WORLD War II heroine Sybil Kathigasu’s inspiring life story is celebrated in Sybil, a production of The Actors Studio staged from June 12-22.

It will also be staged at Taman Budaya Perak in Ipoh from June 25-26.

Sybil stars Sukania Venugopal, Doppo Narita, Darius Taraporvala, Ashraf Zain and Wong Wai Hoong.

It is directed by Datuk Faridah Merican with Joe Hasham as artistic director. It is written by playwright U-En Ng with Lim Ang Swee as lighting designer, Dominique Devorsine as costume designer, Bharani Rajaselvam as stage manager, Shangari Subramaniam as production manager and Zaw Min Oo as technical head.

Set in December 1941, when British-ruled Malaya is under attack from the Japanese, the play zooms in on Sybil’s resolve to help liberate her people from the tyranny of the Japanese Army.

It begins with Sybil, her husband Dr A. C. Kathigasu and the Captain (her Resistance contact) listening to devastating news of British defeat throughout the peninsula.
Suspicion is rife, Japanese collaborators are in every town, and the feared Kempetai – the Japanese Military Police that is answerable only to itself – is beginning to take an interest in their small town, Papan in Batu Gajah, Perak.

Sybil refuses the Captain’s advice to flee into the jungle, and instead redoubles her efforts to thwart the Japanese.

Before long, Dr Kathigasu is arrested on suspicion of aiding the Resistance, and Sybil’s arrest follows soon after.

She is subjected to torture and interrogation at the hands of Sergeant Yoshimura, the head of the district Kempetai, who is convinced Sybil is a resistance spy.

The real Sybil was particularly remembered by the older generation in Batu Gajah and Ipoh as a simple, kind-hearted and extraordinarily brave soul who saved many lives and inspired those in despair during the 44-month Japanese occupation from December 1941 to August 1945.

She and her husband, who operated a clinic at 141, Jalan Sultan Idris Shah (then Brewster Road) in Ipoh, secretly helped to supply medicines and medical services to the anti-Japanese guerrilla forces in Papan where the family lived as war refugees.

She also helped the Resistance keep shortwave radio sets illegally and listen to broadcasts from Britain and the outside world.

Her life story is preserved in her wartime memoirs, No Dram of Mercy, first published in 1954.

The Perak State Government has honoured Sybil by naming a road in Fair Park, Ipoh, after her.

Venue: The Actors Studio in Bangsar Shopping Centre, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur and Taman Budaya Negeri Perak in Jalan Caldwell, off Jalan Tambun, Ipoh. Time: 8.30pm (all venues) and 3pm (June 15 and 22). No shows on Mondays. Tickets: RM40 and RM20 (students).

Call 05-253-7001, 012-503-9311, 017-506-1875, 03-2094-0400 or 2094-1400.