“It has been many days since we last ate. We barely manage to find some scrap of food here and there. These people, my people, my… tribe. I really hope we survive together.”

A TINY COUNTRY is a thought-provoking, experiential, playful, and exciting collective role-playing experience. The audience plays dual roles—one as a member of a community living in a tiny country who is invested in the country’s fate, and another as a social scientist who impartially experiments with the people’s future. The collective stories are woven through a person from the past, a present struggle, and a crisis in waiting.

The country has survived a long history of conflicts and threats. For the next decade, they come face to face with crossroads. Do they focus on harvesting natural resources or cultivating talents? Should they explore and expand or strengthen and defend? Do they unite or tear the country apart?

Artist Statement

A TINY COUNTRY is a special project especially for me. I’d recently come across a documentary about Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian island where a group of Malays reside. They practice Islam and similar Malay culture to us but yet speak with Australian accent. This makes me reflect upon my own relationship with the island I’m living on. What is my connection with this island? Why do I spend many years of my life, yearning for a place here when everything around me tells me to draw wisdom an foreign land elsewhere. How then, can I start telling my story, the story that starts with the place I call my home?

Development Process

This is an unique experience for us as it is the first time ATTEMPTS is working with an established playwright to write something participatory, forging a game while we are at it. C42 gives us the space to experiment and play with the ideas. Like all good games, one can only get better at repeated attempts at the game and tweaking the play. Right now, we are building, developing, writing, testing and rehearsing the performance as we speak. It has to run all at a go, which is the nature of spontaneous works.

ATTEMPTS
ATTEMPTS is a participatory theatre collective consisting of artists whose interests are participatory arts. They are Cheryl Tan, Farez Najid, Ng Sze Min and Rei Poh. It is founded by Rei Poh in 2019, after his research into video game mechanics and participatory narratives during his Master’s programme with the Victorian College of the Arts. Named after their first participatory project in 2018, ATTEMPTS is a collective that believes theatre can and should transform passive audiences into active players, by equipping them with agency (the power and capacity for action), while inviting them on a multi-sensorial adventure combining storytelling and game mechanics.

Director/Game Designer/Co-creator – Rei Poh
Rei Poh is a committed participatory theatre practitioner, director and game designer, who believes in the power of theatre to transform. He is a proud graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts’ Master of Directing for Performance program. Rei has created thought-provoking participatory and forum theatre works like ATTEMPTS:SG, ATTEMTPS:MEL and《莎莎》Girl In the White Sand Box. Rei’s recent projects include the showcase of DATING SIM (beta) —a participatory piece that experiments with video game-style narrative in LATE NIGHT TEXTING 2019 by CENTRE 42

Playwright/Co-creator – Jean Tay
Jean Tay is an award-winning Singaporean playwright, whose plays have been performed in Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy. She has been nominated four times for Best Original Script for The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards, and won for Everything But the Brain in 2006. Everything but the Brain and Boom have both been used as ‘O’ and ‘N’ Level literature texts.

Producer – Woo Hsia Ling
Woo Hsia Ling is an independent producer with 17 years of experience as a Stage and  Production Manager. Ling ventured into independent producing since 2014, and was the Managing Producer for Saltwater by Jamie Lewis, a participatory performance which saw four performance seasons in Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast, between 2015 and 2016. She was also the Managing Producer for Chinatown Crossings by Drama Box, a roving site-specific performance in Singapore that ran two sold-out seasons in 2018 and 2019.

Spatial & Visual Designer – Goh Abigail
Goh Abigail (b. 1993) works with sound, drawings, objects and space as both subject and material. She graduated in 2017 with a BA(Hons) Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts and is a recipient of the 2017 Chan-Davies Art Prize and 2015 Winston Oh Travel Award. Her recent exhibitions include Bachelorette Machines at Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2019, and in-inhabitations at Telok Ayer Arts Club in 2018, and was onboard Toy Factory Production’s A Dream Under the Southern Bough: Reverie as the installation artist/set designer.

Sound Artist – Ng Sze Min
Ng Sze Min is a sound artist interested in expanding documentary and participatory forms. She expresses text, concepts and experiences into audio works. Her performances and one-on one live art shows have been featured at the Poetry Festival 2017 (Singapore), 15th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (USA) and hillsceneLIVE 2019 (Melbourne, Australia). She recently completed a month-long residency in Kluang, Malaysia, engaging residents in detailing a sound map of their town.

Lighting Designer – Petrina Dawn Tan
Petrina Dawn Tan holds a Master of Art with Merit in Collaborative Theatre Production and Design from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She practises Scenography (Space and Lighting) and has conceptualised a range of projects including circus, community music festivals and installations with the element of audience participation.

Performer – Farez Najid
Farez Najid started his professional career in 2006 and was trained in BA(Acting) at LASALLE College of the Arts. His works include Off Centre (The Necessary Stage, 2019), Main2 (Teater Ekamatra, 2017), Prism (Toy Factory Productions, 2017), Geylang (WILD RICE, 2016), and Tan Tarn How’s Lady Soul and the Ultimate “S” Machine (Esplanade Presents The Studios, 2015). He also participated in international works such as Year Zero (Drama Arts, 2017) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Super Happy Land (Hatch Theatrics and Theatre Gumbo, 2016) with stagings in Singapore and Japan.

A night-hour safehouse for the troubled youths, dropouts, runaways and delinquents of the Malay community is run by a pair of ex-offenders. When external intervention looms, it will take their collective efforts to keep the walls of their home up. Or will they come tumbling down?

