Today while thinking through some of the ideas and events in my new play Tango, a sudden recollection. It was my A levels, the General Paper exam, 2004. Teachers from other schools had come to supervise the examination. One teacher in particular, a man in his late 30s, kept stopping in front of my desk … Continue reading History is a swamp
Time for that periodic round up of things I'm busy with in the coming months. 1. YOU ARE HERE, November 18-19 2016, Esplanade Recital Studio This show started out as a small Powerpoint confessional in the Living Room of the Arts House, commissioned by Checkpoint Theatre for their groovy What I Love About You Is Your … Continue reading Busyness
Caught this last night. I was super excited to see it because I first discovered Robert LePage's work through his production of Wagner's Ring for the New York Met Opera. I saw that on DVD but even then found it gorgeous, modern but also appropriately and goofily old-fashioned. Anyway, by the time I got into the theatre … Continue reading Hamlet|Collage
Wrapped up this show a week ago. Lots of trepidation going in, lots of uncertainty going out. I went in thinking to try painting with a different palette, using some of the tools (naturalism, conversation, banality) I'm familiar with, and the end result was something that I find hideous and monstrous. Responses from audiences and … Continue reading Cafe
There’s a lot of talk now about the compromises involved in taking state money for arts projects. I agree with a lot of it in principle, because I think there is a special, devious quality in how censorship is channeled through funding in Singapore. And recent comments by NAC leaders have made that very clear. … Continue reading Cut
Checkpoint Theatre has done me the honour of publishing my first collection of plays, optimistically titled "Volume One," edited by my good friend and fellow writer, Lucas Ho. These are seven plays all written and staged between 2011 and 2015. There was a lovely launch event on the 14th of August where many of my family, … Continue reading Book!
I've found myself, lately, in a strange position where people come to me seeking advice on playwriting. The latest kicker is that I'm now facilitating a young-people's playwriting residency at the Woodlands Regional Library, essentially tasked to "teach" playwriting. We had our first meeting-- a wonderful, probing, exciting morning-- on Saturday, and as much as … Continue reading Questions on my mind
Who knows if there's still divinity in old things, in rocks and stones and trees? Who knows if there's still power in blessings and curses? But across centuries of dead air we can still feel the ache and singe of libraries burning. And the night sky is a gallery brimming with dead old things that we, more often than we're … Continue reading for the iconoclasts
Bertrand Bonello's "Saint Laurent" is a brilliant film, least of all because of anything it says about Yves Saint Laurent or his work, but because it is a bold and aggressively postmodern statement about the impossibility of representing someone else's life. It is a wonderfully layered film, constantly signposting its discomfort with biography, reminding us … Continue reading Saint Laurent
I've been very lucky to have been super busy collaborating with great people these past few months, and it's all happening this approaching year-end and early 2015. Here's a list of events, shows and panels in the very very near future. Hop by if any interest you and you'd like to see what I've been … Continue reading Coming up next
