Shafeeq Shajahan

Hello! My name is Shafeeq Shajahan (he/him/they/them) and I am a Malaysian-born, London-residing theatre director, writer and composer. My theatre company, Liver & Lung Productions, is an award-winning, international project that has received critical acclaim and developed sixteen productions to this date. Here is a little about me and, in particular, my approach to directing.

To me, directing is storytelling and storytelling is simply about investigating the human experience. Hence, my directing style is simple: how can we tell the most HUMAN story possible in the most fabulous, magical and impactful way? In my eight years of directing, I have a few ideas.

Firstly, I make my stories personal and intimate. My sources of inspiration are the Malaysian legends and fables that my mother told me while putting me to sleep, and then very quickly, the kaleidoscopic colours that Bollywood introduced me to. As a result, the theatre I create is whimsical. The stories I tell are vivid and vibrant, musical and meticulously crafted as homages to the visual and aural weavers of theatre that come before me. My family originate from a place in South India called 'Thanjavur', a city known for temple architecture and Hindu artistry. I am confident that my interest in art is genetic and spiritually driven. I try to make sure my work reflects my personal, intimate motivations.

Secondly, collaborative innovation is key. I make sure my teams push boundaries and challenge norms. As a composer, I work with instrumentalists and engineers, combining sounds from around the world (and my culture) to create musicals that don't particularly sound like the musicals you hear on Spotify. As a writer, I work with actors and historians to craft narratives that are authentic but playful, re-framing historical perspectives so that audiences feel like my work is fresh and ground-breaking. I must also add that collaboration requires a director to understand different psychologies and align, sometimes contrasting, incentives. The ability to find a common goal is critical.

Finally, be open minded and versatile! My work transcends form. I have made it a point to engage in multiple styles of work, from cabarets to spoken word pieces to Jacobean tragedies. Being a queer, Muslim PoC has sometimes made the industry shoebox me into particular domains but I make sure that my work is representative of ALL humanity. To demonstrate the breadth of my work, in 2017, a musical I directed about Malaysian fairytales, won a National Malaysian Arts Award for Innovation in Musical Theatre. The next year, I directed a physical queer play for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. Recently, my work has revolved around politically fun cabaret (our latest show, 'Clinic', is currently touring South East Asia). In 2019, we also put on a series of commercially successful historical parties / events where musical, theatrical scenes unfold (we call this our 'Relived' anthology).

That's me! I am fun, fabulous and dedicated to storytelling. I believe that life is never too serious and, as theatre makers, we have a shared responsibility to expand the human experience in the most magical way possible. My work is a reflection of this philosophy and is a culmination of many years of discipline, hard work and collaboration - characteristics I would identify my directing style with.

Credits

DIRECTOR & COMPOSER, Sepet The Musical, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center, 9 months, 2020, Winner of Best Director at the Malaysian National Arts Awards

DIRECTOR & COMPOSER, The Malaya Relived Trilogy, Istana Budaya, 6 months, 2019, Nominee for Best Original Score at the Malaysian National Arts Awards

DIRECTOR, PERFORMER & COMPOSER, Clinic, The Soho Theatre, 5 days, 2018, Product of Soho Theatre Drag & Cabaret Labs

DIRECTOR, Submission, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 1 month, 2017, Shortlisted for Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award

DIRECTOR & COMPOSER, Mahsuri & Other Peculiar Tales, Short Film and Stage Play, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center, 5 months, 2016, Winner of Malaysian National Arts Award for Innovation in Musical Theatre, Shortlisted for Tokyo Short Shorts Film Festival

And others