Recess Time is a communal lunch series by The Theatre Practice, which is spearheaded by Ang Xiao Ting (far left). Photo: The Theatre Practice

Recess Time is a recently launched lunch series held at The Theatre Practice’s Tuckshop on most Fridays, which aims to foster a sense of community through food. As the longest-standing professional bilingual theatre company in Singapore, Practice has been staging plays and growing generations of arts makers since its establishment in 1965. But when the company moved to its current home at 54 Waterloo Street in 2016, a whole world of possibilities opened up as the team now has a new space to play with.

Hear more from Recess Time’s programmer, Ang Xiao Ting, as she tells us more about how the project came about and what the team hopes to achieve with it!

How did the idea of Recess Time come about?
I think it started from us wanting to manage Tuckshop as our own space, instead of leasing it out. We wanted to create a ‘gathering space’ of sorts, to provide physical space for our community, many of whom may need space to brainstorm about their next crazy ideas. So naturally, people gather over food, and we wanted to further the idea of Tuckshop being a ‘black box, but with food’. In our collaterals, we promote the idea of ‘creative expression on a plate’, and this is the perfect platform for anyone who wishes to showcase his/her creativity through food, which is in line with Practice’s ethos of play.

Also, as a freelancer, most of us are so used to just grabbing a chye png for functional eating, and the idea of nutritious, yet affordable, meals is somewhat difficult to achieve. So Recess Time functions on a by-donation system to attempt to address the aspect of affordability.

What do you hope to achieve with Recess Time?
To create opportunities to eat good food [laughs]? Personally, the best remedy for me is often great meal and great company. In that sense, Recess Time is a simple form of outreach. It is a service; a quick respite. It brings neighbours together, and it is a wonderful springboard for all kinds of stories to emerge. I also hope word gets out, and we get to meet new friends and make new connections with people who may not necessarily step foot into the theatre.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in hosting something like this?
Facilitating conversations. Part of the programme includes a floating writer, our “Kay Poh Queen”, who collects anecdotes that people share after having their meals. These anecdotes are kept in our Recess Time Journal, which is left on the table for future guests to read so they can get a sense of the previous Recess Times. The journal also contains notes from the chefs themselves and recipes so our guests can try out the dishes for themselves. So it’s always a challenge to gauge whether someone is just there to makan and leave, wants to talk during their meal, after their meal, etc.

Why did you choose to partner with SGfoodrescue for Recess Time, and how do you work with them?
Xin, the associate programmer, was the one who suggested it. We wanted to introduce an element of food culture specific to Singapore, and it made sense that educating the public about food wastage became an integral part of Recess Time. We send the chef to volunteer for one of SGfoodrescue’s rescue missions and the chef has to collect his/her veggies required for the meal. However, it is up to the chef to decide how much of what he/she collects features rescued veggies. When my mum signed onto do Recess Time last year, she was extremely hesitant about the rescued eggplants at first because they looked ‘old’ based on their appearance. But she was so surprised when she cut them open and saw that the quality was far better than what the exterior suggests. Think that was an ‘aha’ moment for her and ‘heng ah’ moment for me.

How do you “cast” your chefs? And do you work with them to come up with the menu or do you leave them to decide?
We want to have a balanced selection of professional chefs, and amateur chefs, like home cooks, as well as artists. We did a shoutout at the start of the year, but we are currently looking for people to host Recess Time in August. There are two slots available. Menu-wise, the chefs curate it on their own because it is intrinsically linked to their own stories. So like with chef Priscill, her menu comprises mainly of rescued veggies, which is tied in with her belief in creating simple, yet healthy comfort food, while educating people about food culture at the same time.

So far, who are the people who usually come for Recess Time? Any surprises?
We especially love it when our neighbours pop by! Because there’s limited seating, so we generally get excited when unfamiliar faces drop by. The biggest surprise recently was when actress Koh Chieng Mun came. Turns out, she is Priscill’s cousin. She was very sweet and supportive of the initiative.

Can you share any especially memorable anecdotes from Recess Time so far?
The best part of Recess Time is really the stories we’ve collected. There’s one hilarious one about how someone became a vegetarian because she had just quit her job and decided to binge watch Breaking Bad – the crunchy food was too distracting, so she lived on smoothies for a significant amount of time, and unintentionally ‘conditioned’ herself to become vegetarian.

Another story that has been chronicled in our Recess Time Journal is this: “I cook for my family based on the blood type diet! I know the doctor that introduced the diet to Singapore and it’s based on a history of blood type and what’s good for them. My family will usually just eat what I cook and I cook one favourite dish each. So it’s really five dishes per meal. My husband isn’t Chinese so MUST have curry and soy. I love soup on the other hand – very Cantonese. My five dishes usually include two meats and three vegetable dishes or/with a soup. It takes me almost three hours to cook – starting from the prep in the morning. It’s really a lot of effort but it’s worth it.”

Lastly, when will you be cooking for Recess Time, and what’s going to be on your menu?
I won’t be cooking but we’ve got a really eclectic mix of people coming to join us! Whatever it is, I promise you the food will taste great.

By Gwen Pew
Published on 5 April 2019

Recess Time will be taking place on most Fridays at the Practice Tuckshop at 54 Waterloo Street. Find out more about the programme and check the schedule of upcoming session here.

This article was published in Blueprint Issue #9.

