MAKING A STAND | by Project Tandem

Making A Stand – made possible with the Creation Grant from the National Arts Council – is a work-in-progress showcase that combines 2 genres of theatre:

a) Personal Story
In 3 intimate spaces, 10 performers will perform short solo pieces, revealing their lived experiences of making a stand (or not) through the forms of either an anecdote, a lecture or a confession.

b) Verbatim Tapestry
4 performers will perform a staged reading of a verbatim script, interweaving the voices of 12 D/deaf and disabled persons in Singapore, capturing the ‘shining moments’ from 40 in-depth and intimate interviews conducted. This tapestry serves as a short sampling of an extended verbatim production to reveal different themes and diverse viewpoints from the community.

Making A Stand is the very first local disability-led theatre project, created and represented by emerging Deaf and disabled artists from Singapore, and includes experienced artists as creative mentors. Making A Stand is a platform for the artists to share the moments in which they stood up for something they believe in, at the same time highlighting issues related to identity, self-image, kinship, friendship, romance, livelihood, aspirations and barriers.

The project started out in April 2017 and has since grown into a community for creative support and development in weekly training workshops. The process of creating the work includes drawing from one-on-one in-depth interviews with the Deaf and disabled community, as well as regular content-workshopping with the community’s emerging artists and creative mentors. The aim is to excavate and present poignant verbatim monologues and individual stories that will debunk stereotypes of what it means to be disabled and reflect the lived experiences of the disabled in an ableist society. The personalized mentorship aims to gear the artists towards two forms of performances – Promenade Theatre: intimate solo storytelling; and Proscenium Theatre: ensemble verbatim performance.

A first phase of sharing will be held in September 2017, where 13 emerging artists present their solo creations, ranging from poetry to site-specific storytelling. Thereafter, the group will embark on a more focused and intensive creation and training from October 2017 through to July 2018, arriving at a final showcase in July 2018 in various spaces at Centre 42.

Making a Stand is the parallel project to The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues, a UK-Singapore commissioned project which had also begun its research and development in April 2017. Learnings from the intensive development phases of The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues are integral to the conception and development of this new work. Read more about The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues here.

Director and Head of Creative Mentorship – Peter Sau
Peter graduated from the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) with a Professional Diploma in Intercultural Theatre (Acting).  He won ‘Best Actor’ in the 2015 Singapore Life! Theatre Awards and has performed in eleven cities globally.  As an independent theatre director, performer and educator, he is now mentoring two disabled mentees towards their solo performances and spearheading a voluntary cost-free theatre training program with a growing number of pan-disability artists-in-the-making.  He knows O’Reilly and Zarilli for twelve years as role models and recognizes his disability as not yet physical or visible, but social, political and cultural.  In 2011, he was conferred the ‘Young Artist Award’ by the National Arts Council.

Artistic Advisor – Kaite O’Reilly
Kaite has won many awards for her work, including the Ted Hughes Award for ‘Persians’ (National Theatre Wales).  Her plays have been translated/produced in eleven countries worldwide, her selected Atypical Plays for Atypical Actorspublished by Oberon.  A leading figure in UK’s disability arts and culture, she received two Unlimited Commissions for ‘In Water I’m Weightless,’ produced by National Theatre Wales as part of the festival celebrating 2012 London Olympics/Paralympics.  Unlimited commission ‘Cosy’ was produced at Wales Millennium Centre in 2016.  A fellow of International Research Centre in Berlin, she is reflecting on her practice between hearing and Deaf culture.  Patron of Disability Arts Cymru and DaDaFest.

Lead Writer, Dramaturg and Researcher – Shai
Verbatim Script Editor and Disability Advocate – Alvan Yap
Interviewers – Lim Lee Lee, Peter Sau
Lead Transcribers – Lim Lee Lee, Shai
Writers-Performers – Lily Goh, June Chua, Lim Lee Lee, Agnes Lim, Stephanie Fam, Hendry Chia, Danial Bawthan, Claire Teo, Cavan Chang, Timothy Lee
Creative Mentors – Tan Beng Tian, Doreen Toh, Koh Wan Ching, Melissa Leung, Grace Khoo, Lina Yu, Grace Kalaiselvi, Shannen Tan, Zhuo Zihao
Producer – Natalie Lim
Production Designer and Technical Advisor – Dorothy Png
Sound and Music Composer – Danial Bawthan
Captioning Designers – Alvan Yap, Shai