Written and directed by Nessa Anwar, Rumah Dayak is an unflinching look at the struggle to guard a home built out of circumstances surrounding poverty, deprivation and abuse. Rumah Dayak is the inaugural production by new collective Rupa co.lab, which comprises Hazwan Norly, Nabilah Said and Nessa Anwar.

Performed in Malay and English, with English surtitles.

1^st Phase (July 2019)

Rumah Dayak was presented as a full-length dramatised-read at Centre 42’s Guest Room on 6 July 2019. A post-presentation feedback session was facilitated by Nabilah Said. Feedback gathered at this by-invite presentation will provide Nessa with additional information to further develop the play.

2^nd Phase (November 2019)

Rumah Dayak will be staged at the Malay Heritage Centre from 21 to 24 November 2019.

About Rupa co.lab
Rupa co.lab is a Singaporean art collective of theatremakers Hazwan Norly, Nabilah Said and Nessa Anwar. In collaboration, these three artists tap into their vibrant and diverse creative processes and talents to create new Singaporean works. Derived from the Sanskrit word, रूप (rūpa), which means “form, shape”, Rupa co.lab is dedicated to reshaping contemporary conversations, through the lens of the Malay person.

Playwright & Director, co-founder of Rupa co.lab – Nessa Anwar
Nessa Anwar has written, acted and produced for theatre, television and video. Nessa began acting under companies like Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Young Company and Teater Ekamatra. Nessa graduated in Philosophy from NUS, studying playwriting and screenwriting. She has written award-winning short films, television programmes and an online series “InstaScram”. Her first full-length play, “Riders Know When It’s Gonna Rain” was staged under Checkpoint Theatre and Wild Rice. She is a founding member of Singapore playwright collective Main Tulis Group.

Producer, co-founder of Rupa co.lab – Nabilah Said
Nabilah Said is a playwright and producer who has presented work in Singapore and London with Teater Ekamatra, The Necessary Stage, Bhumi Collective and Lazy Native. Recent producing credits include “ANGKAT: A Definitive, Alternative, Reclaimed Narrative of a Native” and “Inside Voices” in London’s VAULT Festival. She is the founder of Main Tulis Group, Singapore’s first collective of playwrights writing in Malay and English. Nabilah is also a theatre critic and arts writer.

Marketing Manager, co-founder of Rupa co.lab – Hazwan Norly
Hazwan Norly would like to sell himself as an artist/writer/theatre practitioner/dabbler in pain, but pain is not a condition exclusive to artists. He is a sentimental and emotional observer of the universe, whose currency is life experience points, and whose caffeine is of the mental sort – shaken, not stirred. To date, he has both written and performed for the stage. Hazwan is also one of the founding members of Singapore playwright collective Main Tulis Group.

Actor – Al-Matin Yatim (NAHAR)
Al-Matin Yatim is a Professional Theatre Practitioner graduated from Intercultural Theatre Institute. He has been working for the past decade, mainly as a stage actor, with many notable and established companies like The Necessary Stage, TheatreWorks, Cake Theatrical Productions, Hatch Theatrics, The Theatre Practice, etc. He has also performed internationally in cities like Braunshweig, Brisbane and Edinburgh. He shared the nomination of Life! Theatre Award 2016’s Best Ensemble and Best Production of the year in “It Won’t be too long: The Cemetery” in the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2015.

Actor – Farah Lola (JULIA)
Farah Lola is a budding local comedienne with a knack for observational humour and parody. Most of her content is drawn from her experience growing up as a brown female in Singapore. In the past year, her viral videos have garnered over half a million views on social
media. Her recent work has been covered by international media such as Business Insider and Yahoo SG to rave reviews.She is also a host and has worked as an actor with Teater Ekamatra under the Playwright Director Mentorship Programme.

Actor – Uddyn J (SHAH)
Saifuddin Jumadi, or affectionately known as Uddyn, is a lifelong arts enthusiast. He had his roots in Malay traditional dance with Era Dance Theatre & People’s Association Malay Dance Group. Under the guidance of Osman Hamid, Fathurrahman Said and Sumia Samsudin, he performed various dance pieces and represented Singapore in various International Festivals. Uddyn is multi-faceted; he was pursuing his degree in the infamous Al-Azhar University of Egypt and simultaneously developing his capacity in performing arts. It was in Egypt that he
began exploring creative directing, scriptwriting and producing several plays. With the aim of marrying arts and faith and making it  accessible and mainstream, Uddyn with his 2 other friends formed Big Mouth Production. Since 2009, he has creative-produced and scriptwrote 30 production pieces and still aspire to do more and push boundaries.

Actor – Yamin Yusof (DASH)
Yamin’s first foray in acting was his appearance in Anugerah Skrin 2016 as a contestant. Yamin Yusof has worked in theatre as well as had featured and main roles in short films and television productions for Mediacorp Suria. Formerly trained by Rafaat Hamzah, Najib Soiman, Norisham Osman and Kamil Haque (under the Haque Collective), Yamin spends most of his time in the gym or making coffee.

Actor – Rusydina Afiqah (ELLA)
Rusydina Afiqah received her BA (Hons) in Theatre Arts from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Notable productions include Here and Beyond! (Toy Factory); Bloody Damn (NAFA); Step Outta Line (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018 & NAFA) and a multimedia screening for Kenang-Kenangan Seorang Wanita Pemalu (Teater Kami). Recently, she was a part of Late Night Texting 2019 as a performer in Spittle Spattle, part of Verso/Recto and also a host. Witness the humorous side of Rusydina as she stars in an online comedy sketch series on
YouTube called The BenZi Project.