Wonder Gelato was founded based on Karen Cheng’s deep love for ice cream. Photo: Wonder Gelato

Karen Cheng was a property agent when fate decided to intervene and make her the owner of a brand new gelateria right here on Waterloo Street. “Wonder Gelato” only opened on 18 October last year but it’s quickly become a go-to spot for ice-cream lovers. Karen makes her gelato onsite from her very own recipes, with classic flavours like Vanilla and Strawberry, to the exotic-sounding Black Hawaii, an inky-black ice cream combining coconut and charcoal.

Read on to find out how Karen stumbled into the world of gelato-making.

Why did you call your shop “Wonder Gelato”?
Aiyoh, the name – I took a very, very long time to think about it! I watched the movie Wonder on the plane to the US, and I thought ‘wonder’ sounds interesting. Even in the dictionary, ‘wonder’ means fabulous, good! A lot of things come unplanned for my business. I don’t plan anything. Everything just comes on its own!

How did you get into the gelato business then?
I was in real estate all along. It’s all because of the display case. I went to the FHA (Food & Hotel Asia) show last year on a friend’s invitation. Then, there’s this Italian guy that told me if I bought the case, I would be the first one in Singapore to own it. Because there are only two tubs in each compartment, so the flavours don’t contaminate each other. In conventional cases, all the ice cream is in one place. So I might eat strawberry and I’ll taste something else. I don’t like that. And my display case is also quite short. Good for short people like me! You can see me!

When I bought this case, I hadn’t even found a shop yet. Then after that the [case seller] told me I could store it in the warehouse. I kept it there for about four months.

How did you end up setting up shop at Waterloo Centre?
My dad’s office is at Fortune Centre, so I’ve been around the area for many years. I’m very familiar with this place. I’m a property agent, so I recced many places. But when I saw the listing for this location, I knew it was the right place. Immediately I came down and put down a deposit for it. This place caters to many different crowds. Upstairs, there are the residents. And the offices. You get SMU and NAFA students. And the hotels – sometimes we get tourists here.

Where did your love for gelato come from?
During the weekends I would drive my two younger sisters around to eat ice cream and waffles, like Creamier and Salted Caramel. We would drive around to try all the ice cream stalls.

Where did you learn to make gelato?
Carpigiani Gelato University. The university has a partnership with At-Sunrice Global Chef Academy. It was a short course. They just teach you the fundamentals of gelato-making. After that, you have to go back and formulate your own recipes.

How did you develop your gelato recipes?
I spent around six months formulating my recipes. Italians have a sweet tooth, so normal gelato has around 23% sugar. My gelato is only 17% sugar. I also had to play around with different sugars. It’s very tricky – I really had to spend a lot of time balancing the ingredients. And I like my ice cream to be thick.

Which is your favourite flavour?
Coconut. I love coconut flavours, fruity flavours. I don’t see those very often in ice cream shops; it’s always Earl Grey Lavender and all the other classic ones. So I thought, maybe I should go and learn how to make it for myself. I’ll go to the market to get fresh coconut milk. You can’t keep it overnight because it will turn sour. So when I make the gelato, I have to buy the milk in the morning and churn it immediately.

Do you think you’ll fall out of love with gelato now that it’s your business?
I still love ice cream. I still eat them – just now I just had the Mao Shan Wang Durian gelato. I won’t get sick of ice cream!

Published on 11 January 2019

Visit Wonder Gelato at 261 Waterloo Street, 01-30 Waterloo Centre, 180261, and follow its Facebook page here.

This article was published in Blueprint Issue #8.

Frank Shen founded American Taproom with his beer buddies Johnny Christensen and Winston Kwang in April 2018.

When American Taproom opened at Waterloo Centre in April 2018, it instantly became a popular addition to the craft beer scene in Singapore. Founded by Frank Shen, Johnny Christensen, and Winston Kwang, the bar boasts a huge variety of beers on tap – 32, to be exact – with new flavours constantly being introduced. From stouts to IPAs, there’s a beer for everyone.

Find out more about American Taproom from co-founder Frank.

How did the idea for American Taproom come about?
The idea came about when Johnny [Christensen] who is American, Winston [Kwang] who distributes American beers, and me who love[s] the US and started the first taproom concept in Singapore, felt that the industry needed to grow.

How did you guys know each other?
Johnny relocated to Singapore and was working for Brewerkz, where we met. So beer kinda brought us together, the same way that American Taproom wants beer to bring people together. Winston has been in the industry since the beginning, so we met through the industry.

Before establishing American Taproom, you were the bar manager of Nickeldime Drafthouse. But how did you first get into the local beer scene?
I got into the beer scene when a buddy brought me to one of the first craft beer bottles bars in Singapore, called Old Empire Gastrobar. I drank so many beers that the owners started talking to us. I was asked to help at a beer festival, and from there I fell in love and got offered a position in their distribution and restaurant.

American Taproom has the largest collection of craft beers in a bar in Singapore. How do you decide which beers to put on the board?
We want to have a diverse beer list, so we try to have as many styles as possible. We want everybody to have a suitable style of beer for them. Some brands already have a reputation. (Like us!) Some we read about, find out about the brewery, the brewer and their reputation. And some we try at tastings, of course! We love beer!

You guys also do tap takeovers, where other brands come in to literally takeover your tap(s). How does that work, and how do you decide who to work with?
Yes, we do. We talk to the distributor. We know people, and try to help whoever we can as long as the beers are good.

