Video: The Vault 1.1: Nineteen Sixty-Four

The Vault 1.1 – Nineteen Sixty-Four was first presented in front of a live audience on 22 September 2014.

The public showing of this Lecture-Performance is only one aspect of its reach, and is only the starting point. Centre 42 believes in providing long-term public web access of our programmes as part of our documentation and provision of resources for the public.

The 90-minute Lecture-Performance has been repackaged into an 8-part video recording:

Part 1: Robin Loon, Casey Lim, Nora Samosir and Serene Chen introduce The Vault programme and its tenets, and explain what iteration 1.1 will cover. Robin then talks about the year 1964, specifically the significant events within the year, both in and outside of Singapore, as well as touches upon writing for the English-language stage in 1960s Singapore.

Part 2: Nora and Serene read excerpts from Act 1 of “A White Rose at Midnight”. Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from an interview with playwright Lim Chor Pee and an early history of English-medium schools in Singapore.

Part 3: Nora and Serene read from Act 1 Scene 1 of “When Smiles Are Done”. Serene also shares her personal responses to the character of Chong Kit and the smoking in the script.

Part 4: Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 1 of “A White Rose at Midnight”. Robin shares excerpts from a 1961 Straits Times report on Shirley Wong and a study by Krishen Jit.

Part 5: Nora and Serene read from the bar scene (Act 2, Scene 1) of “When Smiles Are Done”. Robin reads an excerpt from a 1960 Singapore Free Press article on cabaret girls, and Nora shares a personal childhood memory of cabaret girls.

Part 6a: Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 2 of “A White Rose at Midnight”.

Part 6b: Casey responds to this excerpt with a video montage of media portrayals of nightclub singers. (This video may not be viewable on mobile devices. Please view on a desktop browser.)

Part 7: Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of “When Smiles Are Done”. Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from news articles on the 1964 racial riots in Singapore.

Part 8: Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of “When Smiles Are Done” and Act 3 of “A White Rose at Midnight”. Robin shares excerpts from articles on Singapore English-language theatre and Singapore’s English-educated. Nora and Serene conclude by reading the final scenes from both plays.