EMSA (Edinburgh Malaysian Students’ Association) and HMS (Heriot-Watt Malaysian Society) are back with their newest, original rendition of Colours of Malaysia for 2026: Dendam Tak Sudah [“Unending Grudge”]! I had the opportunity to talk to director Dania Zainuddin and leading actress Nazatul Jamal about what the play means to them personally, a deeper dive into the characters, and what makes Dendam Tak Sudah different from the rest.
Colours of Malaysia, or typically known in other UK universities as an ‘MNight’ (‘Malaysian Night’), is a yearly production by Malaysian societies across the UK with the aim to represent Malaysian culture and patriotism in the best form possible — and what better form for this to be in other than theatre.
Described by the scriptwriter (Luqman Firdaus) as a tragicomedy, Dendam Tak Sudah holds “a beautiful blend of spirituality, comedic relief, a touch of romance, and relatability.” Audiences follow protagonist Puteri Sheila, the aspiring heiress to a Tanjak (traditional Malay male headgear) business, as she navigates life after the mysterious death of her father, Dato Jeffrey. Assisted by her two best friends, she hires bodyguards to find answers, but after five years with no avail, she takes matters into her own hands.
We started off by discussing their own theatre experiences, with the knowledge that Nazatul was a supporting actor in Colours of Malaysia (COM) 2025 while she was in her first year at university. She ponders for a moment, reminiscing on past memories, and expressing that she joined the production again this year as she “really enjoyed the rehearsals and the friendships built from last year’s theatrical production.”
Unlike Nazatul, Dania recalls that she’s “dibble-dabbled” in theatre back in high school as an actor, but never in the position of director, and “nothing as big as COM.” However, she tells me that she has always been surrounded by theatre — from the people around her being interested in the art form, to her friends continuously singing the lyrics to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. Being new to the role of director, Dania claims it was “hard at first,” especially the play’s premise of Malaysian folklore being something that she “wasn’t really familiar with, nor ideas that I grew up with.” After collaborating with Luqman, she is happy to say that she has been able to bring “the vision to life!”
I had initially come into this interview thinking that the synopsis of the play was going to fall under the ‘whodunnit’ genre, knowing that it was Sheila who “takes matters into her own hands” when trying to solve the mystery of her father’s death. However, the two quickly corrected me that it is not a murder mystery at all, and is moreso “a spiritual experience” that Sheila undertakes as she “goes through the stages of grief, with everything leading back to acceptance.” They also inform me that their intrinsic aim was to depict “the matter of embracing people’s differences and coming together” — seen through the characters being so different from each other, that Dania could even see herself in each of the characters. The two note that it is also interesting that the cast are so different from their characters — it would be hard to point out any underdogs on stage as all of them are “able to envelop such a different character to themselves.”
Nazatul particularly “feels this really strong connection” to Sheila, as the protagonist’s sense of self is being developed continuously throughout the play — starting in a position of pure-heartedness and obedience, evolving into a cold rebelliousness. This nuance in character humanises Sheila in a way audiences can relate to, with Nazatul earnestly saying that “portraying this character somehow developed me too.” They explain that Dendam Tak Sudah’s denouement will fully provide that cathartic experience audiences need from Sheila.
Knowing Nazatul personally, I ask whether it was difficult to get into the position of Sheila, as her own extroverted personality is very kind and warm-hearted. She feels that “every time I have to act out these emotional, difficult scenes — which we like to call high cortisol — it can be difficult sometimes as they give me headaches. But I find it really liberating whenever I have to scream or cry on stage […] It feels like I’m really letting it all out!”
With the production almost competing against other university MNights, it felt necessary to ask what makes Dendam Tak Sudah different (or even better) from the rest, and why they think Malaysian student scriptwriters often fall back onto the idea of the Malaysian folklore-inspired play. Dania and Nazatul explain that their production is “incredibly original” and that they have “never seen anything like this,” especially with their folklore tale having a balance between heavier and lighter scenes to ensure that audiences get “the best of both worlds.”
Seeing all the hard work and commitment they have put into Dendam Tak Sudah since winter 2025, and witnessing the two discuss their sad anticipation of “post-COM grief,” I am excited to see how this year’s Colours of Malaysia will turn out — through their hopes that audiences will “carry this moral of the story onwards.”
Image provided by Colours of Malaysia 2026 team.
