In The Vault: Ties That Bind, the TS3103 Theatre Lab students of the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Theatre Studies programme engaged with and responded to the text, dramaturgy and context of Eleanor Wong’s Wills and Secession. But as they were developing their work, they had to contend with the escalating COVID-19 crisis. They continually adapted their performances to increasingly stringent social distancing measures, and ultimately, to a new medium when the national Circuit Breaker measures came into effect.
The class, led and facilitated by Robin Loon and Nora Samosir, met on Wednesdays and Fridays, from Jan 2020 till the NUS campus closed due to the Circuit Breaker on 6 Apr. The original public presentation of Ties That Bind was supposed to have taken place on 18 Apr, but was cancelled. Instead, the students adapted their stage performances for the Zoom platform, and presented it in a private teleconferencing session on 17 Apr.
This timeline documents the students’ and Centre 42’s activities and the development of the students’ performance responses as the COVID-19 situation unfolded. Events that are highlighted in orange represent the key developments in the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore.
13 Jan 2020
WEEK 1
[15 JAN] The students present research presentations on the following topics in relation to Wills and Secession:
– Law
– Religion
– Gender
– Theatre
– Performance
[17 JAN] The students attend a workshop conducted by Hang Qian Chou on the Suzuki Method of actor training.
20 Jan 2020
WEEK 2
[22 JAN] The students attend a workshop conducted by Nora Samosir on Viewpoints actor training.
[23 JAN] The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Singapore is reported.
[24 JAN] The students workshop individual physical responses (without text) to Wills and Secession.
27 Jan 2020
WEEK 3
[29 JAN] The students continue working on their individual physical responses.
[31 JAN] The students now work in pairs to develop performance responses to Wills and Secession.
03 Feb 2020
Week 4
[5 FEB] The students break off into two groups to develop their performance responses to Wills and Secession.
[7 FEB] The two groups pitch their initial concepts for performance responses to Robin and Nora.
The DORSCON alert level is raised from yellow to orange.
10 Feb 2020
Week 5
[10 FEB] NUS mandates classes above 50 students are conducted online, and implements twice daily temperature checks for staff and students.
[12 FEB] The two groups pitch and confirm the concepts for their performance responses.
[14 FEB] The students visit two possible venues for their 18-Apr public presentation, and select Teater Ekamatra’s Greymatter. (Centre 42’s Black Box was not available.)
17 Feb 2020
Week 6
[19 FEB] The groups give a first work-in-progress showing of their developing performance responses.
[21 FEB] The students attend a documentation workshop at Centre 42 conducted by Daniel Teo (documentation).
02 Mar 2020
Week 7
[4 MAR] The two groups work on their performance responses.
[6 MAR] The groups give a second work-in-progress showing of their developing performance responses.
09 Mar 2020
Week 8
[11 MAR] The two groups work on their responses.
[13 MAR] The groups give a third work-in-progress showing of their developing performance responses. The Centre 42 team attends the class to observe.
Ticketed cultural events with 250 participants or more must be deferred or cancelled. Ticketed cultural events which proceed must take measures to ensure the safety of their participants. Centre 42 implements temperature checks and contact tracing for audiences of the 18-Apr public presentation.
16 Mar 2020
Week 9
[17 MAR] Centre 42 confirms a complementary book discussion event with BooksActually for 11 Apr. Called BookClubActually, the discussion will focus on Eleanor Wong’s Wills and Secession as a literary text.
[18 MAR] The groups rehearse and work on the feedback received from the previous week.
They also confirm the titles of the two performance responses: GEL and Old Lines New Meanings.
[20 MAR] The public is to strictly observe a one-metre social distancing measure.The students implement one-metre social distancing into their performances.
[21 MAR] Singapore reports the first two COVID-19 deaths.
23 Mar 2020
Week 10
[24 MAR] Singapore announces closure of all theatres and other entertainment outlets on 26 Mar.
[25 MAR] The two groups give a fourth work-in-progress showing of their performance responses, now called GEL and Old Lines New Meanings.
[25 MAR] Centre 42 cancels BookClubActually with BooksActually.
The public presentation at Greymatter is also cancelled, and shifted to LT13, NUS.
[26 MAR] All theatres and other entertainment outlets close.
[27 MAR] The students meet with Henrik Cheng (technical consultant).
30 Mar 2020
Week 11
[30 MAR] NUS mandates that all classes with over 25 students are to be conducted online. Students in class on campus will need to adhere to two-metre social distancing.
[1 APR] The two groups rehearse their performance responses.
[3 APR] Centre 42 documents a work-in-progress showing of GEL and Old Lines New Meanings at LT13.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces the national Circuit Breaker measures. Non-essential workplaces and all schools to be closed from 7 Apr.
06 Apr 2020
Week 12
[6 APR] NUS campus closes.
[7 APR] Centre 42 closes its 42 Waterloo Street premises.
[8 APR] The two groups begin adapting their stage presentations for Zoom with Henrik Cheng (technical consultant).
[10 APR] The groups rehearse on Zoom.
[10 APR] The groups submit their respective documentation assignments: a written and a video documentation.
13 Apr 2020
Week 13
[15 APR] The groups rehearse on Zoom with Henrik Cheng (technical consultant) and Daniel Teo (documentation).
[17 APR] The students perform GEL and Old Lines New Meanings on Zoom. Centre 42 records the presentations for their class assessment and documentation.
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The Vault: Ties That Bind features two original short performances devised in response to Eleanor Wong’s Wills and Secession. The two performance responses are created by the graduating students of the NUS Theatre Studies TS3103 Theatre Lab, engaging with and responding to the text and context of Wills and Secession. Ties That Bind is presented by Centre 42 and NUS Theatre Studies, and supported by Teater Ekamatra. Click here to find out more.
