First Act(s), Part 1

First Act(s) is a 4-part series featuring 8 plays-in-progress from a group of budding playwrights brought together by fate. These plays were born at the ‘Playwriting Workshop with Haresh Sharma’ (organised by the National Library Board, September – October 2018), and have now been taken to their next developmental step of rewrites and readings.

The plays will be publicly read to an invited audience for the first time, over 4 separate Guest Room sessions from March to July 2019:

Part 1, March 2019

• Twin Butterflies by Clara Mok
• We Cannot Bring Money When We Die by Christine Chia

Part 2, April 2019

• Touch Wood by Auderia Tan
• Untitled by XM Lim-Fang

Part 3, June 2019

• A Midsummer White Dream by Ivy Chen
• The House of Golden Chains by Larnce Alahendra

Part 4, July 2019

• If Tomorrow Comes Again by Ivan Choong
• Silence by Alicia Kan

Twin Butterflies by Clara Mok

Synopsis – The bosomy lao ban niang aka “Old Butterfly” and her pretty daughter aka “Young Butterfly” are in danger of being cheated by a charismatic guy due to a bet. Told from the eyes of bread shop employees, the play revolves around how Ah Tiong, the bread shop towkay, attempts to stop his loved ones from being snared before it’s too late.

Short story ‘Twin Butterflies’, which the play is based on, is one of ten selected works for the Writing the City showcase organised by Singlit Station (October 2018). This light-hearted play is unapologetic and unabashed in bringing out the worst in its cast of entertaining characters.

Playwright – Clara Mok loves reminiscing about her childhood and wishes to capture snippets of Singapore’s past before they disappear.

Actors –
Chio Su-Ping
Christine Chia
Gabriele Goh
Grace Kanai
Ivan Choong
Kelly Choo
Larnce Alehandra
Tanvi Kothary

We Cannot Bring Money When We Die by Christine Chia

Synopsis – We Cannot Bring Money When We Die is a play about a middle-aged woman’s funny and frantic search for security, love, and the meaning of life and death when her husband suffers a massive stroke, requiring her to repair relationships with her children and stepdaughters.

Playwright – Christine Chia is a writer, editor, and teacher who enjoys writing about serious issues in a humorous way.

Actors –
Alicia Kan
Chio Su-Ping
Clara Chow
Grace Kanai
Ivan Choong
Kelly Choo
Shaik Nazray
Yeo Wei Wei