Main Tulis Group (MTG) is Singapore’s only collective that works on developing English and Malay plays. The emphasis is on “main” and “tulis”—writing organically, without restrictions—while also being about playwriting as a craft.

The group organises regular readings of works-in- progress and is known for its dramatised readings showcase ETA : 9 MIN at Centre 42’s yearly event, Late-Night Texting. MTG also partners with institutions such as the Esplanade and the National University of Singapore to conduct outreach events on writing and mentor young writers.

As part of the residency, Main Tulis Group will also be hosting Script Circles, slated to begin in August 2021, which will be open to the public to share scripts to gain feedback or to learn about playwriting.

Upcoming with Main Tulis Group

Brown Voices is Singapore’s first collective of Indian theatre practitioners and playwrights founded by freelance Indian actor-director-playwright Grace Kalaiselvi. Now a 12-member team, Brown Voices supports, encourages and trains each other towards the writing of quality play scripts where the narratives by Indians in Singapore take centre stage.

These stories stem from the writers’ diverse personal experiences, readings, and research interests. The collective aims to not only create new plays but to also stage them as dramatized readings or full-scale productions.

In the first term of their residency, they look forward to hosting more full-length dramatized reads, short public readings and host workshops based on members’ expertise and interests.

Upcoming with Brown Voices

Mythology Mini-Series: Purana Residences and Makyng the Myth Myne
by Hemang Yadav
8 – 10 October 2021

Past Activities

• Nation & Writing: Using National Allegory in Playwriting by Hemang Yadav
  13 – 14 August 2021
• More Than a Red Dot: A Survey of SG Indian Things by Vithya Subramaniam
  23 – 24 August & 3-4 September 2021

Critical Ecologies | Critical Anomalies consists of a team of 12 critics and writers, as well as documenters and translators from Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Led by coordinator Corrie Tan, the collective is interested in mapping ecologies and vocabularies of critique in the region, and theorizing critique from regions of Southeast Asia in a collaborative way. There will be an emphasis on care ethics and care studies as applied to performance criticism, how critics are situated or embedded within a specific community or context, as well as trans-local exchanges between sites – which would allow us to think about what is specific to local sites or micro-contexts.

Over the course of their residency, the collective will be mapping out personal influences and histories of criticism, introducing and engaging with critical concepts, and identifying shared and diverging practices and principles.

There are an increasing number of arts practitioners from diverse backgrounds who are interested in and trying to expand conversations and practices around care and intimacy. However, there has yet to be a consistent space or platform where these diverse practitioners can come together to share and learn from each other. Hence, the Care & Intimacy Working Group was formed.

The collective will be exploring the following within smaller sub-groups:

• Mapping knowledge, strategies and efforts on maintaining care in arts disciplines,
• Holding space for such conversations
  Advocating for broader considerations of care and intimacy, and the minimization of harmful practices within the arts.

Over the 12 months, they will convene in sub-group meetings to map out the knowledge and information and plan their research, before executing engagement plans with individual and organizational stakeholders in the arts to develop a comprehensive understanding of care and intimacy practices within the arts community.

Upcoming with The Care and Intimacy Working Group