UNDER | by Ang Hui Bin & Lee Shyh Jih

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Conceptualiser and Director of the project Ang Hui Bin and Playwright Lee Shyh Jih have always been fascinated with non-verbal communication in relationships, especially over what is left unsaid than said. This exploration together started out in 2017 when workshopping on Shyh Jih’s original script Under《下面 》. The opportunity to further the experimentation surrounding this theme surfaced in 2021 with the  adaptation of a part of this same playscript, into a short film.

SYNOPSIS

Amidst the seemingly never ending daily grind of city dwelling, the past caught up with a widowed man and a widowed woman in their twilight years.

Reunited after decades in separate marriages, they found themselves confronted with an emotion tsunami surging from suppressed trembles in yesteryears.

Can they make up for the lost time?

Can they find peace before their flesh perish?

UNDER is a closeup study of non verbal communications between the hearts through the lens of video framing, at times when all spoken words we could muster were mere hints of the abyss of meanings underneath.

ARTIST/PROJECT STATEMENT by Ang Hui Bin

In 2020, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to explore and create a few digital works, under the Digital Presentation Grant for the Arts. The experience was beneficial to me as an artist as it allowed me to look at performance creation from a brand new perspective.

The digital eye is very different from the human eye and the details the audience registers and captures via a screen are very different from that of a live performance too. With this project, I hope to continue my exploration of the digital medium. To deepen my exploration, I will be working with professional filmmaker, Russell Morton. Together with him and his team of professional film personnel, I hope this project will allow me to have a better understanding of performance in film.

These are the premise of my project exploration:

1. To explore the relationship between text and subtext, impulse and speech in performance.

“Speech is the representation of the experiences of the mind” (Aristotle) but a performance is not merely a conversation of minds. To connect the audience to the characters on stage, it is important for actors to present the experiences of the heart/ soul as well.

Hence with this project, I have chosen to work with a script that consists mainly of repeated dialogues. This repetition will allow me as the director to explore the multiple layers beneath what is being said. The playwright has also included very specific stage actions in the script which will provide the actors and myself the necessary materials for a greater understanding of the characters’ impulses and motivations,

2. A new medium: The Film

As an artist, I am very interested in telling stories. Learning about a new medium will allow me to explore new ways of storytelling. While live human connections are still invaluable and irreplaceable, the impact of digital technology on how we connect is not to be neglected, especially in a time like this. In the long run, I hope to be able to marry both live and digital elements to connect to audiences on a more holistic level.

3. A new medium: The Script

For me, words are only one of the many tools through which communication can take place. This project will allow me to continue to explore storytelling/ engaging the audience beyond words.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Casting

Other than working with a professional filmmaker, I hope to include both actors and dancers in the cast to encourage skills sharing and also deepen our exploration of text and movements.

Sound Design

In a performance, dialogues serve to provide the audience with information (about the characters, plot, etc). However, the textual meaning of dialogues often overshadows its musicality. To explore the musicality of the dialogues, I will be working with  a sound designer who does not understand Mandarin. This will allow him to focus on the lyrical aspect of the words/ lines instead of the textual meaning. The performers will in turn be able to explore and build a movement vocabulary inspired by the sound design.

Four Key Development Phases: From Script to Screen

WORK-IN-PROGRESS SHARING

The artists-in-residence will be working towards a public sharing on the adaptation process involved in adapting a playtext into a cinematic script in Feb 2022.

Ang Hui Bin, Director

Hui Bin is a freelance director, designer, educator, maker, puppeteer and performer. A graduate from the National University of Singapore’s Theatre Studies Programme in 2004, Hui Bin has been working in theatre as an all-round artist, specializing in puppetry, for more than 15 years.

Some of her recent works include: OIWA – The Ghost of Yotsuya (Puppetry Designer / Puppeteer, SIFA x The Finger Players, 2020 / 2021); Community Puppetry Workshop (Facilitator, Esplanade March On, 2021); Where the Wild Beasts Feed (Set & Headgear Designer & Maker, The Arts Fission Company, 2020 / 2021); plastik – Your World and Mine (Director / Set & Props Designer & Maker, National Arts Council x Gateway Theatre, 2019 / 2020); Curious Fish (Designer, Arts Fission, 2019); Community Shadow Puppetry Workshop (Facilitator, Esplanade Octoburst!, 2019); Beam (Director / Playwright, Tiny Feat x The Artground, 2019); H A N D S – inaugural Children’s Parade (Director / Playwright / Puppetry Designer, Esplanade Octoburst!, 2018); Framed, By Adolf (Puppetry Designer / Actor / Puppeteer, The Finger Players, 2018); and Itsy – The Musical (Puppetry Designer, The Finger Players, 2017).