Actor – Wan Ahmad (BOY)
Wan Ahmad discovered theatre back in 2014 as a member of Temasek Polytechnic’s Teatro Since then, he has worked for numerous companies such as Teater Ekamatra, The Necessary Stage, Malay Heritage Centre, and Esplanade’s Alkesah. He also volunteered in Muhammadiyah Welfare Home to teach theatre to the residents. With two of his friends, he owns a theatre collective, Teater Artysan.

Actor – Tysha Khan (AMIRA)
Tysha is a Singapore-based actor and writer. She has worked in productions by companies such as Teater Kami and UNSAID, often on topics that hold great meaning to her. Her most recent performance was in Anak Melayu (Teater Kami). Besides performing on stage, Tysha acts on screen, hosts, and has her own YouTube channel called Go Jerr. She is also a published poet and has translated films and interviews. A recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award, she is currently training at the Intercultural Theatre Institute, and will soon be the first Malay-Muslim woman to graduate from the school.

Actor – Ali Mazrin (SLIM)
Ali Mazrin is an actor and set designer. Graduated from HNITEC in Performance Production, Ali studied both in performing and technical aspects, under the teachings of Elnie S Mashuri, Terrence Lau, A Kumarran, Haizan Salam and more. He has designed sets for Karya 2018 by
Azpirasi. He was the stage crew and doubled up as the ensemble, for Alkesah Pestaraya 2018 by Esplanade Theatre. ‘Rumah Dayak’ is going to be his first full-length play, and he couldn’t be more thrilled!

Lighting Designer – Emanorwatty Saleh
Emanorwatty Saleh has worked extensively in production and stage management, lighting and sound design, acting and performance. Some of her technical credits include Reading Centhini (2014) by Agnes Christina at The Substation Directors’ Lab, Lockdown (2014) by Hatch Theatrics and as a lighting designer for Untitled (2013) by The Kaizen M.D. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Technical Theatre Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2008.

Set Designer – Mohd Fared Jainal
Mohd Fared Jainal graduated with a Master In Arts (Design) from Open University/LASALLE College of the Arts and is a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award. He has collaborated extensively with various theatre and art groups as a director, performer, visual artist and set designer. The Gingerbread Man (Singapore Repertory Theatre), a collaboration with LASALLE College of the Arts, earned him Best Set Design for 2007 Life! Theatre Awards. His work The Comedy of the Tragic Goats by Cake Theatre won him Best Director for 2009 Life! Theatre Awards, and Cuckoo Birds, collaboration between Cake Theatre and Five Arts Centre, Malaysia, won him Best Set Design for 8th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards 2009. In 2010, he was one of the four artists selected for residency with the prestigious La Mama International in Spoleto, Umbria, Italy.

Production Stage Manager: Azy Alias
Assistant Stage Manager: Iffah Idi

The Malays and Chinese has its own, and yet intertwined history and relationship between themselves on this little island country – Singapore.

How much do we really know one another? We have friends from the other race but we also harboured prejudices and judgement against the other. We have set ‘set assumptions/ perspectives’ for one another. We judged each other. There is anxiety, friendship, anxiousness, care, angst, tolerance, blame, acceptance, hurt, distrust… throughout our Singapore history and within our daily routine.

How do we manage?

This is a devised play by both collaborators – Alin & Zelda, with the guidance by Alvin Tan (as Director). It is a character-based story aims to explore the complexity of the relationship between the two races in this country. Through this process, the work also hope to further understand and excavate the ‘identities’ of being a Singaporean.

1^st Phase (September – October 2018)

The first phase of the development focused on research and workshops. The team researched on the theme and brainstormed ideas for the play. In the process of the research and improvisations, the team aimed to find a basic structure of the play.

2^nd Phase (August 2019) – Refinement & Structure

After the first phase, the team will review the feedback received. They will make edits to the script, focus on specific issues related to the work and do further research. At the end of second phase, there will be a Work-in-Progress presentation for the team to gather feedback and comments.

GroundZ-0 原。空間, is a Singapore-based multi-lingual experimental inter-space initiated by Zelda Tatiana Ng, which aims to explore, research, promote and produce intercultural and cross-genres/ disciplines works in Singapore. GroundZ-0 原。空間 is interested in the experimentation of traditional arts forms (especially Chinese Opera & Japanese Noh) in contemporary theatre, as and when suitable and applicable. It also seeks opportunities to work with various international artists in order to share research and learn knowledge across nationalities/ races/ cultures.

Through explorations and experiments, GroundZ-0 aspires to find/ define/ re-define its identity(ies) as Singaporean as well as a Global Citizen.

Collaborator / Cast – Zelda Tatiana Ng

• Has been working in the arts/theatre scene for more than 18 years
• Involved in various aspects oftheatre with almost all major established local theatre companies i.e. The Necessary Stage, Drama Box, The Finger Players, The Theatre Practice and Singapore Repertory Theatre etc.
• In 2003, graduated from the Theatre Training & Research Programme (currently known as Intercultural Theatre Institute)
• Recent work includes – Inheritance (The Finger Players, Director), Sea (Centre 42 – The Vault, Actor), Afar (The Finger Players – Watch This Space, Director), Red Dot Radio (Esplanade Outdoor Theatre Concert, Lead Singer), Three Children & Titoudao (Esplanade The Studios – fifty, Director), Garisan Kuning (Singapore Repertory Theatre – Actor), Square Moon (Independent, Lead Actor), 100 Years of Solitude-Cultural Revolution (Zuni Icosahedron & Drama Box, Actor) and movies Ilo Ilo & Taxi Taxi (Featured Actor)