How do you ensure the quality of your beer, and how can someone be sure that they haven’t been given a bad beer in general?
We taste the beer very often. All our guys are trained. We store them in our cold room, which is specially for beers and set at 2 to 5 degrees. If the beer is bad, it will taste off. If the beer is bad, we take it out and send it back. If the beer has deteriorated, we take it off the tap. But so far, all is good. We also maintain the lines and facets on our own.

What if a customer isn’t very familiar with beer? Can they ask for recommendations?
Usually, we start by asking our customers their taste profile. We can start with something light or dark, followed by the style if they know – fruity, or if it’s dark, whether they want more coffee notes or chocolate etc. From there, we kinda try to figure out what they like. If they are confused, we do allow them to taste some of the beers we recommend.

What’s your favourite kind of beer?
I like sours, as they are always unexpected.

And finally, what exciting events does American Taproom have coming up in the last quarter of the year?
On 27 October we have Heretic Brewing doing a tap takeover for Halloween. We also have new menus coming in October, and we’re starting our happy hour – 15% off from 4pm to 6pm, Saturdays to Thursdays.

By Gwen Pew
Published on 28 September 2018

Visit American Taproom at Waterloo Centre, #01-23, 261 Waterloo Street, and stay up to date by following its Facebook page here.

This article was published in Blueprint Issue #7.

The creators of The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl (from left to right): Sarah Amalina, Brenda Tan, Lee Shu Yu, and Eugene Koh. Photo: Gwen Pew

Written in 1982, Stella Kon’s Emily of Emerald Hill is one of the most well-known and beloved plays in the Singapore English-Language Theatre canon. And now, 36 years after the monodrama was first written, a group of young theatre practitioners have decided to revisit the work and examine it in a new light through Centre 42’s Vault programme. Titled The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl, this new creation is written and co-directed by Eugene Koh, co-directed by Lee Shu Yu, performed by Brenda Tan, and stage managed and documented by Sarah Amalina. It mixes parts of the original play text with new writing and multi-media, and aims to explore what Emily might look like in the social media age through a new character called Elisabeth, who the team devised together.

The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl will be performed at Centre 42 on 29 and 30 June. In this interview, we chat with Eugene, Shu Yu, and Brenda to find out more about what we can expect.

How did the idea for The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl come about?
Eugene Koh (EK): We were taking the module ‘Singapore English-Language Theatre’ in NUS [National University of Singapore], and in one of the first lessons we were talking about Emily of Emerald Hill, and Dr. [Robin] Loon [lecturer and Centre 42’s co-founder] mentioned that you can never tell who Emily was addressing: the audience in the 1950s, or in the future, or in the past. It made me wonder why, then, is this play so recognized and remembered, if the audience are not sure where to place themselves? And I drew the parallel to YouTube videos, where everything seems like it’s happening in the present, even though you know it’s made in the past. So it started from that idea.

What are you hoping to explore through this work?
Lee Shu Yu (LSY): When you look at Emily as a character, there is a lot of debate about whether you should like her or hate her, so we wanted to capture that through Elisabeth as well. We wanted to represent a kind of performativity of identity through the lens of social media, because nowadays that’s what’s happening around us, so we wanted to represent that onstage.

Brenda Tan (BT): We also wanted to explore how Emily navigates with the space and interacts with different characters through Elisabeth. It’s interesting to see her as a sole character and focus on how her body and voice changes.

How did you go about exploring the characters of both Emily and Elisabeth in your upcoming work?
BT: Emily is a very established character who has been portrayed by a ton of really great actors over the years, and you see different people bringing out a different side of Emily – Margaret Chan was very motherly, Ivan Heng was more performative and funny, etc. So in drawing the parallel to Elisabeth being a millennial who uses the internet and navigates around the social media space, we wanted her to be someone who is approachable. She’s performative in a way, but still true to her own character.

Do you see The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl as an extension or an adaptation of Emily of Emerald Hill?
LSY: It’s a sequel, adaptation, and reinterpretation all at once. It is a sequel in terms of timeline and Elisabeth’s relationship to Emily; it’s an adaptation because we took our reference from the source material; but it’s also a reinterpretation because we took certain themes and moods of each scene but used them in our own way.

What was your process like in creating The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl?
EK: It was collaborative.

BT: We literally sat in Eugene’s room, and he had post-it notes of different scenes from Emily of Emerald Hill stuck on his wardrobe door. And we were like, “Hmm this one is nice. Okay, let’s move this here…” And we just kind of see how it fits and which scenes from the original text we wanted to keep.

EK: As for the voice of Elisabeth, most of it came from Brenda. She would improvise certain scenes.

BT: It can be difficult because I also make YouTube videos, so in many of these instances I am being me and I can relate, but at the same time I have to be very careful and remember that it’s also not me.

LSY: So every time Brenda comes up with something, we will take it apart and discuss what’s interesting about it, how it’s similar to Emily, or why it’s relevant to today’s life.

Brenda, you mentioned that you’re also a YouTuber in real life. What’s that like for you?
BT: I started making YouTube videos just as I entered university, so for two and a half years now. My videos are mostly about skincare, makeup, and fashion, but some people who follow me will request videos and I’ll do them. So it became about food, lifestyle, home, and other personal stuff. More recently, I started talking about social issues because not a lot of people are talking about them. It’s been such an adventure. I didn’t expect to have an audience, because I initially made the videos as a companion to my blog. I’ve always been a social media baby. I found that it’s the best way to make very quick, sincere interactions, and I never thought it’s fake because you know how Singaporeans are really shy, so when someone wants to reach out to me, they will write me an email or they’ll slide into my DMs [direct messages] [laughs]. It’s nice to be able to pour my heart out in front of the camera and find that there’s a group of people who feel the same way and actually want to have a sincere conversation about it.

