The WE ARE SIX! Party took place on 21 April 2020 on Zoom.
Our sixth birthday was supposed to have panned out differently.
Since we were returning 42 Waterloo Street to the National Arts Council on 1 May, 21 Apr was supposed to be a last hurrah in the blue house before we moved out. Planned with over 20 artists and friends, our sixth birthday would’ve been an evening of performances and celebration at our See You Later Party. We made the sad decision to cancel the event on 3 Apr after the national Circuit Breaker measures were announced. (Here’s what the See You Later Party programme would’ve been like.) The Circuit Breaker also meant that our last day at the blue house had come much earlier than expected.
Now, celebrating our sixth birthday is more important than ever in these difficult times. It’s an opportunity to connect, uplift, and remember. Because the story of the last six years at Centre 42 is really about you – you who have come into the blue house at 42 Waterloo Street looking for a safe space to develop, experiment and create, an open space to discuss, debate and discourse, and a quiet space to pause, document and reflect. The Centre 42 community turns six, so join us, will you?
Register at http://weare6.eventbrite.sg (make a donation if you’re able to!) and we’ll send you an invitation to a Zoom room. On 21 Apr at 8pm, we’ll have a reading of “WRITES”, a play about the history of Singapore theatre and how Centre 42 got its name. (“WRITES” was researched and written by Robin Loon for Centre 42’s launch event in 2014, and originally performed by Nora Samosir, Robin Goh, and Serene Chen.) Have a drink on hand as after the reading, we’ll toast to our six years, and many more to come!
WRITES, written by Robin Loon, is a play that moves through the history of Singapore English-language theatre. Besides bringing audiences through theatre history and excerpts from classic Singapore plays, the work also tells the story of why Centre 42 came to be and how it got its name.
WRITES was first performed on 21 April 2014 at the opening of Centre 42. The play was directed by Casey Lim, and performed by Serene Chen, Nora Samosir and Robin Goh. The performance led invited guests through the Inner Courtyard, Rehearsal Studio, and Black Box of the newly-restored blue house on 42 Waterloo Street.
- A Yagnya
- Ahmad Musta’ain
- Aswani Aswath
- Cheryl Tan
- Ellison Tan
- Ethel Yap
- Grace Kalaiselvi
- Mabel Yeo
- Mumtaz Maricar
- Rajkumar Thiagaras
- Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai
- Rei Poh
- Serene Chen
- Shaifulbahri Mohamad
- Tan Shou Chen
- Vithya Subramaniam
- Zee Wong
Centre 42 would like to specially thank the following people:
- Robin Loon
- Casey Lim
- Chong Gua Khee
- Mok Cui Yin
- Karen Tan
- Thong Pei Qin
- Zelda Tatiana Ng
- All participating artists from the See You Later Party
(In order of appearance in script)
GALILEO — I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE (1997)
By Kok Heng Leun, Haresh Sharma, Alvin Tan & Cast
[NB: Centre 42 held a Living Room discussion in 2017 on another Haresh Sharma work, Fundamentally Happy.]
THREE CHILDREN (1988)
By Leow Puay Tin
[NB: Centre 42 presented a contemporary response to Three Children in The Vault: Sau(dara) (2018).]
FEAR OF WRITING (2011)
By Tan Tarn How
[NB: Centre 42 held a Living Room dialogue with Tan Tarn How in 2016 to discuss his life and plays.]
PRIVATE PARTS (1992)
By Michael Chiang
[NB: Centre 42’s first Living Room session in 2014 was with Michael Chiang, which explored the playwright’s life and plays.
The launch of Michael’s play anthology Play Things also took place in Centre 42 in 2014.]
MIMI FAN (1962)
By Lim Chor Pee
[NB: Centre 42’s first Vault presentation in 2014, titled NINETEEN SIXTY-FOUR, was a lecture-performance on plays by Lim Chor Pee and Goh Poh Seng.]
MERGERS & ACCUSATIONS (1993)
By Eleanor Wong
[NB: In 2020, a group of NUS Theatre Studies students created short performances in response to Wills & Secession, the sequel to Mergers & Accusations. Centre 42 and NUS Theatre Studies were to co-present this double bill as The Vault: Ties That Bind, but the public presentation was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.]
AUTUMN TOMYAM (2001)
By Desmond Sim
[NB: Centre 42 presented a Living Room session in 2015 where journalist and theatre practitioner Koh Boon Pin interviewed Desmond Sim on his life and work.]
DESCENDANTS OF THE EUNUCH ADMIRAL (1995)
By Kuo Pao Kun
[NB: Centre 42 has presented three Vaults which were feature the works of Kuo Pao Kun: Big Bird and the Cat (2015), Absence Makes the Heart… (2017), and Dialects and Dialectics (2017).]