Collaborator / Cast – Aidli Mosbit

• Graduated from Queensland University of Technology and has worked extensively with local companies like The Necessary Stage, Teater Kami, Wild Rice, Cake Theatre, Toy Factory, The Theatre Practice, Teater Ekamatra and Drama Box.
• Published an anthology of Malay plays in the book, BISIK with Noor Effendy Ibrahim and Alfian Sa’at
• She toured to Scotland, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Romania, Hong Kong and Hungary, performing Singapore-brand theatre
• Recipient of the Young Artist Award for Theatre in 2008, she played the leading role of Murni alongside Malaysia’s legendary actor, Datuk Haji Rahim Razali, in the film Sayang Disayang (2013) by Sanif Olek which was Singapore’s Official 2015 Oscar® Entry for Best Foreign Language Film.
• In 2016, she published her collection of Malay plays entitled CHANTEK. CHANTEK was awarded the Hadiah Persuratan (Literary Award) 2017 by the Malay Language Council, Singapore.
• Currently working in Temasek Polytechnic as the Section Head of the Arts Division, in the Student Development & Alumni Affairs department, while pursuing her Master of Education.

Director – Alvin Tan

• Founder and Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage
  
• A leading proponent of devising theatre in Singapore. Directed more than 70 plays, which have been staged locally and at international festivals
• In 1998, was conferred the Young Artist Award for Theatre
• Awarded Best Director at 2011 The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards for Model Citizens by The Necessary Stage
• In 2014, Alvin was conferred the Cultural Medallion for his artistic excellence and contribution to Singapore’s arts and cultural landscape
• Artistic Director of Peer Pleasure, an annual youth-oriented theatre festival in Singapore

An actress (Sonia Kwek) and a dancer (Neo Yan Zong) meet in Happy Waiting, a new play written by Beverly Yuen, inspired by Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days and Waiting for Godot. Choreographer/ dance artist Bernice Lee is making her theatre directorial debut with Happy Waiting. This combination is exciting and creatively stimulating for a text-based physical theatre performance!

Vicky (Sonia Kwek) is trapped in a mound, but in a cheerful spirit, with only her limbs and head seen. In the mound, Vicky enters into a series of memories, imaginations and recollections of stories told by her folks when she was young. Often, she speaks to her husband Victor as she recalls the happy days of their dating and marriage. However, she is not acknowledged with any response. She thinks— perhaps, her husband is busy. Thus, she sings, dances with her limbs and plays games to occupy time. She is constantly “visited” by Bobo (Neo Yan Zong) who dances past her frequently but does not seem to respond to her. Is he her memory, imagination, or someone from her life?

We follow through the life of Vicky as she passes through the routine of waking up to her alarm, brushing teeth, and making breakfast for herself and her unseen husband. She is totally comfortable and joyous in her routine, maintaining an electrifying positivity within the confines of her limited mobility, hoping that Victor will respond to her one day.

 

1. Happy Waiting (Process 1), 1 Oct- 2 Nov 2018

Putting herself in a box, Beverly Yuen, the playwright of Happy Waiting, started her journey in writing the original play, which is inspired by Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days and Waiting for Godot. She confined herself within the dimension of a box, exploring what it felt like to be stranded, and yet abiding in optimism; experience the bleak situation of being stuck, and yet hopeful. Her approach to writing is not merely sitting in front of the laptop! She was using a “doer” and “performer” approach to write the script. From there, she did an 8-minute presentation of Happy Waiting (Process 1) at Make It Share It’s Open Stage on 2 November 2018.

2. Phase 1 of rehearsals for the full-length play (April 2019)

Phase 1 of rehearsals involves exploration of the play with the director and the cast through script reading and improvisation. The script was finalised in the beginning of May.

3. Phase 2 of rehearsals (May 2019)

In Phase 2 of rehearsals, the director will work on the blocking of the play with the cast and continue in-depth explorations of the script. The script will may still undergo slight amendments.

4. Phase 3 of the rehearsals (June 2019)

Phase 3 of rehearsals is when everything comes together. The production design elements and the rehearsals will meet in the Phase 3 of the rehearsals.

5. Phase 4 of the rehearsals (July 2019)

Phase 4 is the final phase of rehearsals leading up to the presentation.

The presentation will take place on 12 July (8pm) & 13 July 2019 (3pm) at Stamford Arts Centre’s Black Box.

Playwright – Beverly Yuen

Beverly Yuen is the Artistic Director of Grain Performance & Research Lab. Under the collective, she directed and performed in a physical theatre piece A Walk into the Mandala in 2017.

Beverly obtained her Bachelor of Arts (Theatre Studies) from the National University of Singapore and a Masters and PhD in Communication Studies from the Nanyang Technological University. In 1995, she co-founded Theatre OX with Ang Gey Pin and a few other theatre practitioners, and was a full-time performer with the troupe from 1995 to 1999. In 1998, she headed to the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards (Italy) and received intensive performer training for a year.

Beverly founded In Source Theatre (IST) in 2001 and was its Artistic Director from 2001 to 2013. With IST, she produced, created, performed and marketed more than 20 original works locally and internationally. Beverly also performed in productions directed by various directors/ choreographers such as Lim Chin Huat, Kok Heng Leun, Jean Ng and the late William Teo.

She also penned four full-length plays: D-evil of Light (English, 2001), I Dance I Wander I Wonder (English, 2004), Cage (Mandarin, 2004) and Sleeping Naked (English, 2016). Happy Waiting is her second play to receive developmental support from Centre 42 under the Basement Workshop programme after Sleeping Naked (2016).

Director – Bernice Lee

A National Arts Council Bursary recipient, Bernice received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with Honours from The Ohio State University (OSU) in May 2010, where she performed the works of Bebe Miller, Gu Ming-shen, Meghan Durham, and Sololos by Trisha Brown, directed by Abigail Yager.

