For Your Consideration is a collective created from LASALLE College of the Arts’ Bachelors in Acting 2020 cohort. They aim to create work that can challenge audiences’ notions and preconceptions of the world and art around them – leaving the final judgement to their consideration. Their most recent work was an adaptation of Chong Tze Chien’s House that was originally for the stage into an audio experience. They hope to continue to interweave theatre with multimedia thereby engaging the senses to create theatrical experiences.

The four creatives behind The Vault: The Interchange: Damien, Kimberley, Hilary and Yuri are part of For Your Consideration. 

Check out their Instagram here: @foryourconsiderationsg

Damien Ng
Damien Ng is an actor who enjoys collaborations and being with a community of people. He hopes to continue working on his craft and is interested in learning and understanding new perspectives other than his own. His most recent works include Resistance (Darryl Lim), House: Audio Play (Rayann Condy).

Kimberley Ng
Kimberley Ng is a freelance actor based in Singapore. She graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a Diploma in Performance (2017) and a BA (Hons) in Acting (2020). She was most recently heard in the audio play adaptation of House, an original script by Chong Tze Chien. She is thankful to have been able to work with Centre 42 for The Vault, and to explore what it means to call a place home.

Hilary Armstrong
Hilary Armstrong is a Singaporean-Canadian stage and film actor passionate about art that amplifies voices of underheard communities. Being multicultural herself, she loves the possibilities that performance offers for cultures to connect. She is delighted to have had the chance to deepen her own connection to her Singaporean heritage through The Vault.

Yuri D Hoffmann
Yuri D Hoffmann is a stage & film actor very much driven by curiosity. Curiosity that led him to live 15,868km away from home in order to attend LASALLE for an honours degree in Acting. As an honorary Singaporean, Yuri is glad to be part of The Vault where he could learn more about Singapore and deepen his connection with the country.

Programme Booklet
This programme booklet serves as supplementary information for the audience who attended the live showcases on 13 and 14 November 2021. Check it out to view the process behind The Interchange, and the other resources that the collective had referenced.

Click on the image to read!

Producing Team

ARTS MANAGEMENT COLLECTIVE
The Arts Management Collective (AMC) is an ever-evolving independent group of trained arts management students and alumni from Singapore Management University under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Hoe Su Fern. Founded in 2018, it exists as a platform for members to develop and collaborate on meaningful arts management-related projects, and gain relevant knowledge, skills and exposure to the arts. Past projects include a policy review of the National Design Centre (2018), envisioning exercise of the future Singapore Night Festival (2020), fundraising activities and an educational series about arts management. 

Arts Management Collective Instagram: @artsmgmtco

Carissa Lim, Production Management
Carissa Lim is a trained and aspiring arts manager, with experience in arts and cultural policy research, and information systems management. As a founding member of AMC, she believes in the power of the arts to connect people and foster new perspectives. 

Victoria Wong, Production Management, Stage Management & Dramaturgy
Victoria Wong is an aspiring arts manager with interest and experience in performing arts management. She hopes to enable good art to happen in better and safer conditions.

Charlotte Tan, Visual Design, Communications and Marketing, & Documentation
Charlotte Tan is a recent arts management graduate, with keen interests in theatre and photography. She aspires to be an arts manager who will communicate the value of the arts to bridge divides and offer meaningful experiences.

Janice Yap, Visual Design, Communications and Marketing, Documentation & Dramaturgy
Janice Yap is a Year 3 arts management student, with a trained background in visual arts and budding interests in theatre and arts research. With a strong belief that engaging with the arts is essential to the human experience, she hopes to become a caring arts manager who will enable artistic creativity to thrive.

Jeffrey Kang Jiwoo, Documentation and Research
Jeffrey Kang is a final year arts management student, with internship experiences in both the performing and visual arts. He hopes to work in the arts and bridge the gap between conceptual knowledge and poignant experiences.

Megan Hon, Documentation
Megan Hon is a recent arts management graduate, with trained culinary skills and experience. She is a firm believer in the relational value of the arts, and is keen to enable greater access to the arts as part of our everyday lives.

Hoe Su Fern, Mentor
Hoe Su Fern is an arts researcher, educator and advocate. She is currently Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Arts and Culture Management Programme at the Singapore Management University. She has spoken, researched and published on arts and cultural policy, urban cultural economies, placemaking and the conditions of artistic and cultural production. She has a wealth of experience in developing, managing and/or coordinating local, regional and global projects in varying formats; all of which advocate for the value of the arts and culture in urban life. Her practice is informed by her pursuit for practice-oriented and engaged arts research, and her interest in enhancing research impact beyond academia.

Centre 42, P7:1SMA and Arts Management Collective would like to sincerely thank:

• Checkpoint Theatre, Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed for their generosity and help in the research process on the text Recalling Mother
• Dance Nucleus for their hospitality and grace in providing essential rehearsal venue support

RE:CALL is powered by National Youth Council and Young ChangeMakers. Any materials, information or views expressed are those of the organisers and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other supporting organisation(s).

Reading Materials

#1: ARTS MANAGERS: GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND

As part of Centre 42’s Blueprint Issue #16, Arts Managers: Going above and beyond is about how a group of budding and existing arts managers as part of Arts Management Collective (AMC), comprehend the intricacies of arts management and learn to navigate through the different roles an arts manager undertakes, through the producing process in The Vault: RE:CALL.

