ACTION Theatre

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Shocks & SHIOK! (2009)

Makeup

A new dramedy for tall men and women who love them.


Manhood (2009)

The days of writing letters to one another slowly becomes a thing of the past as mobile phones and the internet make communication between individuals as easy as "logging-in". But in the evolution from pen and paper to keyboard and screen, have we compromised the way we express ourselves? Can we be just as romantic? Heartfelt? Honest?

Take a peek into the love of yesteryear and consider this... Whilst times have changed, perhaps Love remains the same.


Singapore Love Letters (2009)

Makeup Artist

Time to laugh heartily and be uplifted joyfully with your friends and family!

ACTION Theatre proudly presents&nbsp;Catching Adam Cheng,&nbsp;a hilarious and heartwarming comedy about four elderly women who hatch a plot to escape from a nursing home to catch Adam Cheng's concert at The Esplanade! Hot on their heels is a vicious Head Nurse who'll stop at nothing to bring them back! Will the four succeed? Join the Singapore "Dream Girls" in this original homegrown gem about growing up, getting old and stayi

Catching Adam Cheng (2008)

Not forgetting to appreciate the past...

Postcards from Rosa marks a significant departure from the rest of my directing repertoire in that it is at its heart a very simple and heartwarming story. The dramatic monologue is for me one of the most challenging forms of "live" performance and is a powerful reminder of the lure of theatre - its ability to move audiences both young and old alike.

This journey has been an inspiring one and I had the luxury of working with some of the finest individuals in th

Postcards from Rosa (2007)

Hair Stylist

Have a splash with ACTION Theatre's all-new production of Desmond Sim's acclaimed sexy comedy&nbsp;The Swimming Instructor. Dive into a funny and touching tale about the undercurrents of love, lust and life as experienced by a down-to-earth swimming instructor, a vivacious rich girl and a go-getting advertising executive.

Get ready to dive into a hilarious and poignant tale about the undercurrents of love, lust and loss as experienced by a down-to-earth swimming instructor, a vivacious rich girl and a go

The Swimming Instructor (2007)

Everything But The Brain was first staged on 27 January 2005 by ACTION Theatre. The Premiere production was directed by Krishen Jit. The original cast members were Gerald Chew, Pamela Oei, Koh Chieng Mun, Brendon Fernandez, Chermaine Ang and Filomar Tariao.


Everything But The Brain (2007)

Doubt: A&nbsp;Parable received its world premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer) on November 23, 2004. The production then transferred to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre (Carole Shorenstein Hays; MTC Productions, Inc.; Roger Berlind, Scott Rudin; producers) and opened there on March 31, 2005. The production was directed by Doug Hughes, with scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Pat Collins and orig

Doubt (2006)

Confessions of 300 Unmarried Men (2006)

The Humanity Beneath the Myth

I must admit that when I was first approached by Ken and Ekachai to work on this project, the idea of embarking on a musical based on the larger-than-life figure of Admiral Cheng Ho was an intimidating one. However, I was drawn to the image that Ken shared with me, the image of a young boy filled with awe and wonder, dwarfed by a gigantic footprint. For me, that became the key to re-imagining Cheng Ho's voyages from a twenty-first-century perspective, by telling the story th

The Admiral's Odyssey (2005)

Makeup Designer

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

First Chapter: The Meeting of the Star-crossed Lover
After the demise of her mother, Lin Dai Yu was being sent to live in her grandmother's house where she met her cousin Jia Bao Yu. The young couple soon developed an affection for each other. However, it wasn't long before their relationship turned complex with the arrival of their cousin Xue Bao Chai. Xue Bao Chai had, as an ornament, a golden locket that was deemed to be pair of a symbolic pair with the jade pendant that Jia Bao Yu wore on his chest...

红楼梦 (2005)

Proof started with two ideas. One was about a pair of estranged sisters: what if, after their father's death, they discovered something valuable among his possessions? The other - more of a visual image than anything else - was about a worried young woman: I pictured her sitting up, alone, late at night, afraid that she might be inheriting her father's mental illness.