Her works have shown internationally in Vientiane, Solo, Jogjakarta, Bangkok and New York. She often devises performances collaboratively and those works have been presented in Singapore at ArchiFest, ArtScience Museum, Arts House, The Substation, and TheatreWorks. A prolific performer, she has worked for Frontier Danceland (2012-2014) and Maya Dance Theatre (2014-2017). She also performed in Mandala by In Source Theatre at GAC Black Box in 2014 and Shanghai International Theatre Festival 2015. In 2018, Bernice has been developing her artistic practice through residencies including ELEMENT at Dance Nucleus and Time_Place_Space: Nomad organised by Arts House Melbourne.

In Happy Waiting, Bernice is interested to examine how a stuck human body produces choreography and drama, and what it means to be trapped, and yet embody a sense of freedom. She is also inspired to excavate what it means for women’s voices to re-imagine the Beckett plays in this original work.

Performer – Sonia Kwek

Sonia’s arts practice sits between theatre, performance art and dance/ movement. She also partakes in image-making and content-creation. Sonia does not like labels, and enjoys exploring between and beyond defined disciplines. Currently, Sonia is interested in the politics of female eroticism, the human physical body as material, and decolonising her own artistic processes.

Sonia often engages in work across the performing and visual arts realms, both locally and internationally. In 2018, her solo work Hymen Instinct toured to Taiwan as part of《女。性。诫？》Alternative Lessons for Women, a double-bill selected for the 2018 Asia Weekend Theatre Festival (2018 亞洲假日劇場戲劇節). She was also selected as part of the 2018 Time, Place, Space: Nomad residency through Arts House (Melbourne), an action-research residency held in the Australian outback.

Sonia graduated from Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in 2017. She was a recipient of the ITI-William Teo Scholarship for her studies. Sonia also holds a Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama) with Distinction, a study in interdisciplinary practice, from Queensland University of Technology, (QUT). Sonia strongly believes in collaboration and mixing as an ethos; she continually seeks training and working opportunities that allow her to hone her understanding of body and movement across cultures.

Performer – Neo Yan Zong

Yan started dancing in 2008. In 2011, he was selected for a Scholarship Program at Frontier Danceland, a professional Contemporary Dance Company in Singapore. The training sparked his interest to pursue dance full-time in 2014. He is now a graduate of the Anton Bruckner Private University’s bachelor program, with a Degree in Contemporary Stage Dance and Dance Pedagogy.

Yan is passionate for theatrical, improvisational and performative works. He seeks to incorporate humour and props in performances. Yan was part of a collective named Yellooww, which performed a fully improvised work, The Happy Hour Show in Linz, Austria.

Yan has a keen interest in Contact Improvisation; he has traveled to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Taipei (Taiwan), Xiamen (China) for various festivals. He had the privilege to learn from one of the pioneers of Contact Improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith. It is his practice to search for efficiency and functionality in movement. Yan has a deep interest in martial arts. He practised Aikido, Systema and Wing Chun, seeking to integrate other movement practices with dance.

Yan aspires to be a dance educator in the future. He had the opportunity to share his interests and teach workshops and intensives in Singapore, Poland, Austria, Germany, and the UK. He hopes to continue to improve his methodologies and approaches in dance pedagogy.

Set designer – Shalyn Lim
Sound designer – Mohammad Hafizh Bin Hardi
Lighting designer – Mohammad Nor Ermeen Bin Chohari
Costume designer – Mohamad Hakimi Bin Abdullah
Props manager/ designer – Tania Shafiqah Bte Arshad

ANGKAT: A Definitive, Alternative, Reclaimed Narrative of a Native subverts norms of genre and dramatic form to tell the intertwining histories of a mother and daughter, and a re-imagining of a young Singapura trying to find her footing amidst the rough seas.

Salma, an aspiring singer, is an adopted child whose struggle with identity is played out on a national stage.

Mak, a former islander, tries to process the loss of her home from the mainland, with a little help from some friends.

The play blends fantasy and fact, history and the imagined future, and the national, personal and magical to explore and empower hidden narratives of the Singapore story.

Credit source: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2019

In 2015, Nabilah Said join Centre 42’s Boiler Room through an open call. She was working on a play titled State Land, which was about people who used to live on Singapore’s offshore islands before being forced to move to the mainland. At the same time, as an associate artist in residence at Teater Ekamatra, she was also working on another piece called Angkat, about the common and informal practice of adoption in Malay families.

Nabilah went on a hiatus in July 2016 for six months when she had difficulty developing both works further. When she came back on January 2017, she decided to incorporate her ideas for State Land into Angkat. Subsequently, a test read of of Angkat was done in September 2017 at Centre 42 to conclude her Boiler Room Journey. Read more about Nabilah’s Boiler Room journey here.

At the end of 2017, Teater Ekamatra staged the piece, which was directed by Irfan Kasban. There were new scenes devised which took the production to a different direction.

Nabilah still wanted to develop her original idea for Angkat, and hence reached out to director Noor Effendy Ibrahim. Together they submitted the piece to the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival open call which was then accepted for 2019 Festival. Her play was renamed ANGKAT: A Definitive, Alternative, Reclaimed Narrative of a Native.

Playwright & Producer – Nabilah Said
Nabilah Said is a playwright and poet whose work has been presented in Singapore and London by theatre companies Teater Ekamatra, The Necessary Stage and Bhumi Collective. She is the founder of Main Tulis Group, a collective of playwrights writing in Malay and English. Nabilah is a former arts journalist at The Straits Times and currently writes reviews and articles for publications such as ArtsEquator and Exeunt Magazine.