#2: SMU-X STUDENTS PRESENTS RE:CALL

The Singapore Management University (SMU) news featured The Vault: RE:CALL under ‘Highlights’, as the production was conceived as an assignment for a module under the SMU Arts and Cultural Management programme, ACM201: SMU-X’s Introduction to Performing Arts Management. Students in the module were mentored by Assistant Professor Hoe Su Fern and Ma Yanling, the Company Manager of Centre 42. Click to read to view the course instructors reflections on RE:CALL!

#3: DEAR WATERLOO STREET, FROM AN EMERGING ARTS MANAGER

In this article on ArtsEquator, our dance artist Ho Shu En reflects on the significant role of Waterloo Street, specifically the arts organisations in the arts belt, in her journey as an emerging arts manager. Click to view Waterloo Street through her perspective, as well as her adorable illustrations, which also featured RE:CALL as a milestone in her personal and professional growth.

Programme Booklet
This programme booklet serves as supplementary information for the audience who attended the live showcases on 21 and 22 August 2021.

Click on the image to read!

On 26 March 2021, our dance artists Shu En and Syimah performed in Rumah P7:1SMA @ Stamford Arts Centre for PERMISI, our first preview of RE:CALL as a work-in-progress showcase.

PERMISI is a non-curated platform provided by P7:1SMA for anyone to ‘make it and share it’ with friends from their larger community.

The aim of this work-in-progress showcase and sharing is to enable knowledge-sharing and exchange, which will hopefully serve two objectives:
(1) to deepen and refine our own processes and project, and
(2) to kickstart conversations about cross-disciplinary collaboration, exploration and experimentation.

This recording of The Vault: RE:CALL showcased the work-in-progress showing on 26 March.

In lieu of the COVID-19 restrictions, the team had also put up two questions for the audience to respond via post-its for the post-show, as a form of safe measurement.

On 21 and 22 August 2021, our dance artists Shu En and Syimah performed in the Black Box @ 42 Waterloo Street.

Reviews from the Arts and Culture Management community who managed to attend the live showcase of RE:CALL on 21 & 22 August, can be found on AMC’s Instagram (@artsmgmtco).

Pre-Show and Post-Show Information

On 21 and 22 August 2021, this pre-show and post-show information ran in the Rehearsal Studio @ 42 Waterloo Street prior to and after the showcases.

This pre-show and post-show information detailed the origins of The Vault: RE:CALL, tackled the inter-disciplinary exploration of dance and theatre, and showcased the reflections of the artistic team throughout the journey.

Click on each image to view the content of the six posters!
      

On 3 September 2021, Arts Management Collective held an online watch party and dialogue to showcase the recorded session of The Vault: RE:CALL on 21 August 2021.

Over 30 guests attended the online watch party and joined in the dialogue panel facilitated by Dr Hoe Su Fern as part of AMC, featuring invited panellists such as Claire Wong from Checkpoint Theatre as the original creator of Recalling Mother, Nabilah Said from ArtsEquator, and Dominic Nah from The Second Breakfast Company, to share their thoughts and reflections of watching the showcases both online and in-person. We also invited our dance artists, Shu En and Syimah from the artistic team of RE:CALL, as well as Yanling from Centre 42 to share their reflections being part of this whole journey from the beginning.

Click on the images below to see photos from the event.

Who’s talking? Where are we? Who are we? Fragments explores the multiplicities of perspectives and positionalities with regards to Henry Ong’s Madame Mao’s Memories. Through the use of fragmented visuals and flashes of memories that make up our understanding of contexts, we establish our truths and uncover ourselves in Madame Mao’s Memories.

Artists
Cheng Xin Rui
Koh Jia Sheng
Lim Ci Xuan
Ng Zhe Ern
Suki Teh

Nobody Asked! confronts and critiques Henry Ong’s authorial positionality in dramatizing Jiang Qing’s experiences. This response interrogates the authorship and articulates our collective frustration towards the ways in which women’s stories are retold, rewritten and appropriated. Nobody Asked! uncovers the dynamic relationship between staging stories belonging to specific cultural-historical spheres and  the subjectivity of memories.

Artists
Benjamin Lye Jin Yang
Ian Pereira
Sasitharan Gaiatri
Sneha Sudha Sanjay

On 29 April, we held the online watch party and artist sharing of Who’s Asking? Who’s Talking?. The creators of Fragments and Nobody Asked! presented an introduction to the creative process of their work. Following that, a question and answer segment was moderated by Dr. Robin Loon, module chair for TS3103. The session was open to the public and attendees got to offer comments and questions which were then answered by the students.

Watch the artist sharing segment below:

Programme Booklet

FRAGMENTS 
Cheng Xin Rui
Koh Jia Sheng
Lim Ci Xuan
Ng Zhe Ern
Suki Teh

NOBODY ASKED!
Benjamin Lye Jin Yang
Ian Pereira
Sasitharan Gaiatri
Sneha Sudha Sanjay

DRAMATURG
Dr. Robin Loon
(Module Chair TS3103 Theatre Lab)

PRODUCER
Ma Yanling
(Centre 42)

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Eugene Koh

TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
Henrik Cheng

DOCUMENTATION WORKSHOP FACILITATOR
Daniel Teo
(Centre 42)

DOCUMENTATION
Daniel Teo
Lee Shu Yu
(Centre 42)

Centre 42 and NUS Theatre Studies would like to warmly thank T:>Works for their generosity and help.

