IT’S never easy articulating personal problems, but the final year students of Diploma in Performing Arts at Sunway University have found a novel and artistic way of doing so. They’ve chosen to address serious issues like sexuality comfort, interracial relationships and the physical abuse of women in their upcoming production, Tic-Tac-Toe.

Being in an industry that is all about self-expression, these fearless 27 students aren’t afraid of voicing their opinions through art.

Take a bow: (From left) Soong Chee Yan, Danny Lee Yu Xin, Vivian War Shyan Yih, Sean Lee Jia Ern and Jackelyn Foo Jing Jing are part of the 27-member team for Tic-Tac-Toe, a production by Diploma in Performing Arts students at Sunway University.

“You don’t need words to say something. You can just show it through movement and people will get it. It’s actually quite subjective because it’s based on your own interpretation and perspective,” said 20-year-old student Danny Lee Yu Xin, director of The White Temptation, a short film which touches on substance abuse.

And that’s just the beauty of performing arts. But of course, their course supervisors will be on hand to guide them and keep proceedings in check.

The show, running from Friday to Sunday at Roof Top Theatre, Sunway University, features the screening of four short films and eight theatre performances. Topics include coming out of the closet, eating disorders, drug abuse, forgotten folklore, abuse against women and relationship conflicts involving religious differences.

For instance, one of the short films, A Date With Destiny, is about a boy who changes people’s lives while on his way to pick up his date, a girl named Destiny. And Out Of Sight talks about a student who’s struggling with an eating disorder, but tries to hide it from her loved ones.

Standing out from the rest of the pack is How Si Majag Became A Stone, a Sarawakian folklore presented in the shadow theatre medium, which advises people not to make fun of things they don’t understand.

Shadow theatre was used for the theatre performance Bayang, which is about forgotten folklore.

Of course, this isn’t just all coursework for them as they aim to be the voice of the youth, which is the main objective of Tic-Tac-Toe.

Sean Lee Jia Ern, the 20-year-old cinematographer for A Date With Destiny, feels people don’t realise that these aren’t problems exclusive to adults alone – youths face them too, and consequently, should be addressed. He said the team hopes Tic-Tac-Toe will not only represent the youth, but also get the message across without being too direct or preachy.

And as with most performing arts endeavours, funding is an issue. According to A Date With Destiny producer Vivian War Shyan Yih, 20, Tic-Tac-Toe only gets RM1,000 from its university department, a sum that has to be divided equally among all the teams involved. Should funds run out, they will have to find their own means to an end.

“If we don’t have enough finances, we have to find make up and hair sponsors or even get donations from family and friends. Even the smallest amount makes a difference,” explained War.

The challenges are a stumbling block, but they aren’t insurmountable. In fact, the students have already set the cogwheels for their endeavour’s future in motion – the ones privileged to learn their craft overseas will return to share their experience, which hopefully, will improve the scene here.

“The film and theatre scenes are starting to get the recognition they deserve. It might be slow, but we’re certainly making progress,” added 27-year-old Jackelyn Foo Jing Jing, Out Of Sight’s producer and scriptwriter.