Director – Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Noor Effendy Ibrahim is an interdisciplinary arts practitioner based in Singapore. Effendy was the Artistic Director of The Substation (2010-2015), and of Teater Ekamatra (2001-2006). He formed the interdisciplinary performance collective akulah BIMBO SAKTI in 2016. Effendy served on the National Arts Council’s Board from 2004 to 2006 and was selected for the National Arts Council’s Cultural Fellowship programme in 2014.

Production Stage Manager – Vivi Agustina
Vivi Agustina is an independent trilingual stage manager based in Singapore. She enrolled in the Stage Management Training Programme at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, training under the guidance of Jessie Ksanznak, a US-based stage manager. Since then, she has stage managed various theatre productions, dance recitals and music concerts. She is also currently the company stage manager at Ding Yi Music Company and venue stage manager at the Esplanade. She strives to keep on improving her stage management skills through her work.

Lighting Designer – Emanorwatty Saleh
Emanorwatty Saleh has worked extensively in production and stage management, lighting and sound design, acting and performance. Some of her technical credits include Reading Centhini (2014) by Agnes Christina at The Substation Directors’ Lab, Lockdown (2014) by Hatch Theatrics and as a lighting designer for Untitled (2013) by The Kaizen M.D. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Technical Theatre Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2008.

Sound Designer – Bani Haykal
bani haykal experiments with text + music. As an artist, composer and musician, bani considers music as a metaphor for cybernetics and his projects revolve around modes of interfacing and interaction in feedback/feedforward mechanisms. He is a member of b-quartet and Soundpainting ensemble Erik Satay & The Kampong Arkestra. In his capacity as a collaborator and soloist, bani has participated in festivals including Media/Art Kitchen (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan), Liquid Architecture (Singapore) and Singapore International Festival of Arts.

Production Designer – Akbar Syadiq
Akbar Syadiq is a designer who crosses mediums, materials, space, and disciplines. He collaborates to realise process and ideas, focusing on stage design, props making, print and digital design. As an individual and formerly part of the design collective, neontights, he has worked with companies such as Esplanade – Theatres By The Bay, Cake Theatrical Productions and Teater Ekamatra.

Dramaturg – Zulfadli Rashid
An educator, writer and a multi-disciplinary arts practitioner, Zulfadli Rashid has explored diverse issues pertaining to the Singaporean person in his works. Recent works include the Malay musical Alkesah (2018) for Esplanade’s Pesta Raya festival; Harap (2017), an adaptation of Haresh Sharma’s Hope, for Teater Ekamatra; and The Chronicles of One and Zero: Kancil (2016), written under the collective, Zeugma, for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Besides playwriting, he also dabbles in poetry recitals and performance art.

Actor – Adib Kosnan
Adib Kosnan is a theatre actor, director and playwright. As an actor, he has appeared in productions by TheatreWorks, The Necessary Stage, Drama Box, Teater Kami and was most recently seen in Teater Ekamatra’s Anak Bulan di Kampung Wak Hassan (Oct 2018). Adib enjoys the collaborative nature of theatre and is especially interested in improvisation and forum theatre. He is currently an Associate Artist at Checkpoint Theatre. He is also a founding member of Singaporean playwright collective Main Tulis Group.

Actor – Hafidz Abdul Rahman
Hafidz Abdul Rahman graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts (Theatre Arts). He is obsessed with Indian cinema. In his free time, he is an arts educator and performer.

Actor – Izzul Irfan
As a fresh face in the local theatre scene, Izzul Irfan has not stopped creating new and original works. From his first mono-drama Sampan (2016) to writing his first original musical Runaway (2018), he constantly pushes himself to make exciting productions that touch on issues facing his generation today. After acting in his first professional production Without Reason (M1 Peer Pleasure Theatre Festival, 2017), he hopes to inspire more youths to take up theatre as a space for change.

Actor – Moli Mohter
Moli Mohter has taken various positions in theatre since 1993, ranging from stage managing, production co-ordinating and acting, to costume, set, props making/building and make-up. In recent years, she has also been writing and directing theatre. As an actor, Moli has played various roles ranging from a schizophrenic to a blind old woman. She performed a monologue, La Libre Latifa (2002), produced by Teater Ekamatra and commissioned for Esplanade’s Pesta Raya festival. It was also performed in Kuala Lumpur’s Dewan Bahasa.

Actor – Shafiqhah Efandi
Shafiqhah Efandi graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a BA(Hons) in Acting. While at LASALLE, she worked with directors such as Noor Effendy Ibrahim, Natalie Hennedige, Edith Podesta and Stefanos Rassios. In 2018, she was in Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Pesta Raya’s first ever Malay pantomime Alkesah written by Zulfadli Rashid and directed by Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit. She was recently seen in Cerita Cinta, written and directed by akulah BIMBO SAKTI, which was staged as part of Esplanade’s Pentas season.

Credit source: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2019

“Because your dreams should not come with an expiry date.”

A Piece of Cake tells the story of Pat, a self-taught baker who finds herself at a crossroad in her 30-something life. While dealing with the challenging task of kick-starting a second career in her own bakery, Pat is faced with the parental pressure to start her own family with her long-time boyfriend, Thomas, and start it soon.

But that’s easier said than done, especially when money is tight. And now, niggling doubts start to cross Pat’s mind that maybe love is not what she needs right now.

So what do you do when society demands you stick to the status quo? Is there really an age limit to pursue your dreams?

A Piece of Cake explores the idea that a coming of age tale, can sometimes come at any age.

THE BEGINNING:

A Piece of Cake was first conceived during TheatreWorks 24-Hour Playwrighting Competition in 2012. The premise revolves around a 30-something daughter, her mother and her non-existent love life. The script was short, crammed full of ideas but was rough round the edges.