There’s a multimedia element in The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl. Can you tell us more about that?
EK: Emily of Emerald Hill uses a lot of media that was fairly new at the time – things like voice recording or projector slides – to enhance the theatrical illusion of the play. And for us, we felt that we should pay homage to that by using social media in our performance as well.

LSY: I think one big thing that kept coming up as we were thinking about it was the staging of it. We have multimedia going on in the background, but we also have a live performer. So which is more ‘live’ and which is more ‘present’?

What were some of the challenges that you faced during the creation process?
LSY: Interestingly, the big challenges we had actually worked out pretty okay – in terms of when we were brainstorming about creative ideas, working out plot holes and things like that. The main roadblocks were things like looking for archive footages and going through the paperwork of obtaining them. Thankfully people like [producer] Jeremiah [Choy] and Centre 42 helped.

Who is your ideal audience for this work?
BT: People who are genuinely interested in seeing how Emily of Emerald Hill has evolved – people who are hopefully familiar with the play and the themes that it discusses. Hopefully, our piece will provide them with a platform for deeper conversation.

Do you feel like it’s more for the millennial generation – since you’re referencing the social media world so much – or is it for everyone else as well?
EK: I guess both. Those who are more familiar with the earlier stagings of Emily of Emerald Hill will pick up more on how things have changed. With the millennial generation, I guess they would recognize the environment that Elisabeth is in and, through that, understand what Emily of Emerald Hill is about. So, the net is fairly wide?

BT: Also, if it piques an interest in people who have never read or watched Emily of Emerald Hill to pick up the script to read it, you know, then that’s great!

By Gwen Pew
Published on 21 June 2018

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The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl is an adaptation of Stella Kon’s much-loved play Emily of Emerald Hill. Created by Eugene Koh and Lee Shu Yu, and performed by Brenda Tan, @thisisemeraldgirl combines new writing, multimedia, and Stella Kon’s original text in a monologue exploring family and social life in a social media age. Find out more here.
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“I think as a theatre company, it is our responsibility to inject some form of training programme to enrich the ecosystem, because the reason that we are here today is also because of the generosity of our predecessors. I wouldn’t be here without Haresh Sharma and other theatre companies opening their door to me. I think I am just passing the baton,” says Tze Chien. “Because how else do you grow the scene if you don’t have writers, directors, and actors? You need those before you can grow an audience.”

Watch This Space runs an open call for playwrights and directors on alternating years, and past participants include Zelda Tatiana Ng, Tan Liting, and Thong Pei Qin for the Directors Series, and Ng Yi-Sheng, Lucas Ho, and Ellison Tan Yuyang for the Playwrights Series. The two latest playwrights to be selected for the programme are Euginia Tan and Jo Tan, who began their mentorship with Tze Chien in June 2017. A closed-door dramatised read for their works will be held at Centre 42 this month, and Tze Chien will eventually select one of those scripts to be developed into a full production to be staged under TFP’s main season in 2019. Euginia’s play is called The Man in the Coffin, while Jo’s is called Forked.

We catch up with the pair to find out more about their journey so far.

Euginia Tan’s play, The Man in the Coffin, is inspired by the story of her aunt.

Let’s start from the beginning. How did the idea for your play come about?
Euginia Tan: The story is based off my aunt, my father’s youngest sister, who has been living in the United States as a nun for the Little Sisters of the Poor for at least two decades. I’ve visited her and lived with the nuns for a month or so each time. I’ve found that under the uniform and the universal idea of being devoted to a cause, they’re still very human and grapple with their individual relationships to the faith and how they feel about it in different phases of their lives.

I have a very special relationship with this aunt also because a lot of my relatives believe we look alike. I wondered how much of an impact her [leaving Singapore] had on the family as a whole, and that, coupled with her experiences living abroad for so many years, spurred me to write this play.

Jo Tan: I really wanted to join Huzir Sulaiman’s playwriting masterclass three years ago, and to be considered, you had to send over an idea for a play you wanted to write. I had just gotten back from a year-long acting course in Paris, and I started thinking about the multiple personalities I had there: Asian for my teachers and certain schoolmates who seemed partial to Eastern exotica, and extremely Western when performing my acting pieces and sometimes just to blend in. For specific situations, I would also adopt different languages and accents (I’m lucky enough to have learnt a few languages).

But then my mentor, Philippe Gaulier, asked me during a Shakespeare class, why do you put on a voice? Can you speak your own language? At that point, my other classmates had taken to doing their monologues in their mother tongue of Mandarin, Hokkien, Spanish, Japanese, Italian etc., and were able to unlock something deep and unaffected in their performances. But I realised that I had focused so much on being an adaptable chameleon that I didn’t know what my native language was anymore. I decided that since this was something that I had been thinking for a while about, it would be good, simple, straightforward material for a first play. Two years on, I’m still learning how wrong I was!

Why did you want to decide to apply for Watch This Space?
ET: [Writer Ng] Yi-Sheng told me about the open call, so I went for it! I’ve always appreciated the process of mentorships because it’s a really different learning experience. This is not my first mentorship and every mentor is different, so I’ve been fortunate to expand my vocabulary in the field depending on each mentor.

