Five characters navigate life on the fringes as they grapple with gender definitions, whether by choice or by circumstance. At best, society disregards them. At worst, they are relentlessly harassed—even viciously bullied—for being different.
Inspired by the true stories of women (and men) who relate to being butch, Pretty Butch examines feminine masculinity that is often hidden from everyday life and explores the diversity of butchness through the experiences of different people who defy gender conventions.
Credit source: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017
Pretty Butch delves into the realms of feminine masculinity in an attempt to provide a glimpse into the private lives of women who relate to or identify as butch, those who transition through butchness, and the lives of individuals who surround them. Through the sharing of personal experiences and oral history, Pretty Butch aims to question the positions of those who are not bound by binaries, and seeks to locate them in Singapore’s society, a society that often regards them as odd and irrelevant. Pretty Butch is a performance on and of gender, exploring what it really means to be a butch woman by demystifying the label and problematizing the binary. Pretty Butch is about real people, and their real stories.
Pretty Butch was a work previously under Centre 42’s Boiler Room programme. Read more about the development of the first iteration titled Suit here.
Director and Playwright – Tan Liting
ALiting works full time as a theatre practitioner with an interest in devising performance from personal stories. Liting’s past directorial credits include The Truth About Lying: Heresy and Common sense for the Theatre (The Finger Players), Taking The Subs (The Substation’s Director’s Lab), (When I’m) Sixty Four (Ageless Theatre), Re: Almost Left Behind (Singapore Arts Festival 2011), and Almost Left Behind (NUS Thespis). Liting likes conversation, hearing and telling a good story. Liting also likes guitars, sneakers and referring to Liting in the third person. Liting is a founding member of Theatre Cell.
Performer – Deonn Yang
Deonn is born and raised in Singapore. A graduate from LASALLE College of the Arts with a BA(Hons) in Acting, her recent theatre credits include: The Hummingbird (dir. Edith Podesta), a commissioned work by Zizi Azah, Revolutionary Model Play 2.0 (dir. Wang Chong), commissioned for Singapore International Festival of Arts 2015, 4.48 Psychosis (dir. Natalie Hennedige), and Holidays (dir. Chen Ying Xuan) with Take Off Productions. Deonn hopes to use comedy to affect change. She also enjoys wearing button-down shirts.
Lighting Designer – Helmi Fita
Helmi Fita is a full time Theatre Practitioner/Arts Educator. He has worked with various theatre companies both in Singapore and internationally. With almost 26 years of theatre experience under his belt, Helmi has worked as an actor/performer, director, production manager, stage manager, lighting designer and technical manager. Helmi was given the Honorable mention for special achievement in Lighting during the 3rd DBS Life! Theatre Awards 2003. Currently he loves creating/working in Taiwan.
Sound Designer – Jing Ng
Awarded with a National Arts Council Scholarship, Jing graduated from Rose Bruford College (UK) specialising in Performance Sound. He has a keen interest for sound design in theatre and dance; and enjoys collaborative, devised and experimental works. His Singapore credits are Silly Little Girl and The Funny Old Tree, Titoudao, A Fleeting Moment, Grind, Lord of the Flies, The Truth About Lying. He has worked on Little Black Book, Corpus Christi, Orion’s Hat, Rites & Regulations, Ghost Sonata, The Bacchae and You Me Bum Bum Train in the UK. He was nominated for Best Sound Design in the 2014 Off West End Theatre Awards for Outfox Productions’ Corpus Christi (UK).
Credit source: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017
Pretty Butch was developed in residence at Centre 42’s Basement Workshop from November 2016 to January 2017.
19 September 2016:
A work-in-progress preview presented to a select group of audience
11-15 January 2017:
World Premiere at Black Box and Rehearsal Studio, Centre 42 as part of M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017
2 June 2018:
A reading of the updated English script at Singlit Station
27 June 2018:
A reading of the English play at the next Fresh of the Page event in Auckland, New Zealand. Hosted by Proudly Asian Theatre
11-12 August 2018
Performance of the new Mandarin script at Taipei Arts Festival, as part of Producer List, a program focusing on overseas work. Venue: Taipei Zhongshan Hall.