The script has since then gone through numerous drafts and was submitted to Toy Factory’s Playwright Incubation Programme, The Wright Stuff in 2016. A Piece of Cake was one of the four selected script to be further developed under the mentorship of Toy Factory’s Chief Artistic Director, Mr Goh Boon Teck.

Through an intensive period of re-writes, discussion and reflection, A Piece of Cake finally presented its work-in-progress by mid-July 2017.

 

CURRENT PHASE:

The experience garnered from The Wright Stuff has been invaluable. There were feedback ranging from audience members to critics alike. Even throughout the rehearsal progress, blind spots were discovered that were not noticed before.

Armed with new found knowledge, A Piece of Cake continued to evolved through rounds of re-drafting, table readings and more, you guess it, re-drafting.

Now with evolved characters, trimmed storyline and a heartfelt message, A Piece of Cake is ready once again to present its story to the masses.

 

STORY EVOLUTION:

What started out as an observation on singlehood vs marriage, the world of A Piece of Cake has evolved to encompass issues of identity, defying social expectations, love and family, which are universal themes that transcend gender, age and social status.

Whether it’s a teenager dealing with strict parents, or an office worker going through the motions, there are themes within A Piece of Cake that would resonate with them.

Playwright/Producer/Production Stage Manager – Samantha Chia
A Piece of Cake is Samantha Chia’s debut as a playwright. Prior to this play, Samantha has worked largely behind the scenes as a stage manager, production stage manager and crew in numerous musicals, plays and concert productions. Some of the productions the she has been involved in are Last Five Years: A Gender Reversal, by Ethel Yap as Production Stage Manager and Those Who Can’t, Teach, by The Necessary Stage as Stage Manager.

Director – Mustafa Sulaiman
Mustafa Sulaiman has over three years of experience as a director, writer and producer in theatre, corporate and broadcast productions. He has worked in both local and overseas projects. Some of the projects that he has been involved in are Toy Factory’s playwright incubation program, The Wright Stuff as Director and Assistant Director in local horror film, 2359.

Neo Kim Seng grew up in Pasir Panjang on Neo Pee Teck Lane, a side road named after his grandfather, until he moved out in 1973. My Grandfather’s Road is a collection of stories of the familial haven that stood along the road, stories that have helped him reconnect with his idyllic childhood and his family’s history. It does not dwell in nostalgia but instead explores how personal stories make us who we are.

The latest iteration of My Grandfather’s Road includes new stories that were unearthed, new speculations and reflections, and forgotten histories.

Karen Tan will be joined on stage by Loong Seng Onn in the English version. In the Cantonese version, Tan Cher Kian and Gary Tang come together, this time questioning who is telling the real story.

Credit source: Esplanade Presents: The Studios 2019

My Grandfather’s Road was first presented in 2015 as an English-language monologue, a photo exhibition and a book as one of nine performances at Cake Theatrical Productions’ 10th anniversary celebrations, Running with Strippers. It was conceived and written by Neo Kim Seng as a way of reconnecting with childhood memories of living on Neo Pee Teck Lane, which was named after his paternal grandfather.

In 2017, Kim Seng revisited the text of My Grandfather’s Road, refreshing it in the spoken language of his childhood – Cantonese. He also explored Cantonese as it is spoken on both sides of the Causeway. There were two versions of The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road – one in Singaporean Cantonese performed by Gary Tang, and one in Malaysian Cantonese performed by Tan Cher Kian. Read more about The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road here.

In 2018, an updated iteration of My Grandfather’s Road was independently produced and staged by Kim Seng. This iteration comprised two performances: the Cantonese versions updated by Gary Tang and Tan Cher Kian, and a new English monologue performed by Karen Tan.

Playwrights

Neo Kim Seng (English)
Tan Cher Kian & Gary Tang (Cantonese)

Director

Neo Kim Seng

Performers

Karen Tan & Loong Seng Onn (English)
Tan Cher Kian & Gary Tang (Cantonese)

What relationship do we share with our possessions?

How can we orient ourselves to these things differently?

This intimate interactive performance takes the form of an artist lecture and dialogue where Zihan will share his experiences of staging his installation Queer Objects: An Archive for the Future (2016), an assemblage of objects for a hypothetical queer archive in Singapore. Through participatory activities, the audience will join Zihan in an examination of the fictional and factual, virtual and actual potential of objects, and meditate on the contingency of identity and being.

Artist – Loo Zihan

Loo Zihan is an artist working at the intersection of critical theory, performance, and the moving-image. His work emphasises the malleability of memory through various representational strategies that include performance re-enactments, essay films and data visualisation. His research includes the erotiohistoriographical potential of archives and queer bonds. His performances have been presented at the Singapore International Festival of Arts and the Brisbane Festival. He was awarded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2015.

• Artist’s Website

The Last Five Years: A Gender Reversal is a gender-reversed adaptation of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, which tracks the relationship between a straight couple, Amy (formerly the male character “Jamie”) and Danny (formerly the female character “Cathy”), from their first date, to their marriage, to the end of their relationship in a divorce. The structure of the musical is such that each character takes turns to sing solo songs describing the journey of their relationship from their perspective, with Danny’s timeline going in reverse from end to beginning, and Amy’s timeline going in a chronological manner from beginning to end. The two characters only meet on stage once in the middle of the musical, where they sing their wedding duet together. Their relationship could be summarized as having an explosive start, with their paths beginning to diverge when Amy finds success as a novel writer while Danny struggles to gain recognition as a musical theatre actor, and finally ending in divorce after Amy cheats on Danny when he is away from New York City on a performance tour.