GEL is about strained relationships. Friends who fail to listen. Sisters who never really meet. Lovers tested by faith. But are these relationships truly that different from one another? What draws us, time and time again, to each other?

(From left) Lim Shi-An, Shirley Wang, Seow Shiying, Rose Marie Kit Yee Henry, Joe Ong, Rachel Yen

Artist Bios

JOE ONG is a dancer trained in Chinese dance and contemporary dance. Throughout her years of training in dance, she has choreographed various dance pieces including Light A Fire for Canvas II (2016), Reminiscence for NUS HERE! Arts Carnival (2018), and Homeward Bound for Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts (2019).

LIM SHI-AN was first introduced to professional theatre through the W!LD RICE pantomimes, which she performed in from 2006 to 2011. Her screen credits include the short film Balik Kampung by Derrick Chew and an HBO ASIA original entitled Serangoon Road. She was part of the 2015 and 2017 stagings of Normal by Checkpoint Theatre in 2015 and 2017. Apart from acting, Shi-An also enjoys singing and songwriting.

RACHEL YEN is an actor and creator. With training from the School Of The Arts (SOTA) and East 15 Acting School, she hopes to continue honing her craft whilst studying in NUS Theatre Studies. Her recent works include Open Studio: Still Life (2018) by Checkpoint Theatre, Girls Girls Girls (2019) on Not Safe For TV, and The Hawker (2019) by The Second Breakfast Company.

ROSE MARIE KIT YEE HENRY has been passionate about theatre since secondary school, taking part in many theatre productions. Since then, she has studied under the Drama Elective Program (DEP) at Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) and continues to study theatre in university. She has performed in works such as Lady Windermere’s Fan (2016), The Adventures of Odysseus (2016) and The Student is Present (2018).

SEOW SHIYING is a dancer and creator. Throughout her years of dance training in contemporary dance and street jazz, she has performed and choreographed pieces for productions, with her most recent project: Show Me How You Burlesque for NUS Dance Uncensored (2020). Prior to university, she has written and produced content for The Smart Local, discovering a passion for content creation ever since. Her love for the performing arts led her to major in the NUS Theatre Studies programme where she continues to hone her craft and passion.

SHIRLEY WANG has worked in films and plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Undercover and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Her passion for theatre was ignited in secondary school, where she first dabbled in writing her first Mandarin play. Ever since, she has been a regular supporter of local theatre and arts.

Old Lines New Meanings features Grace, a typical student at St. Sebastian Junior College. She is a good Christian daughter, a kind sister to her younger sibling, and the faithful vice president of the Christian Fellowship — and she is in love with her best friend, Jean. How will Grace navigate the conflict between her faith and sexuality?

(From left) Dennis Chen, Celine Sara Thio, Saeyang Nitradee (Victoria), Jedidiah Huang, Ella Wee

Artist Bios

CELINE SARA THIO came to NUS to move away from performing on stage and yet, here she is. Her work as a Stage Manager includes How I Learned To Drive (Wag The Dog), 我的妈妈是ENY (Resorts World Sentosa), and Army Daze 2. Outside the theatre, Celine enjoys coffee and the company of her Pokémon.

DENNIS CHEN is an aspiring multimedia storyteller who writes about anything from hypertext (fan)fiction, to theatre reviews, to rants and musings about sociocultural issues. Dennis can be found lurking “anonymously” on Twitter @vforvesta_.

ELLA WEE doesn’t always know what/who/how she is but this is what she knows: she studies literature and theatre. She writes, tries to do aerial arts, screams internally, and backbends. She is interested in experimenting and wants to explore the ideas of care and reparative reading in our engagement with art.

JEDIDIAH HUANG first fell into theatre’s love trap through TS1101E: Introduction to Theatre Studies. Since then, he has performed in independent, hall and NUS stage and screen productions. He is in a committed relationship with narrative structure but has decided to cheat on her this once.

SAEYANG NITRADEE (VICTORIA) is currently pursuing a double degree in Theatre Studies and Political Economy of International Development. She enjoys travelling and is actively involved in the music community in the University Scholars Programme at NUS.

#1: ABOUT WILLS AND SECESSION

#2: TIMELINE OF TIES THAT BIND

#3: CONDUCTING DOCUMENTATION IN TS3103 THEATRE LAB

#4: “IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT, JUST GO FOR IT!”: A TS3103 REFLECTION

#5: THE HISTORY OF QUEER SINGAPORE THEATRE (1985-1995) / “THE VAULT: DESERT BLOOMS”

OLD LINES NEW MEANINGS
Celine Sara Thio
Dennis Chen
Ella Wee
Jedidiah Huang
Saeyang Nitradee (Victoria)

GEL
Joe Ong
Lim Shi-An
Rachel Yen
Rose Marie Kit Yee Henry
Shirley Wang
Seow Shiying

DRAMATURG
Dr. Robin Loon
(Module Chair TS3103 Theatre Lab)

PRODUCERS
Nora Samosir
(Coordinator TS3103 Theatre Lab)

Ma Yanling
(Centre 42)

TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
Henrik Cheng

DOCUMENTATION WORKSHOP FACILITATOR
Daniel Teo
(Centre 42)

DOCUMENTATION
Daniel Teo
Lee Shu Yu
(Centre 42)

Centre 42 and NUS Theatre Studies would like to warmly thank Eleanor Wong and Teater Ekamatra for their generosity and help.

