In real life, there are no rehearsals and no second takes.
Actor, Forty features Golden Horse Award-winner Yeo Yann Yann returning to the Chinese theatre stage in a special Huayi commission.
This new original monologue sees Yeo collaborating with Cultural Medallion recipients, director Alvin Tan and playwright Haresh Sharma of The Necessary Stage. Candid and conversational, it examines the myriad identities that we take on and cast off in life - just as an actor does when she adopts different roles.
Blurring the lines between actor and character, Yeo plays an actress who has just been cast in a contemporary remake of Summer Snow (女人四十), a 1995 Hong Kong film about a 40-something woman dealing with difficult family issues. The actress has a secret that she is struggling to keep under wraps - she is turning 40 and expecting her first child. Faced with the challenge of juggling a globetrotting job and raising a child, she confronts her hopes and fears. Will she still be able to find meaning in her career, and also play to perfection what could be her most challenging yet - becoming a mother?
Approximately 1h 15mins, no intermission.
Performed in Mandarin, with some English, Cantonese and Hokkien, with English and Chinese surtitles.
Playwright: Haresh Sharma
Director: Alvin Tan
Performer: Yeo Yann Yann
Translator: Quah Sy Ren
Dramaturg: Melissa Lim
Set Designer: Kok Heng Leun
Lighting Designer: Adrian Tan
Composer/Sound Designer: Julian Wong
Costume Designer: Max Tan & Yuan Zhiying (MAX.TAN)
Production Manager: Azy Alias
Stage Manager: Chee Mei Rong
Stage Assistants: April Kong Ming Qi, Muhammad Shafiq Haziq bin Suderman
Draftsman: Chan Silei
Sound Engineer: Jing Ng
Surtitle Operator: Yeo Fu Bi
Opera Choreographer: Gordon Choy
Photography: The Pond Photography
(Source: The Necessary Stage Programme)