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.