This recording of Ties That Bind was completed just hours before the announcement of school and workplace closures to curb the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. A week earlier, all theatres had been shut down.

The closed-door work-in-progress showing of GEL and Old Lines New Meanings incorporates one-metre social distancing, and showcases only text and movement. The chairs represent audience configurations unique to each performance response. This is the last time Ties That Bind would be performed onstage in the semester.

On 10 May 2020, Centre 42 held an online watch party to premiere the Zoom presentations of Ties That Bind. Over 100 guests attended the premiere party and joined in a Q&A with the student creators facilitated by module chair Dr. Robin Loon. Click below to see photos from the event.

Ng Yi-Sheng, Playwright and Performer

Ng Yi-Sheng is a multi-disciplinary writer, researcher and LGBT+ activist. His plays include Theatreworks’ Hungry and Reservoir, Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble’s 251, Musical Theatre Ltd’s Georgette and W!ld Rice’s The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles. He has recently focussed on creating performance lectures such as Painted Shadows: a Queer Haunting of the National Gallery and Ayer Hitam: a Black History of Singapore.

His books include the poetry collections last boy, Loud Poems for a Very Obliging Audience and A Book of Hims; the non-fiction book SQ21: Singapore Queers in the 21st Century; and the short fiction collection Lion City. He spent 13 years organising ContraDiction, an annual queer literary evening, and has co-edited anthologies such as GASPP: a Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry and Prose and Sanctuary: Short Fiction from Queer Asia. He is currently pursuing his PhD at NTU. He tweets and Instagrams at @yishkabob.

Tan Shou Chen, Director

Tan Shou Chen is a recognised theatremaker from Singapore. His interests lie in the encounters between different cultures across time and space and the traverse between tradition and contemporary. His latest directorial work was a commission by the Singapore International Festival of the Arts 2019 called Orestes by Ifigenia, an original interpretation of George Friederich Handel’s Baroque opera Orestes. Shou Chen made his directorial debut on the main stage with 13.13.13, part of Theatreworks 2018 main season. It was received with accolades. He is also a recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council Creation Grant, with which he created and performed an original play called Open Waters, an international collaboration with Thai artist Jaturachai Srichanwapen. It showed at the Bangkok Theatre Festival 2017 and in Singapore. Earlier this year, Shou Chen also completed an artist residency at Hangar Centro de Investigação Artistica in Lisbon (PT).  www.shouchen.net/ IG: @shouchentan

Siti Syahadah, Stage Manager

Siti has been passionate about the arts since a very young age. She started in dance and music in the early days and stumbled upon theatre in ITE in 2011 during her days in ITE and since then, she has ventured out to freelance as a crew and performance with various companies.

Her background in performance helped her push the boundaries as a Stage Manager by  coming up with fast and (sometimes) weird solutions to the problems that are given to her. Her go-to? Glue guns.

She recently graduated from NAFA with a Diploma in Theatre (English Drama) and is saving up to take her degree. Or get married; whichever comes first.

Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Performer

Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai is an actor, singer and voiceover artist. Recent selected theatre credits including her solo show Building A Character at the 2018 W!ld Rice Singapore Theatre Festival, Discord of Discourse at The Faversham Fringe (UK), the Esplanade Studio’s Miss British, Theatreworks’ Three Fat Virgins and Eloquence,and W!ld Rice’s Merdeka. Sangeetha also debuted her solo jazz concert Sangeetha Sings Sinatra – live at the Esplanade in early 2019. She is elated to be a part of Desert Blooms.

Yap Yi Kai, Performer

Yi Kai studied Theatre Studies and Drama in junior college. Her stage and television credits include Tan Tarn How’s Press Gang(Wild Rice’s Singapore Theatre Festival 2018), Wild Rice's HOTEL (Singapore International Festival of Arts 2015, Singapore Theatre Festival 2016 and OzAsia Festival 2017 in Adelaide), Euginia Tan’s Tuition (Twenty-Something Theatre Festival 2016), Wild Rice’s Public Enemy (2015), Joel Tan’s Mosaic (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2015) and Channel 5’s Baby Bumps (2016). She has also acted in a short film To Mum (Love, Me) by Joyene Nazatul which earned various awards at queer festivals around the world. She has worked with ACT 3 Theatrics as a special needs drama educator and spent some time in legal practice. She earned her Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at the National University of Singapore while also dabbling in hosting, singing, radio broadcasting and voiceover work.

Izzul Irfan, Performer

Izzul Irfan is an aspiring actor, director and playwright. His most recent works include Teater Ekamatra’s A Clockwork Orange (2019) and Angkat (2019) for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, both directed by Noor Effendy Ibrahim. He was also part of Young & Wild’s graduating performance Anything Can Happen/Something Must Happen (2019) under Edith Podesta.

Izzul wrote his first play Sampan in 2016 and he has since written an original musical Runaway in 2018. He has also directed two productions: Void Deck (2019) and Wilderness (2019).

He is currently the Creative Director of The Runaway Company, a youth theatre group dedicated to telling stories through the integration of music and theatre.

Ruzaini Mazani, Multimedia Angel

Ruzaini is interested in movement and performance texts, and has been researching on ways to deepen his knowledge in the two areas. An actor by training, he is venturing into areas where performance texts is mixed with multimedia. He is also currently writing his first full-length play with transgender characters. He hold a BA (Hons) Acting from LASALLE College of the Arts and MA (Coursework) Southeast Asian Studies from National University of Singapore.

