class, of power play, of control, and also, for me, it's the mental health and child separation, which is why I thought MMHA would be a great beneficiary,' she adds.
After the special matinee show, a short discussion will be held in collaboration with MMHA, exploring the experiences of living with mental illness as well as the perspective of a caregiver.
Visits will be staged at Nero, PJPac, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya from June 20-29, with a special charity matinee show on June 22. More info here.