In a Singapore where dialects have been losing relevance for generations, Grandmother Tongue traces a young man’s struggle to connect with his 84-year-old Teochew-speaking grandmother. He teaches her to use a mobile phone. He helps her buy her favourite brand of soya sauce. He visits her in hospital after a fall. Along the way, he begins to understand just what it means to spend decades in linguistic and cultural exile.

Inspired by Kuo Pao Kun’s seminal Mama Looking For Her Cat, Thomas Lim’s funny, insightful play examines the social costs of our mother-tongue language policy and the erasure of dialects in today’s Singapore. In ways both humorous and heartbreaking, Grandmother Tongue explores how our identities are bound up with the languages that we use and the ones that we lose.

Performed in English and Teochew, with English surtitles.

Advisory 16 (Some Mature Content and Coarse Language).

Cast

Jalyn Han, Tan Shou Chen, Rei Poh

Creative Team

Playwright & Director: Thomas Lim

Set Designer: CK Chia
Lighting Designer: Petrina Dawn Tan
Hair Designer: Ashley Lim
Make-Up Designer: The Make Up Room
Language Coach (Teochew): Lim Ngian Tiong

Production Team

Producer: Tony Trickett
Production Manager: Xu Xin'En
Production Co-ordinators: Deena Shaqinah & Sai Sandhya Silvalingam
Production Assistant: Augustina Ongah
Technical Manager: Terence Lau
Stage Manager: Pamela Lai
Assistant Stage Manager: Alethea Koh

Show Technicians:
Chua Yi Han
Fazree Azharie
Foo Cher Siang
Lim Rui Cong
Muhammad Kamarul Ariffin
Muhd Nur Izzuddin
Muhammad Radhi Bin Ramli
Peh Choon Hup
Brian Teo Hao Long

Props Mistress: Sheryl Woo
Props Assistant: Jessy Choo
Surtitle Operator: Leah Sim
Wardrobe Manager: Theresa Chan
Dressers: Beverly Liang & Lauren Ann Seow
Production Interns: Bryan Lo & Nay Lynn Thant

(Source: Wild Rice Programme)