Reading Material

#1: INTERVIEW WITH NG YI-SHENG

#2: THE DESERT BLOOMS

#3: 3 KEY EVENTS IN SINGAPORE QUEER HISTORY

Programme Booklet

(In order of appearance in script)

• Interview with Eleanor Wong, 6 September 2019.
• Interview with Ong Keng Sen, 23 September 2019.
• Pamelia Lee, Singapore, Tourism & Me. Singapore: Pamelia Lee Pte Ltd, 2004, pp 155-156.
• Philip Cheah, “Bugis Street’s one last bash.” The Straits Times, 11 October 1985, p 1.
• Philip Cheah, Ang Lay Wah & David Toh. “The street that wouldn’t sleep…” The Straits Times, 11 October 1985, p 16.
• Janice Seah. “The last time I saw Bugis Street”. The Straits Times, 13 October 1985, p 2.
• Russell Heng Hiang Khng, “Lest the Demons Get to Me”. Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values. Singapore: Times Books International, 1993, p 29.
• Interview with Russell Heng conducted 23 August, 2019.
• Russell Heng Hiang Khng, “Lest the Demons Get to Me”. Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values. Singapore: Times Books International, 1993, pp 40-41.
• Centre 42, “In the Living Room with Michael Chiang (Part 1 of 3)”, recorded 30 October 2014.
• Interview with Michael Chiang conducted 23 March 2017.
• Michael Chiang, “Army Daze”, Play Things. Singapore: Really Good Books Publishing House, 2014, p 42.
• Interview with Lim Siauw Chong conducted 6 April 2017.
• Michael Chiang, “Army Daze”, Play Things. Singapore: Really Good Books Publishing House, 2014, pp 57-58.
• Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan Cheong Kheng, “Rigor Mortis”. Prize-Winning Plays Vol III. Edited by Lee Tzu Pheng. Singapore: Department of English Language and Literature, NUS, 1989, p 47.
• Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan Cheong Kheng, “Rigor Mortis”. Prize-Winning Plays Vol III. Edited by Lee Tzu Pheng. Singapore: Department of English Language and Literature, NUS, 1989, p 48.
• “After Aids disclosure, no one can afford to be coy”, The Straits Times, 14 April 1985, p 16.
• “AIDS scare sparks staff ‘revolt’ at Middle Road AIDS: Ministry issues safety guidelines for staff Singapore Monitor”, 14 April 1985, p 1.
• “A rational response to Aids”, The Straits Times, 16 April 1985, p 18.
• “Choreographer Goh Choo San dies in New York”, The Straits Times, 1 December 1987, p 1.
• Email interview with Ovidia Yu, 6 and 7 September 2019.
• Interview with Otto Fong, conducted 28 August 2019.
• Interview with Russell Heng conducted 23 August, 2019.
• Gillian Pow Chong, “Homosexuals banned from night spots”. The Straits Times, 17 February 1988, p 24.
• Email interview with Chay Yew, 18 September 2019.
• David Drake, “Fusion: David Drake Interviews Playwright Chay Yew”. Lambda Book Report: A Review of Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Literature, Vol 7.04, November 1998, pp 6-8. Reprinted in People Like Us: Sexual Minorities in Singapore, eds. Joseph Lo & Huang Guoqin, Singapore: Select Books, 2003, p 99.
• Chay Yew, “As If Hears”. Microfilm at National Library.
• Quoted in Yaw Yan Chong, “Ministry says ‘no’ to play on Aids”, The Straits Times, 16 March 1988, p 15.
• Yaw Yan Chong, “Ministry says ‘no’ to play on Aids”, The Straits Times, 16 March 1988, p 15.
• “Theme ‘unsuitable’ so transvestite play dropped”, The Straits Times, 7 May 1988, p 21.
• Chay Yew, “As If Hears”. Microfilm at National Library.
• Interview with Ong Keng Sen, conducted 23 September 2019.
• Yaakub Rashid, “Poly’s winning debut”, The Straits Times, 2 January 1990, p 6..
• WhatsApp correspondence with Robin Loon, dated 19 October 2019.
• Tan Tarn How, “Diary of Censorship”, The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, Singapore: Sirius Books, 1993, p 64.
• Tan Tarn How, The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, Singapore: Sirius Books, 1993, p 22.
• Hannah Pandian, “Imagine This”, The Straits Times, 30 August 1991, p 5.
• Hannah Pandian, “Imagine This”, The Straits Times, 30 August 1991, p 5.
• Interview with G Selvanathan, conducted 30 August 2019.
• 方永晋，“异族”.戏聚现场 : 新加坡当代华文剧作选 / Scenes: Singapore’s Contemporary Mandarin Plays Anthology (Part 1), eds. Guo Qingliang and Quah Sy Re. Singapore: 戏剧盒 ; 八方文化创作室, 2010, p 146.
• 林春兰，“后代” . 《 后代, 生仔日记 : 林春兰剧本集 》. Singapore : 八方文化创作室, 2018, p 53.
• 林春兰，“自序” . 《 后代, 生仔日记 : 林春兰剧本集 》. Singapore : 八方文化创作室, 2018, p xviii.
