Welcome to TASA
The Actors Studio Academy, founded by Joe and I, has since nurtured thousands of artistes, many who are regarded as the crème de la crème of the industry today.
Our very first class in 1992 comprised luminaries such as Tiara Jacquelina Eu, Patrick Teoh, Leslie Dawson, Ramli Hassan, Jeffery Nicholson and Fawziah Nawi.
Today, students from as young as three years old have a clear pathway to grow with us, learn from industry professionals and enjoy klpac’s full-fledged professional facilities.
Besides our year-round Speech and Drama programmes, we also customise specialist training programmes for arts groups, schools, drama teachers as well as corporates under our corporate training arm.
After two years of disrupted learning, let’s inspire our creative minds to BE EXTRAORDINARY again through much-needed physical interaction, creative play time and a safe space to express themselves.
Dato’ Dr. Faridah Merican & Joe Hasham OAM
Co-Founders, The Actors Studio Academy
Head of Academy
Kimmy Kiew, Head of Academy
“I am glad to be back at klpac again, working with many familiar faces and old friends alongside Joe & Faridah at The Actors Studio Academy @ klpac.
I have enjoyed working onstage and offstage in various capacities. Ever since I became a mother, nurturing young creative minds has become my passion which is why I have focused on arts education in the past decade.
I am looking forward to getting to know you and your children in the coming weeks.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
See you all at klpac.”
A theatre graduate from the Malaysian Institute of Arts, Kimmy has more than 20 years of experience in the arts having worked as a front-of-house supervisor, publicist, producer, educator, actor and director.
She was a Publicist and Associate Producer with Gardner & Wife Theatre Company before joining klpac as Director in-Residence from 2010 to 2012. She has participated in the ASEAN-Japan Exchange (2003) in Tokyo, CPI (2007) in Seoul and Tamsui Arts Carnival 2010 in Taiwan. Kimmy’s production of “The Bear” (2003) won Best Production at the 2nd ADA Awards and she was named Best Actress at the BMW Shorties Awards 2008.
A mother to a ten year old, she has shifted her focus to arts education in the past decade. She has been a speech and drama facilitator at The Actors Studio Academy @ klpac, Never-ending Story Education, Earth Tone Dance Academy and several other kindergartens. In 2018, Kimmy directed “Journey of a Baby Butterfly”, the very first baby theatre in Malaysia produced by Hong Jie Jie Workstation.
Pre-school Facilitators
Teacher Vicky Ang
Vicky specialises in working with young children, through creative English classes with speech and drama components, private tutoring, school holiday programs, special needs homeschooling, class presentations, year end concerts, and live shows! Passionate about educating young minds, Vicky strives to make the world a better place through embarking on educational journeys with the future generation.
Teacher Rebecca Bajok
Rebecca Bajok, or better known as Becky, is an educator, facilitator and a color therapist. She believes that one can identify and enhance a child’s personality and strength through the form of arts, especially through their expression, creativity and activities. Currently, she is focusing on alternative education for children and teenagers. Arming herself with her past corporate experiences, she has now developed training programmes modules in creative learning for children to discover themselves through the arts.
Assistant Teacher, Aishwarya
Aishwarya (Aish) firmly believes that the formation of kind, intelligent and creative adults starts by encouraging children’s curiosity and passions in language and arts. She has been a volunteer teacher for primary school English and Science at the Selayang Harmony Refugee School and tutored pre-school English and Maths, primary Science and BM and SPM English Literature at Pro-Ed Education Centre Petaling Jaya. She has always been passionate about literature and creative writing and was awarded a first-class Bachelor’s degree in English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia, before going on to put her skills to work as a writer at a local arts magazine (The Daily Seni) and publicist at a food bank (The Lost Food Project).
Lennard, Assistant Teacher
Lennard’s love for all things performance began when he was in high school, where he participated in many drama competitions and shows all around his home state of Penang. After graduating with a Diploma in Drama & Visuals from New Era University College, he has since performed in various shows such as “Goodbye Mr. Detective” and “Ah Ma”, the latter of which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 17th ADA Drama Awards. He is also a member of ACT-ion Theatre, a Mandarin-language community theatre troupe based in the Klang Valley which has produced children shows such as “Earth·Water·Fire·Wind and “The Lower Depths”.
