Blog

The blog is a place for us to share the stories of theatre practitioners who come to use our space, whether they’re playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, or actors. Through this platform, we hope to document their creative process and provide some behind the scenes insight into the work that they do. Articles posted here are written either by the artists themselves, or by the Centre 42 team.

It almost feels like there’s nothing I’ve not done at the blue house

I don’t remember the first time I visited Centre 42, but I remember vividly how amused I was that this building was so different than all the other monochromatic architecture most of us are used to when we think of…

Sebuah Play_Draft 28

Whenever I try to think about my journey as a playwright/theatre-maker over the last decade, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the multiple times I have found myself sleep-deprived, and manically trying to write a new play,…

There’s always another performance to look forward to next month

It is at once a bustling rehearsal compound, a retreat for writers, and a festival ground of ideas. The house itself is unassuming and quaint, its facade just like a house that any child would draw, square with pitched roofs,…

The Passage of Time

The blue house at 42 Waterloo Street has been etched firmly in my mind as a space, both physical and otherwise, that I will always hold dear. I do remember the time when the physical premises was the home of…

The House at 42 Waterloo Street

Centre 42’s home at 42 Waterloo Street is really old. But just how old exactly? We’re not entirely sure. What we do know is that the house must have seen a lot in its lifetime, evolving from a home for…

Looking Back at an Arts Festival for the Future

Southernmost – it’s the title of Emergency Stairs’ annual festival for artistic experimentation and dialogue, and also a geographic direction. At first encounter with the word, and thinking of geography as cultural politics, I think of relationships, positionality and cultures.…

Homage to Mat and Minah Reps

In 2015, Nessa Anwar volunteered for an organisation that provided educational opportunities for underprivileged children. When she visited a rental flat on a mission trip, she was greeted by a sobering sight. “I saw five or six curtains hanging from…

The A to Z of Making Theatre

Imagine this – you’ve written a script. You’ve even tested it out on an audience. And then, your director says you’re scrapping it all and starting again. (Did you wince?) Well, it’s not that your script is terrible. It’s just part…

Poetic License

Here at Centre 42, we love bringing artists together. That is why, at this year’s Late-Night Texting, we present Verso / Recto, a dialogue between Main Tulis Group and Pink Gajah Theatre. We challenged these two theatre groups to create…

Love’s the name of the game

The more I write, the more I have to write!” theatre-maker and game designer Rei Poh exclaims. It is still early on in the process, but Rei’s script for his upcoming work, Dating Sim (Beta), has already amassed a hefty…

Growing theatre

Centre 42 is a blue-hued greenhouse for plays. Some theatre-makers arrive with a sapling of a play, and we simply provide time and space for growth. And sometimes, we give a bit more of a nudge. For the first time…

The Power to Start Things

Playwriting can be a lonely career. For the independent playwright, creating work and searching for opportunities by oneself is often a daunting, difficult task. But two heads (or more) are better than one, as I found out from two playwriting…

Key Takeaways from ADN Conference 2019

On 26 May, the invited speakers of the Asian Dramaturgs’ Network (ADN) Conference 2019 gathered back in the Festival House Blue Room to share highlights, insights and critiques from two days of presentations and intense discussions. Titled “Dramaturgy and the…

Seeding clouds

The past five years have been exciting for us here at Centre 42. Since we opened our doors in April 2014, we have been home to more than 150 artists and theatre collectives, and supported the development of over 170…

A dramaturgy of everything

"Dramaturgy as a word is a prism, through which you can enter from multiple directions. And that is a very rare thing for a word to provide." - David Pledger

Reflections by Grace Lee-Khoo

As an applied theatre practitioner, I am most interested in the phenomenological human condition. Essentially, phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness, as experienced from the first-person point of view. We are each the complex sum of our experiences.…