The Substation's Directors' Lab, Producer
Six young theatre practitioners were shortlisted for the inaugural Directors’ Lab 2013-2014
Agnes Christina, Eng Kai Er, Tan Liting, Patricia Toh and Tan Shou Chen and Tim Nga created new works under the The Substation's new theatre directing 18 months mentorship programme.
Tan Shou Chen worked on a new staging of Medea. The Greek epic Medea burns with revenge, heartache, and despair. It is a story of betrayal, of dreams lost, of desperation. It is also a story of immigration, sexism, and justice. It is a story for us. The staging is a culmination of over a year of research under The Substation’s Director’s Lab program. His process has been guided by these questions: where does theatre and the actor fit in contemporary Singapore? What is the value of theatre?
PREVIEW : MEDEA
Fish is an experimental physical theatre performance that explores notions of freedom. Inspired by stories of fish, and taking cues from Asian dance, 70s hippie culture, and postmodern performance, the performance is an exploration in text and movement.
This original work was devised by a diverse group of artists who will also be performing the piece: Eng Kai Er (dance), Lim Jun Jie Jey (acting), Vincent Chia (acting), and Alvin Koh(singing). Fish was also influenced by physical and dance theatre groups such as DV8 Physical Theatre and Pina Bausch’s Tanzteater. This multi-disciplinary, non-linear, experimental performance invites the audience to contemplate ideas of freedom.
PREVIEW : FISH
Over the course of 6 months, Timothy interviewed people who drive taxis for a living, their friends and family members, people who commute in taxis and others who come into contact with taxis. His aim was to collect stories, points of view, pictures, sounds, emotions, and end up with a complete mess of recorded experiences, which were then threaded together to form the basis for a theatre performance that peeks into the inner life of those that are often encountered and usually forgotten.
PREVIEW : TAXI : BETWEEN YOU AND ME
Taking the sub is a project with punks, for punks and by punks. Part memory project, part punk expose, this project aims to document an uncensored oral history of punk in Singapore. Liting attempts to share their findings and research of the history of punk in Singapore, and shares their strategies for creating a performance with punks, for punks and by punks.
PREVIEW : TAKING THE SUBS
Agnes Christina spent 18 months studying classical Javanese text, Serat Cethini, and has given it her own twist through this performance. Incorporating highlights from the text, personal anecdotes, cheesy dangdut tunes, and at one point, instant mee.
PREVIEW : READING CENTHINI- SULUK TAMBANGRARAS
(Path Of The Boat Of A Soul)
Pat Toh's Warpaint is the confrontation between fragility and strength, it is an unflinching take on the fights between an aging woman and her youthful daughter as they seek to reconnect across their differences towards life..
PREVIEW : WARPAINT