I didn't know if these ideas belonged in the same play or not, but while looking for a way to put them together I happened to be reading G

Proof (2002)

Wild Rice

Bernard thought he could&nbsp;easily cope with three air stewardess girlfriends. It was&nbsp;all a question of juggling their timetables and the brilliant assistance of&nbsp;his reliable down-to-earth maid,&nbsp;Rosa,&nbsp;who never forgot to change the photographs in the bedroom. Everything proceeds like clockwork, until the arrival of the new “Super" Boeing&nbsp;and he is landed with a triple problem on his hands!


Boeing Boeing (2002)

The popular bite-sized 10-min play innovated by ACTION Theatre's "Squeeze" series is finally back! Supported by Hewlett-Packard since its first staging in Singapore in 1993, the "Squeeze" series has constantly delighted local theatre audiences with its collection of bite-sized 10-minute plays.

Simply no other production lets one sample the roller coaster ride of adventure, romance, comedy, suspense in one evening for the price of a single ticket. Like a tasty buffet, the series presents plays that are 'f

Squeeze and Squeezability (2002)

At an MRT station, an old woman is wondering whether to get onto the escalator. Not too far away, a preppy executive is loitering and doesn't seem too keen to get to work. What happens when the two bump into each other?


MRT (2002)

Steven told his Dad he did not want to be "a fully paid-up member of the ruling class". That's how it all started. Now his Dad and his Mum are talking, discussing and debating... What are you supposed to do when your teenage son told you, "It's not ruling V.S. ruled. You can opt-out."?


Whatever That Is (2002)

Set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, it begins when Ronnie, a street musician (who is only incidentally Chinese) meets Benjamin, a backpacker from the Midwest (who is only incidentally Caucasian) by chance. Their confrontation sparks a riff that swings to the heart of identity.


Trying To Find Chinatown (2002)

A couple is dining out at an exclusive restaurant. They're celebrating a special event but frankly, he would rather just eat and go home. But she wants to talk and does not give up till they are both talking as they've never done before in all their time together. "Squeeze the lemon. Breathe!", says the woman. She also wants to know how happy the man is on a scale of 1 to 10. He rates it and asks her to massage his jaws.


Dinner For Two (2002)

In this extraordinary play, American playwright Margaret Edson has created a work that is as intellectually challenging as it is emotionally immediate.&nbsp;

At the start of Wit, Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., a renowned professor of English who has spent years studying and teaching the brilliantly difficult Holy Sonnets of the meta-physical poet John Donne, has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Her approach to her illness is not unlike her approach to the study of Donne: aggressively probing and inte

W;t (2000)

Drama Box

Ah Beng, our very own Singaporean neighbourhood young man, grew up in a simple and ordinary life with his lot of carefree friends and humble family.

Peach, a sophisticated uptown girl, comes along one day with the lure of beauty, wealth and a future of glamour and success.

Beng knows the only way to make it in this world is by forsaking his free and easy lifestyle. He embarks on a hunt for dignity. He will be polished; he will be learned; he wants to be bourgeois.

As Beng embraces his new love and 

Mr Beng (2000)

Kenneth Lyen

Shamimah Begum

It all began...&nbsp;one wet evening in December last year,&nbsp;when two Mensans braved the storm to
brainstorm for ideas to celebrate Mensa&nbsp;Singapore's 10th anniversary in 1999.&nbsp;The proposed programme included a&nbsp;charity dinner and a musical. Neither of&nbsp;the two knew anything about producing a&nbsp;musical, but one of them suggested the&nbsp;name of a Mensan who did: Kenneth Lyen.&nbsp;The other took it upon himself to approach&nbsp;Kenneth to take on the challenge of&nbsp;producing a m

Yum Sing! (1999)

This bi-lingual musical comedy chronicles the rocky road to love between&nbsp;Mr Beng and Peach. Mr Beng, not your stereotypical Ah Beng, drives a Mercedes,&nbsp;wears Versace clothes and sings Hokkien Karaoke. Peach is a classy uptown girl,&nbsp;temperamental and stubborn.