JT: In Huzir’s masterclass, all the participants helped read one another’s plays and people seemed to quite like China Wine (as Forked was then called). They encouraged me to keep working on it, and I was wondering about getting continuing guidance post-masterclass to develop the work further. Then The Finger Players (TFP) sent out the notice calling for play submissions for Watch This Space. I had just worked with the mentor in question, Chong Tze Chien, as an actor on his first musical Itsy, and I felt I really grew from the experience because he invested so heavily in the people working with him. Also, I’ve always been a great fan of his writing – PIE was one of the first few Singapore plays I read that I wasn’t actually performing in, and I loved it. And I’ve also loved every single TFP production I saw, since the weird and wonderful I’m Just A Piano Teacher (2006). So I didn’t have to think too hard about it.

Euginia, the open call for Watch This Space required pretty much a full-length script to be submitted. Is that the script that you ended up working on over the past few months? If so, what was the process like as you worked on it, and how has it developed?
ET: Yes, it was the same script that I submitted, but currently it’s probably version 92742319401570 of it.

It was hell and I begged Tze Chien several times to let me give it all up and start on a fresh script, but he would call me out on copping out. Which was true. So I stuck it out. I’d like to be polite and say it was a wonderful process but it was tiring, arduous and currently the subject header on each email I’ve sent over containing the edited draft is “I Hate Playwriting”.

I’ve retained the comedic elements of the script from when I first submitted it, but the comedy is different now. It’s comic because the truth is oftentimes funny and hence also a sad reality check about people and their idiosyncrasies. Ultimately, it is also a story about how people come together in times of grief. And for that I appreciate the time span of the mentorship, because I’ve needed a lot of time to let things sink in so as to write scenes that are relatable both for myself and a larger audience. I can’t convince an audience if I’m not convinced of the story myself first.

On the other hand, Jo, the work that you’re showcasing under Watch This Space has been through several iterations, from China Wine in Saga Seed’s Seed Incubator Readings to Forked at this year’s M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. What has it been like to work on the same piece with all these different platforms?
JT: The main difference is that I’m working with different people, which has been pretty fantastic because I get advice from very divergent artists and really try them all out on the floor, in front of an audience. What a luxury! For the Saga Seed’s Seed Incubator readings, Jean Tay would offer feedback while the director was Tan Liting, and for Fringe I asked Chen Yingxuan to come onboard as director, and Joel Tan to help me as dramaturg – he was the one who came up with the current title when we were all brainstorming over a WhatsApp group – while Tze Chien continued to mentor. Quite a lot of people were involved, because the script was accepted by both Fringe and Watch This Space at the same time.

I also asked some of the theatre-makers I knew, including Lucas Ho, Faith Ng and of course Huzir and Claire Wong to come see the full dress and offer comments. I tried to take what I could from all of them, and I feel really privileged. At the same time, Tze Chien tells me that I can be too accommodating, since I often try to agree with everyone and combine what can be irreconcilable points of view, and that I need to find my own voice in order to know what to take on and what to reject… and that it’s perfectly okay to reject dramaturgical advice. Even his. Still getting there!

Another big difference between Fringe and Watch this Space is that for Fringe I had co-actors, and now I do not. My co-actors were absolutely brilliant, and I’m very glad I got to work with Chang Ting Wei before she relocated back to Taiwan.

Jo Tan has been working on her play, Forked, for three years, even before she was selected for Watch This Space.

And can you tell us about the process that you/your script have gone through with Watch This Space so far?
JT: As someone who studied law and often works with corporate clients, I’ve always thought myself pretty articulate and analytical. But constantly being asked, what is this play about? What do you want to say? And not being able to give an answer below ten words – that’s forced me to confront the fact that I’m often a wobbly rambler. As for the play, it has transformed. The characters have been constantly changing and swapping countries and concerns and backgrounds, to better illustrate the issues rambled about. Some characters have been cut. The protagonist has a more fleshed-out history. And maybe the biggest change of all: the piece started off as a four-hander and is now a monologue, at least in this current iteration.

Euginia, on top of being a playwright, you are also a poet who actually published three collections of poetry before you wrote your first play. Has writing plays been a very different experience for you?
ET: I’ve tried not to be classified under any genre of writing and instead use the term “writer”. Both poetry and playwriting are similar in that they force me to condense situations into text that is tightly knit and can deliver as much as possible in very succinct instances. To broaden it even further, as an artist I express myself best with the medium of text and so however form it takes me is where I’ll explore with it, no matter how differently they’re categorized.

So when and how did you make your first foray into play-writing?
ET: It was very accidental and up till now I’ve always described myself as stumbling into it. I tried my luck in applying for an open call [for a playwright residency at Woodlands Regional Library] and got it – I had no expectations whatsoever. Joel Tan mentored me and it was a year-long mentorship. Both [Nur] Sabrina [Binte Dzulkifli]’s and my play were staged at the end of it. The play was titled Holidays and it was directed by Chen Yingxuan (starring Zee Wong, John Cheah, Deonn Yang). The second play I wrote was Tuition, and it was staged at the Twenty Something Theatre Festival, which was produced by Tan Kheng Hua. After that, Benedict Leong, Kheng’s assistant producer, asked me to write a play for him just as a fun joint project and that culminated into Dear Jay, which was performed at the Esplanade.

Again, it was a matter of me taking a gamble with everything – I honestly thought my playwriting journey would end with Holidays (and I would have been happy to have let it end there, I had a great time trying playwriting out), but for some reason it took me up till here. This current script with TFP is only the fourth script I’ve undertaken. So again I have no idea what to expect… my mentality towards making theatre has always been, let’s just go with the ride, surf’s up!

