Contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai presents his artistic response to the works of playwright Elangovan, specifically the three banned plays Talaq, Smegma, and Stoma.
A Dancemaker’s Response to Three Banned Plays
In a continuing series exploring dance and dramatic text, Singaporean contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai responds to three banned plays — Talaq, Smegma and Stoma — written by playwright Elangovan. In a performance that is both structured and improvised, Mun Wai intends to move past the initial shock value of Elangovan’s works, to facilitate and broaden the discussion of the social issues examined in the plays.
REGISTRATION
Friday, 24 February 2017
8pm @ Centre 42 Black Box
Admission price: Give-What-You-Can
(Cash only, at the door)
Lee Mun Wai is an independent dance artist in Singapore. One of the more notable faces in the Singapore dance scene, Mun Wai was a founding member of prominent dance company The Human Expression Dance Company (T.H.E). He was with T.H.E. from 2008 to 2015, performing in most of the company’s repertoire both locally and internationally. His choreograpic works for T.H.E. were also featured in local dance festivals and events. One of his recent works, Permission to Speak Sir, was performed as part of an international showcase of Singapore’s artistic talents which travelled to Beijing, London and New York in 2015. Mun Wai is a 2014 recipient of National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award.
Reading Material About The Plays
Talaq, Smegma and Stoma are plays by Elangovan which were banned from performance in the years 2000, 2006, 2013 respectively. The plays portrayed social tensions and inequalities in stark and often provocative ways, which led regulatory authorities to deny or withdraw their performance licenses.
Although never publicly staged, the three play-texts were published in 2014 in a collection titled The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
#1: ABOUT TALAQ
#2: ABOUT SMEGMA
#3: ABOUT STOMA
Programme Handout
Contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai presents his artistic response to the works of playwright Elangovan, specifically the three banned plays Talaq, Smegma, and Stoma, published in a collection titled The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
In a continuing series of The Vault exploring dance and dramatic text, Singaporean contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai responded to three banned plays – “Talaq” (2000), “Smegma” (2006) and “Stoma” (2013) – written by playwright Elangovan. In a performance that was both structured and improvised, Mun Wai’s intention was to move past the initial shock value of Elangovan’s works, and to facilitate and broaden the discussion of the social issues examined in the plays. Here’s a snapshot of his presentation, which took place at the Centre 42 Black Box on Friday 24 February 2017.
Source: Centre 42 Facebook
.
The Vault: Dancing the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the second of three presentations exploring dance and Singapore play-text. Through dance, Singaporean contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai responds to the plays Talaq, Smegma and Stoma written by playwright Elangovan.
.