Lee Shyh Jih, Playwright/Writer

Shyh Jih has assumed the roles of various capacities such as actor, director, playwright and sound designer in more than 15 productions since his involvement in theatre from 1991. His most recent script, Afar, was first staged in 2012 as part of Esplanade Studio Season, and re-staged in Jun 2016 under The Finger Players’ Watch This Space programme.

As a volunteer and collaborator with Drama Box, Shyh Jih has helped facilitate the theatre company’s Blanc Space Playwright series – a new playwright incubation programme since 2009.

Movies he has written to date – 《煮持人》Cooking Without Clothes (Channel U, Ochre Production) in 2009 where he was the Script Writer, and《割爱》 Love Cut (Clover Films Production) in 2010 where he was the Co-scriptwriter.

Russell Adam Morton, Filmmaker

Russell is a Singaporean film and visual artist. His short films The Silent Dialogue of All Artworks (2013), The Forest of Copper Columns (2016) and Saudade (2021) explore folkloric myths, esoteric rituals and the conventions of cinema itself.

Russell’s work has begun taking a choreographic turn through collaboration with movement artists as part of a residency with dance-film collective CineMovement. Fish (2019), the collaborative piece with a Hong Kong based movement artist, was part of Jumping Frames International Dance Video Festival (2019) and has been acquired by NOWNESS Asia.

Russell was also the Director of Photography for Ang Song Ming’s Recorder Rewrite, Singapore’s entry the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. Saudade was commissioned by the Asian Film Archive for State of Motion, Rushes of Time (2020) and was screened at the 31st Singapore International Film Festival (2020) and Sheffield Doc Fest (2021). His first feature film project, Penumbra, participated at SGIFF South East Asian Film Lab 2020 and is currently in development with POTOCOL Films. Morton is currently an artist in residence with the Nanyang Technical University Centre of Contemporary Arts, Singapore where he is continuing the development of Penumbra.

Redwan Hamzah, Sound Designer/Music Composer

Redwan is a composer, songwriter, musician and educator. Interfacing with different disciplines as a composer and in an improvisatory context, he has been composing music for dance productions and short films, which include Dock 65 (Hong Guofeng, Christina Chan and Sigma Contemporary Dance Company), Hypnagogia (Sigma Contemporary Dance Company), Moving Online (Jocelyn Ng) and Stolen Dance (Translucent Bodies).

Guitar player/writer for artistes such as Sezairi, Tim De Cotta and Din Ilango, his musical experiences have allowed him to grace stages all over: ASEAN-IMF (India), Laneway, Baybeats, Shine, Ignite!, Earth Hour, Music Matters, Streetfest and more. He is a member of instrumental band still, and music and movement improv ensemble Great Pants. Redwan is also a co-founder of Insyncsg, a music education company.

He is currently writing for his debut album, bridging explorations of his Javanese roots and the organic and synthetic with a search for balance between harmony, melody and technology.

Betty Yichun Chen, Dramaturg

Betty is a dramaturg and translator (Chinese/English/German). She studied English literature and theatre studies in Taipei and Bochum. Since 2012, she has worked intensively with the Taipei Arts Festival and Goethe Institute as interpreter and dramaturg for the co- productions between Taiwan and Germany. Since 2013, she works as independent dramaturg and collaborate with artists/groups such as On & On Theatre Workshop, Vee Leong, Snow Huang, Fangas Nayaw and Christine Umpfenbach. Her contribution as translator goes beyond the linguistic level and involved communication between different cultures and procedures. She was invited to the 17. International Translator Meeting in Mülheim in 2015, and to the online Co-production Platform East Asia-Germany (2020-2021). Betty is currently based in Germany.

Michele Lim, Producer

Michele is a arts management consultant, producer and educator. Based in Singapore, her producing credits include GIMME TEN《十分好戏》 Chinese Radio Play Competition, 2021, conceived by Ground Zer0 and presented by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre; Alice’s Topsy Turvy Tea Party by Melissa Quek and The Kueh Tutus presented at the inaugural March On Festival 2021;《六根不宁》 I came at last to the seas, conceived & directed by Kuo Jian Hong an Esplanade Huayi Festival 2018 commission produced by The Theatre Practice; Dark Room, written & directed by Edith Podesta, an Esplanade Studio Commission, April 2016; Returning《回归》conceived by Mdm Goh Lay Kuan and choreographed by Meenakshy Bhaskar, Jenny Neo, Osman Abdul Hamid, Low Ee Chiang commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Arts 2015; Dream Country, a lost monologue [ Dance ] conceived by Marion D’Cruz, and choreographed by Natalie Hennedige, Zizi Azah, Claire Wong, Charlene Rajendran commissioned by the Singapore Arts Festival 2012.

The first phase of this project is supported by National Arts Council under the Self-Employed Persons Grant (SEPG) from Nov 2021 – March 2022).