In The Living Room with Tan Tarn How

Tan Tarn How (1960-) has, at various points in his life, been a teacher, a journalist, a scriptwriter and a research fellow. However, he is best known as one of Singapore’s landmark playwrights with his bold, award-winning works which have certainly pushed boundaries over the years.

Read more about Tan’s life through the plays he penned and some selected milestones.

Part 1: In the Living Room with Tan Tarn How

Robin introduces Tarn How and dives into his most recent play, “Fear of Writing” (2011). The two discuss the play’s links to Alan Bennett’s “Talking Heads” series, a prophetic line from the play, and the capacity of theatre for social change.

Part 2: In the Living Room with Tan Tarn How

Robin chats with Tarn How about his plays “Machine” (2002), “The First Emperor’s Last Days” (1998), and “Six of the Best”(1996). The two discuss topics such as the Pinteresque, working with Ong Keng Sen, and theatre as artistic response to social issues. Tarn How also addresses audience members’ questions about the content produced by today’s playwrights, and the commercial viability of a theatre production versus its artistic merit.

Part 3: In the Living Room with Tan Tarn How

This part features Tarn How’s “Undercover” (1994), which Robin believes is his best play, and “The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine” (1993), Tarn How’s most famous play. The two talk about satire, English and Singlish in Singapore plays, challenging audiences, and censorship and regulation in Singapore theatre. Tarn How reads from his entries in The Diary of Censorship, which is appended to the published text of “The Lady of Soul” and documents his experiences with the regulatory authorities when staging the play for the first time.

Part 4: In the Living Room with Tan Tarn How

Robin has Tarn How talking about his first attempts at play-writing. Tarn How wrote “Home” (1993) during his stint at TheatreWork’s Writers’ Lab, which the two former participants discuss. They also talk about the landscape of play-writing and theatre in the early 1990s. Robin ends off this journey through Tarn How’s works with his earliest successes — “Two Men, Three Struggles” (1987) and “In Praise of the Dentist” (1986, co-written with his wife), award-winning submissions to the NUS-Shell Short Play Competition. During the audience Q&A, the discussion returns to differences between the generations of Singaporean playwrights.

Dr Robin Loon invites into the Living Room Singaporean playwright Tan Tarn How to chat, chart and reflect on his play-writing journey through a selection of his works. In a span of two decades, Tarn How has written nine plays, several of which have won numerous awards. Collectively, his work examines the socio-political environment and machinations of the Singapore state. On this evening, they talked about the relevance of writing for the stage now, and about several of his plays, including his very first In Praise of Dentist (1986) and his most recent Fear of Writing (2011). Photo credit: Tim Nga

Source: Centre 42 Facebook