And Jo, you’ve been acting for a number of years before trying your hand at playwriting. What has it been like to be on “the other side”?
JT: Humbling! Sometimes as an actor it’s easy to go, why can’t they just do this? Why can’t they just do that? But as playwright (and also producer, during M1 Fringe Festival), you realise, oh yah, sometimes they really just can’t. It doesn’t make sense. Also, when acting, I can be a big paraphraser if I’m given even a teeny bit of license. But as a playwright you realise there are certain things you are okay with the actors paraphrasing, and certain words that have a significance the actor may not have picked up on. So I’m now more sensitive to that as an actor.

What are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learnt from Watch This Space so far?
ET: I was initially daunted by how long the mentorship would span, but I now realise how important it is to take time to commit to your script. If the script means something to you, it’s not just a finished product. A story contains so much more when you commit to it, and of course it also forces you to look at hard truths about yourself.

You’re responsible for the questions you want to ask and how you want to pursue your own voice in writing – your mentor’s not obligated to equip you with everything. Take the time to also know them as people and writers of their own right.

JT:  I’ve found out how generous and unselfish the scene can be. Sometimes as an actor, I feel the theatre industry can be a zero-sum game: if she gets the role, I won’t. But people like Tze Chien demonstrate that there is a longer-term view. Just because you are a playwright and company director, does not mean you don’t develop other theatre-makers to create other work that might not have any ties to your own company in future. He was even mentoring myself and Eugenia and taking phone calls and replying to texts late into the night, the week before his own play, which he was also directing, premiered. There is so much generosity in the industry, with people just hoping to grow the Singapore scene.

Watch This Space is a two-year programme, meaning there’s still another year or so to go. How will you continue your journey after the showcase this month?
ET: Tze Chien will actually pick a script (between mine and Jo’s) to be developed into a full-length production for next year. He has to make a decision by August this year, so the journey might end melodramatically for one of us after that….

JT: I will probably spend some time devastated that the play is not universally hailed as the next Off Centre to be immediately studied by O Level literature students. Then I will work with Tze Chien to see what can be improved on, see if there are opportunities for another staging, and work towards that.

ET: We’ve obviously been scheming for him to pick both. If you’re coming for our showcase, cause a riot and make him change his mind!

By Gwen Pew
Published on 12 June 2018

A closed-door read for the scripts that Euginia Tan and Jo Tan have been working on under Watch This Space will be taking place at Centre 42 on 22 & 23 June 2018.

Updated 21 June 2018: A previous version stated that Euginia published two collections of poetry, this has been corrected to three. Euginia’s last sentence in this interview was also mistakenly misinterpreted and it is now corrected to reflect her original meaning.

kapok was founded in 2006 by Arnault Castel, with the first store opening in Hong Kong. The brand made its debut in Singapore at Tangs Orchard in 2013, and opened another branch at the National Design Centre in 2014.

Check out kapok’s latest collections on their website, and follow their Facebook page here. Friends of Centre 42 can also quote “kapok a pok” to get a 10% discount off selected brands at kapok at the National Design Centre.

This article was published in Blueprint Issue #4.

Theatre design collective INDEX comprises spatial designer Lim Wei Ling, sound artist/composer Darren Ng, and lighting designer Lim Woan Wen.

Find out more about INDEX’s 2015 work as part of Centre 42’s The Vault programme here, and watch this space for more details about The Room that Grew Buoyant, Little by Little.

This article was published in Blueprint Issue #4.

Rei Poh and Zee Wong (centre) run through a scene with the cast of “Attempts: Singapore” during one of their rehearsal sessions. Photo: Gwen Pew

Rehearsal rooms are typically patriarchal, according to Rei Poh and Zee Wong. The director, playwright, or producer is the king who sets the rules, and everyone else are the followers who carry out the instructions given to them. This may be the conventional way of getting the job done, but the pair wanted to find out whether there are other approaches to the process.

Their chance came in the form of Attempts: Singapore. Rei had created and staged the first iteration of the piece in Melbourne in 2016, when he was studying for his Masters in Theatre Performance & Directing at the Victorian College of the Arts. The work was inspired by Martin Crimp’s 1997 postmodernist play, Attempts on Her Life, where the audience is presented with 17 unrelated scenarios that give clues about the possible identity of a woman named Anne. Rei was commissioned to restage the work as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in 2018, and as director, the first thing he did was to bring Zee on board as his dramaturg. After all, she was a big part of the reason that he started examining what it means for him to be a feminist, and it’s a topic that the couple would often discuss.

“I think it was a very natural progression [for me to dramaturg for Rei’s work] because we have always been aligned in terms of our interest in feminist theatre. And examining the male gaze is something I do in my own work as a playwright as well,” says Zee, who is also an actor and singer. “As a dramaturg, my role is to help the team look at patterns, and to help them find meaning in the images they come up with. I’m also there as a second pair of eyes for Rei and the team.”

At the time of this interview, the team has had about five rehearsals, and Rei has already been learning a lot.

“Zee has taught me many things, such as how to relook my position as a man,” says Rei. “I’ve learnt that even in my practice of creating works, I am still subconsciously abiding by the laws of toxic masculinity.”

Together, they have been making a conscious effort to create what they call a “feminist rehearsal room” for the Attempts: Singapore team.

