By Chandini Del
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What does truth feel like?
It’s a question that lingered in Miriam Devaprasana’s mind long after the political theatre had ended. In 2021, she was part of a women-in-politics initiative in Penang – the kind that promised change. She wrote an entire motion to advocate for stronger sexual harassment laws.
Just a month prior, Miriam had lodged her own police report for a public act of verbal sexual harassment. The response she received mirrored the same systemic failures she’d now been asked to ignore.
“There was a lot of disappointment. A lot of anger. And hurt,” she says.
Months later, Miriam reviewed Jevon Chandra’s Other Things, and in it, he referenced Martin Luther. It wasn’t the loud act of nailing his theses to the church door, but the charged silence before that resonated with her: “What does it feel like to tell the truth? What does truth feel like?”
That question became the seed of Burden of Proof.
The immersive theatre production by Dabble Dabble Jer Collective, co-written and co-devised by Miriam, first premiered to a sold-out audience in Penang in November 2023. This July, it returns to Petaling Jaya with new layers, a new home, and the same unflinching commitment to storytelling, healing, and change.
“I began to imagine how theatre, as a bottom-up approach, could move hearts in ways policy can’t,” she says. “I felt certain it could stir something deeper.”
Building with Reverence
From the beginning, Burden of Proof was never just a show – it was a communal act of witnessing. When Miriam shared the initial vision with friends, every single one said yes.
I also realised something – that for each of us, this wasn’t just a cause. It was personal. Every single person I spoke to had either experienced or witnessed some form of sexual violence, either directly, or through someone in their close network. There was no distance from the issue.
Miriam Devaprasana.
This intimacy demanded a new kind of responsibility. “We knew we were carrying real stories of violence, silence, survival,” Miriam explains. “Navigating that ethically meant asking ourselves hard questions at every step: Are we honouring this story? Are we being careful not to overstep, or sensationalise? Are we letting the survivor’s truth lead?”
One of the most difficult moments came during story collection. “I realised that nearly 70% of the stories submitted were from people I know: friends, collaborators, people I’ve done life with,” she says. “That changed everything. It wasn’t just about curating or writing. It became about carrying these truths with reverence.”
Reverence became the compass – whether through monologue, movement, music, or visual art. Each story was treated not as content to be shaped, but as testimony to be held. “We always resisted the urge to combine or simplify stories for narrative convenience,” she says.
Each story held its own texture, rhythm, and weight, and deserved to remain whole.
Miriam Devaprasana.
The Quiet Companion
Not all stories made it to the stage. And that’s how The Quiet Space was born – a contemplative installation that runs alongside the performance.
“I was drawn to the possibility of having both: truth spoken aloud on stage, and truth that simply hung in the air – still, quiet, but no less powerful.”
Visitors enter the space to read stories exactly as they were submitted – lightly edited for grammar, but otherwise left untouched. “There’s something sacred in that rawness,” says Miriam. “Throughout the process, we’ve always been careful not to frame The Quiet Space as an exhibition. There’s a fine line between holding space and putting stories on display. We never wanted to cross that.”
The space, designed by Justin Khaw, acts as an intentional counterbalance. “The performance space holds urgency, confrontation, and emotional weight. The Quiet Space, in contrast, is stillness. It’s calm. A place to breathe, to settle, to just be.”
A House, Not a Hall
The 2025 restaging of Burden of Proof takes place not in a hall, but in a house. This change is deliberate.
A house holds very different energy. It carries the weight of familiarity, privacy, and proximity. It allows us to immerse audiences more directly in the world of the work.
Miriam Devaprasana.
This intimacy brings new risk – and new power. “There’s less room to hide,” she admits. “Which I think is very much in the spirit of Burden of Proof.”
They’ve also revised parts of the script, this time in closer dialogue with the survivors who contributed the stories. “We wanted to make sure we were capturing the right tone, the right emotional nuance, especially for pieces that were particularly layered or vulnerable.”
Small reflective prompts are now embedded throughout the show, inviting audiences to pause, feel, and sit with discomfort.
Radical, Quiet, True
As co-founder of Dabble Dabble Jer, Miriam is no stranger to the power of small collectives. “I knew I couldn’t do it alone,” she says of the project’s early days. “So I thought, let’s make a kampung out of it.”
The collective name, Dabble Dabble Jer, speaks to their spirit of experimentation.
We try things, we experiment, and we figure it out together.
Miriam Devaprasana.
In an arts ecosystem like Penang’s, that sense of community isn’t optional – it’s essential. “In Penang, people often work in silos. But because the ecosystem is so fragile, that fragmentation feels even more pronounced. We wanted to push against that.”
For Miriam, radical art-making in Malaysia doesn’t have to shout. “It can be quiet. It can be tender. But it must be honest and willing to unsettle.”
Burden of Proof isn’t about resolution. It’s about recognition. “As a survivor myself, I can say, yes, life goes on. Sometimes we heal. Sometimes we don’t even know what we need healing from… But something this personal, this intimate, changes us.”
If Burden of Proof could speak for itself?
“I’ve told you the truth. Will you listen? Will you believe?”
That is the question at the heart of the work. Not just for the audience, but for a society that has too often asked survivors to carry the burden of proof – and then demanded more.
“It’s not about offering neat resolutions. It’s about shifting the conversation – and starting from a place of truth.”
Because the truth, as Burden of Proof reminds us, should always be enough.
Get your tickets for Burden of Proof HERE.
For more information, follow Dabble Dabble Jer Collective on Instagram.
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READ MORE: How Apple TV+’s “Disclaimer” Echoes Malaysia’s Troubling Attitudes Towards Violence Against Women
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