The play attempts to examine the cultural gaps that all Singaporeans must deal&nbsp;with on a day-to-day basis, trapped between borrowed&nbsp;Eastern and Western cultures,&nbsp;alternating between our ‘mother’ tongue, Singlish and rec

Mr Beng (1999)

The Theatre Practice

Two young couples quarrel. The boys walk out in anger, and on impulse, they join a religious retreat to listen to the teachings of Buddha. Through this, they are truly enlightened, the world to them now is a state of 'nothingness', and they attempt to abstain from any emotion. The girls want to make up, but are rejected. Determined to pursue, they join in the congregation to investigate. To their surprise, they find out that the 'master' at the congregation is a young man. His teachings are so enlightening 

Love A La Zen (1999)

Singapore Repertory Theatre

1917: A baby is abandoned at the steps of Singapore's world-famous Raffles Hotel. A childless English couple finds the crying infant and decides to adopt her. They sail back to England with the child in their arms.&nbsp;

1937: Twenty years have passed. The house of Lim Chin Boon is in turmoil; the Master of the house is dying and has just received a letter from a young lady who could very well be his long-lost granddaughter from his first marriage. Emma West returns to Singapore to look for her family, b

A Twist of Fate (1997)

Where do Singapore men go these days after hours? Well, some can be found at Crazy House ogling at you know what... What do they do in there, and what if their mothers show up?


Bottomless Men (1997)

Three old pals meet every Sunday at a Tiong Bahru coffee shop to chat and let their birds sing. But this is no ordinary Sunday. One of their birds has decided to sing no longer...


My Bird Can Sing Louder Than Your Bird (1997)

True-life confessions culled from ACTION Theatre's internet poll of unmarried men (www.ews.com/umarried). Bare. Naked. Uncensored.


Because... (1997)

One in four Singaporean men has never been kissed. Meet our very own cripplingly shy men as they unleash their fear of the female sex, their insecurities and self-loathing.


Blush (1997)

Recent statistics show that 20% of Singapore women are now willing to marry down. The news excites a man so much he turns up at Drama Centre during the performance of Confessions of 300 Unmarried Men. His goal? Meet lots of cultured women all at once and ask them to marry him. There should at least be one of them out there for Ah Seng, right?


Who Wants To Marry Ah Seng? (1997)

"You look like Maggie Cheung. You really do." Pick-up lines can be so beautiful - if only they're uttered by Tony Leungs. What's harder? Picking up, breaking up or making up?


Picking Up | Breaking Up | Making Up (1997)

"My inspiration for writing Skin was uhm... Skin.

Thinking about it. How it feels. What it does."


Skin (1997)

Female of Her World never put men on their cover. Time has changed. The new editor of Singapore's highest-circulating female magazine has given an assignment to a photographer, an art director and a male model. They are to come up with a cover shot of a man every woman desires. Simple enough... until the phones ring.


Shooting The Cover Guy (1997)

George and Martha are a couple living in mordant uproarious antagonism. Martha, the daughter of the president of the college where George teaches, cannot forgive her husband's failure to be a success like her father. He can't abide her brutal bluntness and drive. Married for over 20 years, they claw away at each other like jungle beasts.&nbsp;

In the dark hours after a campus party, the couple are joined by another pair who have been to the party; a new, young and opportunistic biology instructor, who ha

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1994)

The Necessary Stage

“I have a story to tell you, I tell this story everyday. Sometimes, I add a little to make the story more exciting. But I always take out some parts… parts which are too painful. Sometimes I’m even not sure how the story is going to end… until I tell it. This story is about The Garden.”