“One of the ways we’re attempting to subvert the patriarchal hierarchy of traditional rehearsal rooms is by focusing not on the product, but on the wellbeing of the team,” Rei explains. “Because of my training in Forum theatre with Drama Box, I also see myself as a facilitator rather than a dictator. So in the rehearsal room, we replaced comments like ‘you should have done this’ with ‘would you consider doing this?’ This has somehow made a very strong impact on the progression. I no longer feel the need to dictate, and the collaborators are now owning their parts in this project. In a feminist space, everyone has their own role that they are interested in. It is a space where they can challenge themselves and at the same time feel safe.”

To build on that, Rei invited the cast and creative team – including the stage manager, sound designer, and intern – to devise the content of the piece from scratch, even though he had already staged the work before. In each rehearsal session, the team would look at one or two scenes and come up with a series of images based on the text, which they will then expand into a performance. Rei and Zee would encourage them to incorporate local context into the piece, and tackle issues that are relevant to Singapore.

Rei and Zee have been creating a feminist rehearsal environment, where everyone can feel safe to try out new ideas. Photo: Gwen Pew

Naturally, the resulting work is similarly feminist in its nature and structure. Attempts: Singapore is set in a fictional world governed by a corporate conglomerate called ARC. The company provides an Artificial Intelligence system called JOAN, which predicts and caters for the needs of the population. But when a mysterious database containing the memories of a woman named Anne is found within JOAN’s code, the audience members – or “players”, as Rei likes to call them – are tasked to deduce Anne’s identity by exploring a series of spaces. As the piece is rooted in the genre of participatory theatre, players are given the agency to make a decision, and thus determine how the play ends: a feminist element in itself.

But while the team will take every care to create a safe environment for participants to feel empowered to speak out and make decisions, Rei and Zee hope that those who attend Attempts: Singapore will confront their own biases and prejudices, too. For instance, the players will have to decide whether they would be willing to relinquish certain powers that they might enjoy in a more patriarchal system, in exchange for more feminine values. They will also be meeting quite a few complex female characters.

“In Singapore, there can be a sense that women have achieved full equality, and we don’t need to fight for women’s rights anymore,” says Zee. “This sort of thinking is dangerous, because it means that the women who quietly live with spousal violence, unfair treatment and sexual harassment at their workplaces solely because of their gender are ignored and forgotten. As an artist, I hope to get people to see that there really is something wrong with the way we’ve defined gender today. And really, we need to stand up for each other a little more.”

By Gwen Pew
Published on 10 January 2018

Find out more about Attempts: Singapore here, and catch the show at Centre 42 from 24 – 27 January 2018.

This article was published in Blueprint Issue #4.

In 2015, independent theatre producer Neo Kim Seng presented a work titled My Grandfather’s Road as part of Cake Theatrical Productions’ 10th anniversary celebrations, Running with Strippers. It comprised a photo exhibition, a book launch, and an English-language monologue, which together form a montage of his childhood memories growing up on Neo Pee Teck Lane – a road in Pasir Panjang that’s named after his paternal grandfather.

Two years on, Kim Seng has decided to revisit the monologue as part of Centre 42’s Vault programme. This time, he is working with two actors to present the piece in Cantonese, the spoken language of his childhood. Two versions will be showcased – one in Singaporean Cantonese, and one in Malaysian Cantonese – so that he can explore the regional variations in the language.

We chat with Kim Seng to find out more about My Grandfather’s Road.

How did the original My Grandfather’s Road in 2015 come about?
Cake Theatrical Productions invited me to be part of their Decimal Points project, spread over two years. I presented Decimal Points 810 in 2014 which was inspired by my open-heart surgery in 2013. The second presentation eventually became part of Cake’s 10^th anniversary celebrations, Running With Strippers. I originally wanted to continue with the second part of a planned trilogy, but Cake suggested that I think of a project that can have a life after its first incarnation. So I decided on a three-part project, a photo-installation, a book and a monologue about growing up on a road named after my paternal grandfather Neo Pee Teck Lane. It was not a nostalgic research project but looked at reconnecting with things and people from my past and present.

Why did you decide to revisit it now, and why in Cantonese?
My mother sat through two of my theatre projects and her grasp of English is not that strong. My original intention was just to make a project that she could fully understand. She was very animated and excited when she saw her photos on display at the photo-installation in 2015.

I have received encouraging response to the book. Some suggested that the book could be translated into Mandarin to reach out to more people. Then I thought, why not do a Cantonese version?

I grew up speaking Cantonese. I recently found out that my paternal grandmother was a renegade ma cheh (domestic helper) and I am more Cantonese than I thought. I am less fluent and speak less Cantonese now than when I was younger but somehow a language that you learn orally never goes away and becomes embedded in you. There is a strong emotional attachment to the sound of Cantonese although I may not fully understand the words. The project is about reconnecting to a relegated language, sound and people.

I also like to surprise people and challenge myself because not many people know that I can speak Cantonese.

Neo Kim Seng (right) poses with relatives at the 2015 presentation of “Running with Strippers”.

The Vault monologue presentation will have two versions – one in Singaporean Cantonese, and one in Malaysian Cantonese. Why are you interested in exploring the regional differences of the language?
This is mainly to explore how languages evolve and adapt over time and space/location. The Cantonese that we speak here adopts other Chinese and non-Chinese words over time. Even Hong Kong Cantonese words have crept into Singaporean Cantonese. I thought it would be interesting to find out how pronunciation differed and also different words were used.

