KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — In a world of endless scrolling and on-demand entertainment, Datin Sofia Jane wants audiences to do something increasingly rare — put their phones away, sit in the dark and let a story get to them.
The actress returns to the stage next month in Thrown, a one-woman play about childhood trauma, buried memories and the emotional baggage people carry into adulthood.
Written by Jodi Gray and directed by Gavin Yap, the production sees Sofia play a child psychologist whose patients’ experiences begin to blur with memories she has kept buried in her own past.
For Sofia, the play’s appeal lies in how it explores the ways painful experiences can shape not only our lives but also our relationships with others.
“When I read it, I thought it was very interesting because we are living in a world where mental health challenges affect not just adults but people of all ages, from children to the elderly,” she told Malay Mail in a recent interview.
One actress, one stage, no hiding place
Taking on an entire production alone is no small feat, particularly in a story that demands a performer move between a psychologist’s professional world and the personal memories she has spent years avoiding.
Sofia admitted that carrying an hour-long performance on her own was both daunting and exciting.
“Everything is a challenge,” she said.
Although her work in film and television has kept her busy, Sofia said she never lost her appetite for theatre, with the right role and timing simply not always lining up.
“Being on stage is something I always look forward to because it has a different energy,” she said.
“It feels like starting all over again.”
Can theatre compete with the scroll?
For Sofia, the appeal of live performance is precisely what makes it different from watching a film or series at home: audiences have to show up, pay attention and experience the story as it unfolds.
She believes theatre still has a place in Malaysia’s entertainment landscape, with younger creatives exploring how sound, lighting and music can push the form in new directions.
But keeping the stage alive also means confronting practical barriers, including whether people can afford tickets and whether they are willing to give a performance their undivided attention.
Theatre, she added, is not confined to contemporary plays or urban audiences, encompassing traditional forms such as Bangsawan, Mak Yong and Indian classical dance.
“We often say theatre is for everyone, but affordability can be an issue,” she said.
For Sofia, the responsibility of sustaining the art form does not fall solely on performers and producers; audiences must also be willing to make room for it.
“It comes down to whether people can afford to attend, whether they want to go and whether they are willing to put their phones down for a while, sit in the dark, listen and watch,” she said.
“The experience might trigger something in them, whether good or bad, or give them something to reflect on.
“That is part of why we do what we do.”
When the curtain falls, the conversation continues
There is another aspect of live theatre that Sofia believes is difficult to replicate on a screen: the conversations that happen after a performance.
In an intimate venue, audience members may linger to exchange thoughts about what they have watched, how it made them feel and what they took away from the experience.
“People often linger after a theatre performance, sometimes waiting for the actors to come out, but also because they want to talk to others about what they have seen and how it made them feel,” she said.
That shared experience is part of what keeps theatre meaningful for Sofia, even as entertainment habits change.
Thrown will run at the Jeffrey Cheah Performing Arts Centre in Sunway City, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, over two weekends, from November 20 to 22 and November 27 to 29.
Tickets are available through CloudJoi.
