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 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.
Cast
Jalyn Han, Rei Poh, Tan Shou Chen
Creative Team
Playwright & Director: Thomas Lim
Set Designer: CK Chia
Lighting Designer: Petrina Dawn Tan
Hair Designer: Ashley Lim
Hair Assistant: Michelle Wai
Make-Up Designer: The Make Up Room
Language Coach (Teochew): Lim Ngian Tiong
Sign Language Interpreters: Claudine Chan & Teo Zhi Xiong
Mandarin Surtitles: Lee Chee Keng
Production Team
Producer: Tony Trickett
Associate Producer: Koh Bee Bee
Production Manager: Pebble Tan
Production Co-ordinator: Sai Sandhya Silvalingam
Production Assistants: Augustina Ongah & Carena Cheu
Technical Manager: Terence Lau
Assistant Technical Manager: Haresh s/o Chandra Segaram
Stage Manager: Pamela Lai
Assistant Stage Manager: Alethea Koh
Surtitle Operator: Wei
Wardrobe Co-ordinator/Manager: Theresa Chan
Dressers: Eugenia Lam Ci Hui & Beverly Liang
Production Interns: Muhammad Danial Bin Mardi, Winnie Neo & Teo Hui Ying
(Source: Wild Rice Programme)