Let’s talk about the process of creating The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road. Firstly, how did your actors, Gary Tang and Tan Cher Kian, get involved?
In the many years working in the performing arts field, what I enjoy most is working with new people, because I get a lot of new ideas and energy interacting with them. I had an open audition in June this year. Some friends recommended more experienced actors to me. I was also on the lookout for non-Chinese female performers who could speak Cantonese, because they would approach the stories differently. The first version of My Grandfather’s Road in English in 2015 was performed by a young male actor and I deliberately created a version where on-stage I was this vulnerable person telling bittersweet stories.

Gary was introduced to me by our mutual friend. Gary is very passionate about Cantonese and was on the lookout for opportunities to work on Cantonese projects, something not so common here. He was also very keen to explore the authentic sound of Cantonese and how it evolved over time.

Cher Kian (CK) responded to the audition call and at first only wanted to help with the presentation. He has not acted before but he’s an avid arts lover and attends lots of performances. So we spoke and I found out he is keen to be on the other side of the stage as well. I was very taken by his enthusiasm and interest. The bonus was that he grew up in Sabah and spoke Cantonese fluently.

“This photo is the only photo I have of Neo Pee Teck Lane. The cart on the right is Thaatha’s mee goreng cart!” says Kim Seng

How did you and Gary work to come up with the Singaporean Cantonese version? Was the process very different when you worked with Cher Kian on the Malaysian Cantonese version?
My original plan was to have the English script translated into Mandarin and from there translate the Mandarin into Singaporean and Malaysian Cantonese, for the presentation. The content for both versions will be the same. So I had the script translated into Mandarin by Low Kok Wai.

Gary is born Cantonese and a fluent speaker. Gary decided to rework the original English text into a storyteller version. So he’s a storyteller telling the stories of people who lived on Neo Pee Teck Lane. He wrote the Cantonese text based only on the original English text. Gary’s version is a remixed, reconstructed and reimagined version of the English stories.

CK’s version will be adapted from Kok Wai’s Mandarin translation and the original English text. CK will be performing as me/the narrator telling the stories and is more similar in style to the English monologue and written text.

So the two versions are different variations of the same stories. Since the book was published, I found out some new information and some of this was updated in the Singaporean Cantonese version. I did not want to update the Malaysian Cantonese version. The original English text had a lot of details and fragments of stories and it was impossible to condense all of them. So I went through the original script separately with each actor and we picked the smaller stories that resonated for each of their versions. Their personal response to the original stories was also crucial in shaping their reinterpretations.

I told Gary and CK that, for their presentations, they must speak Cantonese in a way that they are familiar and comfortable with. Their personal language is important in capturing the essence and sound.

And finally, tell us about one of your fondest memories growing up on Neo Pee Teck Lane.
My father once built this imposing fortress-like rectangular structure below our huge rambutan tree from old timber planks, for us to play. I can’t remember where he got those timber from. It was in the shape of a lorry. It was huge, maybe longer than a 14-foot lorry. The neighbourhood children had such great fun playing in it. But I think after a heavy thunderstorm, it became unsafe and father took it down. When I grew up later and see those wooden fortresses and buildings in Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films, I always remember our own wooden fortress under the rambutan tree.

By Gwen Pew
Published on 14 October 2017

Find out more about The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road here, and join us at Centre 42 on 23 – 25 November 2017 by registering for a seat here.

If you’d like to apply to become a Citizen Reviewer for our 2018, we are currently accepting applications until 22 October. Find out more about the open call and how you can get involved here.

Why did you want to join the Citizens’ Reviews programme?
It was an opportunity to get back into the arts in a subtler way than I had been involved before – when I had been a producer / director – and allowed me to hone my critical writing skills a bit more, which is an area of interest for me now.

What did you enjoy most about the Citizens’ Reviews programme?
I was able to enjoy different types of theatrical productions from different types of local art groups. I watched shows by established and aspiring theatre companies, as well as community and non-conventional pieces. Also, critiquing shows that are not performed in my mother tongue allowed me to review how much our arts groups have matured, and how they continue to grow in this ever developing (but more crowded) arts scene in Singapore.

What were some of the challenges you faced as a Citizen Reviewer?
I found out through my journey as a Citizen Reviewer that the reviews I panned were more challenging to write than those that I reviewed positively. However, I feel that the obligation the reviewer has is to yourself and the reader, rather than the arts groups/practitioners. I know from experience how and what it takes to mount a production in Singapore, hence I decide not to mince words on a piece if it was so warranted. I’d like to be encouraging at the same time, but for some shows, it’s hard to be so!

What do you think of the arts (and especially theatre) reviewing scene in Singapore right now?
Theatre reviewing has not quite caught up with the quality of some of the more established theatre companies in Singapore’s shows. It’s still a little premature, and whilst it is nice that most shows get reviewed in the nation’s dailies, arts reviewing here primarily communicates what the show is about, and some mention of the actor’s performances or director’s decisions. Not much else. Keeping everyone happy seems to be the modus operandi of reviewers writing for the dailies, but when readers only sees mostly positive reviews, it limits their expectations for a more critical response. There are some writers that offer more than that – an opinion, their perspective, etc. – but it has not made a dent in the overall quality of what you read from them.

Who are some of the theatre critics you follow/enjoy reading?
From the local dailies, I don’t mind reading Helmi Yusof of The Business Times and Akshita Nanda of The Straits Times, and from the Citizen’s Reviewers of 2017, I like reading Myle Yan Tay, Cordelia Lee, and Isaac Tan.

Interview by Gwen Pew on 26 September 2017

Find out more about the Citizens’ Reviews programme here.