In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1939
- Died
- 2005
- Birthplace
- Not independently established
- Country
- Malaysia
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Five Arts Centre and contemporary Malaysian theatre
Why this life matters
Jit helped develop a theatre practice that crossed languages, institutions and disciplines while remaining attentive to local audiences.
Timeline
Key moments
A workshop with Leow Puay Tin
A programme for 3 Children records a precursor to the play.
Five Arts Centre
Jit helps found the collective and directs The Cord.
1984 Here and Now
Jit directs Kee Thuan Chye’s play.
Criticism alongside stage work
Krishen Jit’s work as a theatre director developed alongside teaching and criticism. Five Arts Centre’s chronology preserves the different forms his work took, including his newspaper writing under the name Utih. It also records educational appointments and a period of study in performance theory in New York.
Reviewing and directing asked him to look at performance from different positions. A critic could address how a production met a public. A director could change the conditions under which a script, a performer and a particular audience came together.
The theatre collective takes shape
He was among the founding group that formed Five Arts Centre in 1984. In that year he directed K. S. Maniam’s The Cord. Marion D’Cruz’s account emphasises the small and informal origins of the collective, while the archival inventory shows the range of programmes it eventually generated.
The practical work included producing dance and working with artists whose training was different from his. A director’s career is easier to understand when the people, spaces and resources needed for each production stay in view.
Staging new writing and regional work
In 1985 Jit directed Kee Thuan Chye’s 1984 Here and Now. In 1986 he directed a production of Kuo Pao Kun’s The Coffin Is Too Big for the Hole, with collaborators in Malaysia and Singapore. A Singapore programme for 3 Children traces the play’s development to unscripted workshops he directed with the writer Leow Puay Tin.
The records show a director working at several stages of a play’s life. A new script might reach him as a production, or he might help develop material in a workshop before the written play took shape.
Support for later artists
Jit died in 2005. Five Arts Centre has since used a fund named in his honour to support other artists’ work. Its later conference and grant records mark two distinct forms of legacy: study of the productions he made and practical opportunities for people developing work of their own.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Krishen Jit
- Why does the name Utih appear in Krishen Jit’s career?
- Utih was the pen name associated with his theatre criticism.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Marion D’Cruz
Read about a co-founder who brought dance into the collective.
- Kuo Pao Kun
Follow a playwright whose work Jit directed in 1986.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Five Arts CentreKrishen Jit timeline
- 2. Five Arts CentreFive Arts Centre 2014 report
- 3. Performing Arts Network Japan, Japan FoundationMarion D’Cruz on Five Arts Centre
- 4. Malaysia Design ArchiveFive Arts Centre collection
- 5. TheatreWorks, Singapore3 Children programme
- 6. Malaysia Design Archive, item from Five Arts Centre1984 Here And Now: booklet
- 7. Five Arts CentreThe Krishen Jit Fund: 2025 press kit