With these words from the storyteller, the play and story begins. Shay, who lives on the garden becomes a victim when the garden is destroyed. Banished to the tree with the seven branches, she has to endure the darkness a

The Garden (1991)

STARS Community Theatre

The King and I is without question one of the most enduring&nbsp;and heartwarming works in the repertoire of American musical&nbsp;theater. First staged in 1951 during the golden era of the&nbsp;Broadway musical, this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is&nbsp;fondly remembered not only for such songs as Getting To Know&nbsp;You and Shall We Dance but for the immortal performance Yul&nbsp;Brynner turned in as the King of Siam.&nbsp;

Tonight, perhaps, we will discover a new Yul Brynner in this&nbsp;marvelous

The King and I (1991)

T:>Works (TheatreWorks)

A spicy, mouthwatering dish, garnished with colourful characters. Choo Bee Lian is the owner of a famous fried rice chain. She hopes to retire, but her two daughters, Bee Lee and Bee Hoon, are sworn enemies and refuse to run the business together. A contest is set up to determine the successor of Fried Rice Paradise. The ensuing competition leads to intrigue and staggering revelations, as each character, under heat, imbues Fried Rice Paradise with her own special flavour.


Fried Rice Paradise (1991)

THESHOBON gi dafo hjiomee ta ghion bul oghion ebumin yuom hod (gomik ohod). Steven Weston famlo vatum dofo nenno threshonon. Ping gi quontomi idofo mundafta rondso shelooj.

(translated)

INTERVIEW is a play of language and non-language in corporate life (or non-life). Steven Weston goes for a job interview at S.A.E. Pte Ltd. He’s literally an outsider seeking acceptance.


An Interview (1991) 

MORE is a story about a clinic,
its people
and their obsessions
with their titles.
Essentially,
it examines
status symbols.

“… what if they’re not happy?” 


More (1991)

Boxes explores human relationships at its mundane level — living from day to day, struggling to find that spark of commonality.

Joan, on the threshold of 30, can’t move forward as she can’t look backward. Or is it because she has never left the past in the first place.

Pat, trying to break through and make contact, to involve other in her life and herself in others’ existence, gets more than she bargained for.

Life — existing in enclosed spaces, relating with people you don’t plan to relate with, l

Boxes (1991)

It’s a familiar situation. Alex Teo, a young determined salesman, knocks on the door of Mrs Katherine Leong’s flat. He’s here to sell, to make his commission. Her money is worth his time. Never mind her idiosyncrasies, she’s a customer. After all, “sales is like that.”

Mrs Leong doesn’t disappoint. She buys it all. With the right kind of persuasion, she parts willingly with the cash. His time is worth more than her money.

As it goes, in all familiar situations, nothing that’s worth anything comes easy

Bread and Barter (1989)

This is a stylised play which revolves around Kah Wei, a recent graduate and freshly initiated into the working world. When the play starts, it is Chinese New Year. Her relatives’ constant nagging and unwanted advice force Kah Wei to seek refuge the different aspects of Kah Wei’s character — her relationships, her childhood, her working life…

As the play progresses, we may find ourselves as Kah Wei does, questioning the do’s and the don’ts, the whys and hows, of life. Or, we may find ourselves questionin

Lanterns Never Go Out (1989)

The play is about a couple, John and Helen, who are in their thirties and have been married for 10 years. Helen, romantic but lonely, attempts to rekindle their relationship. But John has other things in mind; like his job. As if the burden isn't enough, they have a neighbour who has a habit of gargling at inopportune moments.


Crosswords (1988)

Threads of family relationships are highlighted by tension when a beautiful elder daughter returns home from Oxford and a militant younger daughter announces that she has found her ideal in a man of another race. This play does not focus on the pros and cons of foreign education or relationships with foreigners but on how family structure can absorb the shocks of such foreign events and still survive.


Round and Round the Dining Table (1988)

The musical comedy Beauty World is a special&nbsp;production for the Singapore Festival of Arts 1988. Set to an&nbsp;original score of ten songs by well-known songwriter Dick&nbsp;Lee with scripting by local playwright Michael Chiang, the&nbsp;musical evokes the world of Chinese nightclubs&nbsp;and&nbsp;cabarets in the mid-60s.

The action centres on a young Malaysian orphan who&nbsp;discovers a jade pendant with the words "Beauty World",&nbsp;inscribed on its reverse side. It leads her to believe that he

Cosmoprof

WORKS DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHIVE

Cosmoprof

WORKS DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHIVE

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