• 黄向京，“访郭宝崑谈《后代》的新意思” . 林春兰， 《 后代, 生仔日记 : 林春兰剧本集 》. Singapore : 八方文化创作室, 2018, p 66.
• Ng Yi-Sheng. “Purple Back: Goh Boon Teck.” Fridae. 2 August 2012.
• Goh Boon Teck, “Posteterne”, Book 1: A Soul Has Two Edges: Plays on Homosexuality. Singapore: Toy Factory Productions Ltd, 2010, pp 126-127.
• Richard Lim. “Criticise, but don’t prescribe or proscribe.” The Straits Times, , 2 August 1992, p8.
• Ovidia Yu, “Three Fat Virgins Unassembled”. Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values. Singapore: Times Books International, 1993, pp 192-194.
• Tan Tarn How, “Diary of Censorship”, The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, Singapore: Sirius Books, 1993, pp 65, 68.
• Tan Tarn How. “Annex 1: Letter of Appeal sent to the Public Entertainment and Licensing Unit”. The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, Singapore: Sirius Books, 1993, p 76.
• Robin Loon, Famous Fives Goes on an Adventure, typescript at National Library, pp 20-21.
• Haresh Sharma, “Glass Roots… Please Don’t Step on Them”, typescript at National Library, pp 13-14.
• Chay Yew, “Porcelain”. Porcelain and a Language of Their Own. New York: Grove Press, 1997, pp 39-40.
• Michael Chiang, “Private Parts”. Play Things. Singapore: Really Good Books Publishing House, 2014, p 203.
• Eleanor Wong, “Mergers and Accusations”, Invitation to Treat, Singapore: Firstfruits Publications, p 75.
• Ng Sek Chow, “Opening the closet door — slightly”, The Straits Times, 13 July 1993, p 12.
• Haresh Sharma, “Land”, Shorts 2. Singapore: The Necessary Stage, 2011, p 26.
• Tan Tarn How, The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, Singapore: Sirius Books, 1993, p 55.
• Lynette J. Chua, Mobilizing Gay Singapore: Rights and Resistance in an Authoritarian State, Singapore: NUS Press, 2014. Pp 1-2.
  Archived at https://the-singapore-lgbt-encyclopaedia.wikia.org/wiki/Archive_of_The_Straits_Times_article,_%2212_men_nabbed_in_anti-gay_operation_at_Tanjong_Rhu%22,_23_Nov_1993
• Ray Langenbach. Performing the Singapore state 1988-1995. University of Western Sydney (Australia), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003, p 224.
• Ray Langenbach. Performing the Singapore state 1988-1995. University of Western Sydney (Australia), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003, pp 223-224.
• Ray Langenbach. Performing the Singapore state 1988-1995. University of Western Sydney (Australia), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003, pp 234-235.
• Ray Langenbach. Performing the Singapore state 1988-1995. University of Western Sydney (Australia), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003, pp 240, 244.
• “Such acts debase art: NAC”. The New Paper, 5 January 1994, p 14.
• “Where should one draw the line in art”, The Straits Times, 16 March 1994, p23.
• Koh Buck Song, “Liberalising the arts takes time”, The Straits Times, 8 February 1994, p 4.
• Facebook messenger correspondence with Rick Koh Buck Song, 9 November 2019.
• Pacific Theatricals Pte Ltd. “Bugis Street: The Musical”. Typescript archived at National Library.
• Otto Fong, “We Are Family”. Typescript archived at the National Library.
• Chay Yew, “A Language of Their Own”, Porcelain and A Language of Their Own, New York: Grove Press, 1997, p 158.
• Corrie Tan, “Grappling with sexual politics and love”, The Straits Times, 24 February 2015.
• “Sex, Equality, Activism and Censorship: Playwright Russell Heng Chats Online with Artist Jimmy Ong”, People Like Us: Sexual Minorities in Singapore, eds. Joseph Lo & Huang Guoqin, Singapore: Select Books, 2003, p 109.
• Interview with Russell Heng conducted 23 August, 2019.
• Eleanor Wong, “Wills and Secession”, Invitation to Treat, Singapore: Firstfruits Publications, p 170.
• Maureen Koh, “We were exploited”, The New Paper, 27 April 1995, p 24.
• Goh Boon Teck, “Purple”, Book 1: A Soul Has Two Edges: Plays on Homosexuality. Singapore: Toy Factory Productions Ltd, 2010, p 202.
• Robin Loon. “Singapore English Language Theatre: Dynamic and Diverse”. Robin Loon, Kok Heng Leun, Zizi Abdul Binte Abdul Majid, Vadivagan Shanamuga, Singapore Chronicles: Theatre. Singapore: Straits Times Press & Institute of Policy Studies, 2016, p 28.
• Quoted in Eleanor Wong, Invitation to Treat, Singapore: Firstfruits Publications, p 113.
• Email interview with Chay Yew, 28 September 2019.

