The Vault: Desert Blooms

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.