Reflections by Bryan Tan

29 May 2016, thoughts about wrapping up his Boiler Room journey:

 

28 October 2014, on the Research Phase of his Boiler Room journey:

“I pull on a loose thread; and a tapestry starts to unravel.

It began with three prescribed plays, to which I added a few more. Along the way, I found myself reading books and graphic novels, watching films and television series, attending art exhibitions and lectures. I conducted interviews. And of course, I watched some plays.

“Remember, kung-fu is the art of self-defense. I’m not interested in killing. I just want to prove how bad your kicks are.”

Of the various exercises that I was asked to do, my favourite one involved compiling a list of 5 pieces of music, around which my play would ‘pivot’. I came up with a set of late-1990s / early-2000s trip-hop and electronica, the music reflecting the millennial tensions of the era in which my play is set.

After I entered the building, I realised that its modest façade masked its true design and dimensions. There appeared to be no end to the number of doors found inside: some were open, others merely ajar. Too many were bolted and secured with rusty padlocks, each one as big as a man’s fist.

One morning in Beijing, I stood in line at Tiananmen Square, together with thousands of others, in order to see Mao’s body inside the Memorial Hall. The devotion of the living demonstrated to me, far more than the display of the dead, the nature of politics and performance.

As one phase ends and another begins, this is where I find myself: the architecture of the space is vast and unexpected, and the air is filled with the relentless beats of unwritten histories and unheard voices.”

~ Bryan Tan, Boiler Room Cycle 2014 Playwright