An exhibition, titled The Desert Blooms, accompanied The Vault: Desert Blooms. The Desert Blooms features nine queer-themed plays mentioned in the Vault presentation. The exhibition detailed who, when and how these plays were created, and also touched on any resistance these plays might have encountered when they were staged for the first time. The Desert Blooms exhibition ran from 30 Nov to 20 Dec 2019 in the Centre 42 Library.

WHAT MATTERS

Desai Shivani Jatin
Lee Shea Shan Mega
Victoria Ow Sue Rey
Yeo Dana
Chew Hwee Chee

GOSSIP GRLs

Cherie Ho
Chermaine Cham
Chimene Khoo
Michelle Simon Hariff
Tricia Ding

SYMPHONY 404

Samuel Ng
Shim Sae Eun
Lau Xuan Kai
Nathaniel Aaron Tan
Jean Tay

DRAMATURG
Dr. Robin Loon
(Module Chair TS3103 Theatre Lab)

PRODUCER
Nora Samosir
(Coordinator TS3103 Theatre Lab)

DOCUMENTATION WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Daniel Teo & Gwen Pew
(Centre 42)

TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
Henrik Cheng

Reading Material

#1: ABOUT ONE YEAR BACK HOME

#2: SINGAPORE THEATRE IN THE 1970s

Programme Booklet

SOULTARI AMIN FARID, Artist Facilitator
I feel like my whole existence is about the arts. I got my pseudonym, Soultari, in a dream, a portmanteau of soul and “tari”, which is dance in Malay. I guess a side of me wishes to dig deeper into our humanity. Hence, tapping into one’s soul could help in answering that predicament. I hope through my works, I continue to be critical of our existence and bring others along into this exciting journey. Oh, hi. My name is Soultari Amin Farid.

LYN HANIS REZUAN, Performer
Hi! I’m Lyn and I think I started my involvement with the arts since I was 13 in secondary school with Malay dance as a CCA. Polytechnic didn’t quite fit my M.O., so I jumped ship from there to pursue performing arts in Jakarta. After graduating in December last year, I’ve been more involved with the local performing arts scene. During my free time I’m pretty laid back and try to catch up on my Netflix and Anime. I am also a pretty big Cat person

SYAFIQAH ‘ADHA SALLEHIN, Performer
Hey, I’m Syafiqah. You can call me Syaf. I have an affinity with music and keyboards since young. I started playing classical piano as a little child, and then became curious about traditional Malay music and picked up the accordion in my late teens. Music composition became one of my musical strengths, so as I grew into a young adult, I attempted to refine it at a local music conservatory. Now I play, create, teach, direct, live and breathe music. But once in a while, I get bored so I love taking on challenges to try out new things. Sometime soon, I’d love to travel out more into the world with all that I can offer.

SURYANA NORDDIN, Performer
“When I grow up, I want to be a Malay teacher…or a singer. No, no, no…I want to be a teacher.”
That was my childhood dream. But as I grew older, I eventually gave up becoming a teacher because I got rejected so many times. So I just continued to study and (barely) got myself a Degree.
When I was in tertiary level, I took up theatre as my CCA, although I don’t really know why I did it. But I enjoyed it anyways. Then in 2013, somehow, I became a wedding singer. Five years on, I’m still singing and doing theatre. I teach too, occasionally. I guess I’m destined to be a performer. I just got to believe.

SYAFIQAH SHAHARUDDIN, Performer
Hello i’m Syafiqah, almost everyone i know calls me Syafiq. This name has been with me since my Poly days so yes, Syafiq it is…
Still a student in SIM doing Accounting.
I entered the Malay Arts in primary school where i joined Malay Dance as a CCA and since then I knew it was something i wanted to do for a long time. Twelve years later, I’m still here doing it. Not to be dramatic, but I cannot remember how it feels like to not have Dance as a part of my life. I was given the opportunity to groom and choreograph the Malay Dance students in Temasek Polytechnic recently but I’m still getting the hang of it.

MOHAMAD SHAIFULBAHRI, Executive Producer/Co-Artistic Director, Bhumi Collective
Hi, I’m Shai but I’m not that shy except for when I was a child. My parents wanted to bring me to drama class but I would only do so if I could wear sunglasses…because I was urm, shy. For the record, I ended up not going for any. When I was in primary school, I wanted to be an author when I grow up. I actually wrote my own horror stories (I loved the Goosebumps series) and would print and collate them into a file and my friends in school would take turns to read them. I don’t watch horror movies anymore because I’m an adult now and I can choose not to!
Film was my first love but when the theatre bug bit me, I was infected. It’s become a part of me, coarsing through my bloodstream and I’m unable to imagine a life without the performing arts. I ran my own community theatre group for 10 years and have now co-started an actual company, which is a rollercoaster ride. The world can still be a big and scary place from time-to-time but I’m so blessed to be able to do what I do with an amazing bunch of people.

IFFAH IDI, Production Stage Manager
Oh, hello. I don’t know why everyone is introducing themselves when their name is right there *roll eyes*. I am a newbie in the industry but my love for the arts started at 9, playing the Angklung for my school’s ensemble. It shifted into playing the saxophone and trumpet for my school’s Military Band and even learning a little bit of Malay Dance along the way. I fell in love with theatre at a later age, 16 going on 17, being a part of Titisan Temasek when I was in Temasek Polytechnic. I graduated, placed my Engineering Diploma aside, took a gap year and now, I am a fresh graduate of LASALLE’s Bachelors of Arts in Arts Management. I entered LASALLE with a goal to give back my service to the industry once I completed my education, so here’s me leaving my little mark, enjoy!

Eugene Koh
Eugene is an aspiring text-based theatre maker. His recent works include Project Understudy under Centre 42’s The Vault (2016), Three Rules of Whore with Saga Seed Theatre at Singapore Night Festival (2016), Bintang Temasek under Saga Seed Theatre’s The Seed Incubator (2017) and Kalakuta: The Time Puzzle (2017). He writes reviews occasionally for ArtsEquator as well. Outside of his work in theatre, Eugene prizes his various hobbies like constructed scripts and banknote collecting.