When he is not performing, Lennard shares his fondness for the stage with his students as a part-time lecturer at New Era University College and as a Drama Coach of Chung Ling High School, the place where it all began. Now, he looks forward to sharing his passion for the arts with The Actors Studio Academy @ klpac’s students.
Speech & Drama Programme Facilitators
Teacher Phraveen
Phraveen Arikiah is a singer-songwriter and actor who has had the honour of performing on stages across Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Thailand. His recent performance credits include five roles that he originated for Mahsuri (And Other Peculiar Tales): A New Musical; by Liver & Lung Productions – which won the Innovation in Musical Theatre Award at the 14th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards 2017, Musa in Penang PAC’s production of ‘Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo’, Michal Katurian in theatrethreesixty’s staging of ‘The Pillowman’, and an ensemble member in Theatresauce’s production of ‘4.48 Psychosis’. (2022).
Teacher Jit Yang
Tung Jit Yang is a KL-based professional theatre performer and director, and was formerly Director-in-Residence at The Actors Studio, Malaysia.
He has a decade’s worth of experience making and teaching theatre all over Malaysia, and has done work internationally in Indonesia, Japan, Russia, and the USA.
He is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, earning his Bachelors in Fine Arts in Drama. He has trained in Shakespeare at RADA (London, UK), Improvisation at Second City (Chicago, USA), Commedia dell arte’ in Italy, Devising and Directing at Playwright’s Horizon, the Meisner Technique, Suzuki Technique, Laban for Actors, Williamson Technique, the Alexander Technique, and Clowning at the Meisner Studio.
He is an improviser and teacher of improv with AI:IA – Malaysia’s longest running improv comedy troupe; and has been on the faculty and part-time lectures at TUTAS, a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts programme by The Actors Studio & Taylor’s University, since it’s inception.
Teacher Axyr
Axyr Hanz William is a theatre practitioner with a passion for all forms of storytelling, both creative and corporate. He is an alumni of klpac’s iconic Theatre For Young People (T4YP) programme which he joined in 2017 and has since starred in and directed multiple works for SHORT+SWEET Malaysia in 2017 and 2018. His other notable works include starring in TheatreThreeSixty’s production of “The Fall Of The House Of Usher” and “A Man For All Seasons”.
Teacher Jeremy
A young and energetic educator, Jeremy Ang, has been involved in numerous theatre performances since he was in high school. He has also trained under the programme of one of the pioneering children’s theatre companies in Malaysia, Greenhopper Theater. After finishing his internship in Taiwan’s theatre company, Jeremy returned homeland to complete his final year at the Drama and Film Department of New Era University College, specialising in stage production and children’s theatre education.
Jeremy appeared in various performances and productions, including “開心死了” (2018), “迴家” (2019), “Game On” (2019), “babebibobu 2.0” (2019), “蠶豆” (2022), “The Swordfish Then The Concubine” (2022), “Black n White”（2022），”King Lear” (2022), “The Curious Incident of The Dog at the Night-time” (2023), and “Grasstraw Festival” (2023).
He has been awarded several times for their accomplishments: First-Class Male Actor award in the High School Drama Awards (2013), Second-Class Male Actor Award (2014), Second-Class Music Composition Award (2018), and Second-Class Director Award (2018).
Teacher Oxford
Teacher Oxford is back!
Oxford Tong has been a TASA facilitator in 2019 & 2020. He is a Performing Arts (Drama) graduate from University of Malaya. Having graduated in 2016, he made his stage debut in 2017, through Tsao Yu’s Thunderstorm, directed by the First Lady of Malaysian Theatre, Dato’ Dr. Faridah Merican. That same year, Oxford went on to receive the “Best Newcomer” award at the SHORT+SWEET Theatre Malaysia for his charming portrayal of Peter in Sukhbir Cheema’s Tok Kok.
In 2018 he was part of The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Theatre For Young People (T4YP) programme, which was staged twice, including the Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival 2018. Oxford was also the lead actor in the web-film advertisement “Reality not Virtual” for TNB Chinese New Year 2020, which reached 25 million views on social media.