This workshop adaptation strives to use the device of a character gender-reversal to tease out assumptions and questions about gender roles dynamics, power and control that might exist in a straight relationship within the text of The Last Five Years, but would remain un-surfaced with a regular casting approach.

The main areas of exploration would include:

• The difference between what it means to be a successful man versus a successful woman
• Assumptions of male expectations of workplace success versus female expectations of family commitments
• The assumption of cheating within a relationship as being expected and unsurprising for men but not for women
• Assumptions of  male indifference versus female desperation in straight relationships
• Assumptions of male initiative versus female submission in straight relationships

Many discussions have arisen about the way in which men and women relate to each other, as well as the differences in expectations of male versus female behavior in personal and public spheres. The team seeks to use the method of gender-swap casting as a means to throw light upon these issues and provide a more critical lens questioning the validity of ingrained expectations.

The workshop aims to then examine how the transference of these explorations from text-based questions to physically embodied performance calls into question the reality of assumptions held, and whether or not a gender-swapped performance of the text can still be convincing, realistic, and relatable to present-day straight relationships in an urban, metropolitan setting.

In addition, there would be the added advantage of also giving the workshop’s team and audience members an opportunity to explore the limitless possibilities of unconventional casting choices, allowing the process of casting to work as an apparatus via which an existing work may be able to yield previously unearthed insights. The team can then explore how this can be a framework which may be applied to any other type of text-based theatrical work, with The Last Five Years being the test-bed for such an exploration.

The workshop aims to be the first part of an on-going process, working towards a fully-staged gender-swapped adaptation of The Last Five Years in the near future.

Creatives:
Producer – Ethel Yap
Director – Cherilyn Woo
Dramaturg – Jo Tan
Music Director – Aloysius Foong

Cast:
Amy Wellerstein – Ethel Yap
Danny Hiatt – Joash Tang

BITTEN: Return to Our Roots is a closer look at what fundamentally roots all of us, in our generation’s attempt to reconnect with out cultures and lineage, yet giving a fresh spin on how we interpret our traditions. How are elements of family history passed down from one generation to the next? Are bloodlines the only way to understand heritage, family and human ties? How do our different traditions and cultures coalesce to create the unique Singapore identity and kampong spirit?

Creators Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Thong Pei Qin embark on a journey to weave together the collective stories, oral histories and shared heritage of Kampong Bugis. Inspired by their own grandparents’ stories and homes that were situated within the vicinity in the 1930s to 1960s, the two friends wish to invite audience members to remember this site with historical significance, and to find out what binds people of diverse origins and cultures. This endeavour is urgent as new developments have been announced to give the Kallang Riverside a new look, with works beginning end of 2018.

The process of developing Bitten started in 2016:

Bitten was first read to a small private audience of theatre practitioner friends to garner feedback for the script in July 2016. This phase was supported by Centre 42’s Guest Room platform. You can find out more about the reading here.

In January 2017, a more developed script was presented as a work-in-progress to a small audience as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017’s Fresh Fringe.

In 2018, the work was developed and presented as a site-specific work with the title Bitten: Return to Our Roots. The performance comprised an element of a walking tour, in and around Kampong Bugis including the 130-year-old Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar temple,  the former Sam Tat building and the former Kallang Gasworks Holder No. 3.

Director – Thong Pei Qin

Pei Qin likes connecting with people and creating conversations. She also has a penchant for bringing experimental works out of the conventional theatre space.

BITTEN: Return to Our Roots is a constant discovery of the ties that bind her and her trusted life-long friend & collaborator Shanthini. The idea sparked off when they both realised their grandparents had lived around the vicinity of Kampong Bugis and had strong connections with the space.

Choreographer & Lead Dancer – Dr. Nidya Shanthini Manokara

In her avatar as a performance-maker, Shanthini enjoys exploring the resonances her bharata natyam practice has with contemporary issues in Singapore.

The physical structures that are still present today in Kampong Bugis, the sights and sounds from the formative years of the place that had been shared by the past residents including their own families, and the constant reflection on what it means to forge relationships (with spaces and people) have all deeply influenced both Shanthini and her dear friend Pei Qin.

Actor – Masturah Oli

Masturah Oli is an actor, host and theatre-maker. She graduated with a BA(Hons) in Theatre Arts from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts validated by the University of Essex (East 15 Acting School) in May 2018.

Her roles in theatre include: Teen Chorus in Pursuant: The Musical (Singapore Lyric Opera), Am I Singaporean (1N THE ACT PRODUCTIONS), Hecuba in Trojan Women (NAFA), Breathless: The Mixtape (Buds Theatre Company), and Harper in Far Away (NAFA).

Masturah performed in Step Outta Line as part of M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018. Later this year, she will be a part of Singapore Asian Youth Theatre Festival, a festival that celebrates the importance of youth in theatre. As a Youth Ambassador, Masturah will host the main stage events, alongside youths from all over Asia.

She feels extremely privileged to be sharing her love and knowledge of theatre to the coming generations. She hopes to one day inspire youths the way she was inspired by her teachers. Having just graduated, Masturah hopes to do all kinds of theatre, work
with all kinds of people and travel to all kinds of places.

Actor – Seong Hui Xuan

Hui Xuan is a professional actor, singer, dancer and choreographer. She holds a First-Class Honours in Musical Theatre from LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore), where she now lectures and choreographs part-time. A multifaceted performer, she recently was invited to perform a physical theatre piece for young audiences with Australian company The Paperboats in the 2018 Commonwealth Games festival village on the Gold Coast.

You’ve seen her on stage in Coraline, Tropicana the Musical, Rent, The Last Bull: A Life In Flamenco and more, and you’ve seen her choreography on Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress (Associate), Forever Young, Chicken Little and Lao Jiu the Musical.