Sarah Amalina
Sarah is a fresh graduate from the BA Arts Management course in LASALLE. She has a breadth of experience in artist management and festival management, which include events such as the Singapore Grand Prix and the 28th Singapore International Film Festival. @thisismeraldgirl is her return to theatre after working with the visual arts and film for the past 2 years, and she is very excited to be collaborating with her best friends.

Brenda Tan
Brenda is an undergraduate in NUS pursuing a BA in Theatre Studies, with a minor in Film Production from NYU. Her latest projects include writing One Woman, staged by Buds Theatrical Productions and Dark Matter Theatrics and performing in Temporarily Mine, Nothing Serious and U.N.I.T.S. She goes by @wordweed online, posting original short films, beauty, fashion and lifestyle videos on Youtube. She is also the host of the wt+ original series, a creator at Bloomr.SG and runs Go Margaux, an online vintage jewellery store.

Lee Shu Yu
Shu Yu is an aspiring theatre-maker pursuing a BA in Theatre Studies at the National University of Singapore. She also enjoys stage and production management, design and documentation. Her latest experimentations include Kalakuta: The Time Puzzle (2017) by NUS Thespis and documenting 1 Table 2 Chairs Experimental Series (2017) by The Theatre Practice. She is also one of Centre 42’s 2018 Citizen Reviewers.

Standing the test of time… alone is a Centre 42 exhibition that showcases five of the most enduring monologues in the history of Singapore English-language theatre. It features materials from our digital theatre archive, the Repository, and accompanies The Vault: @thisisemeraldgirl. The exhibition ran in the Centre 42 Front Courtyard from 29 June to 31 July 2018. Click the thumbnail below to see the exhibition panels.

Neo Kim Seng
Neo Kim Seng is a cross-disciplinary practitioner and has been involved in independent and large-scale projects in Singapore and overseas.

Tan Cher Kian
A middle-aged avid theatre goer who’s finally taking the plunge performing on stage. Be gentle, it’s his first time.

Gary Tang
Gary Tang, a Cantonese, feeds his soul by performing, on stage, for film and in life.

The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road in Singaporean Cantonese, written and performed by Gary Tang. (40 minutes)

The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road in Malaysian Cantonese, written and performed by Tan Cher Kian. (36 minutes)

We presented the final edition of our Vault programme of 2017 from 23 to 25 November. Titled “The Vault: My Grandfather’s Road”, the monologue was created by Neo Kim Seng as a way to reconnect with his childhood on Neo Pee Teck Lane, a road that’s literally named after his grandfather. The piece was first staged in English in 2015 as part of CAKE’s 10th anniversary celebrations, “Running with Strippers”. This time, he worked with actors Gary Tang and Tan Cher Kian (CK) to refresh the work in the language that he grew up with – Cantonese – so that his mother could understand. Through this project, KS also hoped to explore the regional variations in the language. Therefore, Gary performed his version in Singaporean Cantonese, while CK’s version was presented in Malaysian Cantonese. Photos: Gwen Pew & Daniel Teo.

Source: Centre 42 Facebook

Aswani Aswath
When she’s not wearing the teacher hat, Aswani Aswath is a freelance writer who believes that stories provide a voice for the powerless and platforms inviting discussion and change. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the National University of Singapore, Aswani was a Writer-in- Residence for Buds Theatre Company. Her works have been staged in schools, Singapore Youth Festival competitions and community projects that were commissioned by the National Library Board and EmancipAsia. Aswani also writes for Tamil theatre and her recent scripts include Kadal + Karai and Pazhuppu for Ravindran Drama Group and the Asian Youth Theatre Festival.

Alfian Sa’at
Alfian Sa’at is well-known for frank, insightful, and provocative literary and dramatic works, written in English and Malay. As the Resident Playwright of W!ld Rice, he has written acclaimed plays such as the Asian Boys trilogy (2000, 2004, 2007), Cooling-Off Day (2011), and the historical epic Hotel (2015, co-writer). Alfian is also an author with published collections of short stories and poems. He is a four-time winner of Best Original Script at the annual M1-The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards and a 2001 recipient of the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award for Literature.

This Vault was accompanied by an exhibition also titled Absence Makes the Heart. Held at Centre 42’s front courtyard from 28 Oct to 5 Nov 2017, the exhibition featured images of Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Sivakumar Palakrishnan and Grace Kalaiselvi posing as characters from six of Singapore’s most iconic plays. These characters were previously played by Chinese and Malay actors. The exhibition panels can be viewed below:

Written by Aswani Aswath and dramaturged by Alfian Sa’at, Absence Makes the Heart… is an attempt to trace the presence and absence of Indian roles in Singapore English-language theatre, from the early days of its birth to the present moment. Featuring the actors Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Sivakumar Palakrishnan and Grace Kalaiselvi, the work will ask: How much do we miss those who have gone missing?

“Absence Makes the Heart…” was presented on 28 & 29 Oct in the Centre 42 Black Box. The work traced the presence and absence of Indian roles in Singapore English-language theatre, from the early days of its birth to the present moment. “Absence Makes the Heart…” featured excerpts from English-language local plays throughout Singapore theatre history, and interviews with prominent Indian theatre practitioners. “Absence” was written by Aswani Aswath, dramaturged by Alfian Sa’at, and performed by Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Sivakumar Palakrishnan and Grace Kalaiselvi. This edition of the Vault was accompanied by an exhibition featuring images of the Indian actors playing iconic characters in Singapore English-language theatre, previously played by their Chinese peers.

Source: Centre 42 Facebook