Emergency Stairs

Offstage 2.0 is an attempt to rethink the value of theatre. We investigate the question: What is the value of theatre from the perspective of different roles?

Value can be a question of economics, but there are also societal values, ethical values, aesthetic values. We will interview key decision makers in Singapore’s cultural ecosystem about the value of theatre. What is the value of theatre from their different perspectives? What value do they offer to theatre? What are the values that guide their deci

Offstage 2.0 (2019)

Researcher

Do our roles define us, or do we define our roles?

I am just a writer.
I am just a director.
I am just a producer.
I am just a stage crew.
I am just a light designer.
I am just a stage manager.
I am just a sound designer.
I am just a ticketing personnel.
I am just a marketing personnel.
I am just…

In life, we play many roles – as parent, children, employers, employees, workers, consumers, thinkers, doers, and so on. Sometimes these roles are liberating and enjoyable. Sometimes, they are oppre

Offstage 1.0 (2018)

Director

The Theatre Practice

Look in the mirror, what do you see? Is that you in the present, from the past or the future? You smile into the mirror and your reflection smiles back, and your past and future vanishes along with it.&nbsp;

Last year, The Practice Lab members dug deep within their personal experiences, setting off a series of improvisation, and revisiting their existential present in the process. That was our last performance staged in our old space, Stamford Arts Centre.&nbsp;

This year, The Practice Lab, led by Lab

Uproot (2016)

Creator

Cast

Against the current, they battle upstream.
Against the current, they struggle to return home.

In spite of all hazards, they single-mindedly trace their journey home.

Kuo Pao Kun's 1991 production&nbsp;0Zero01&nbsp;conjured the imagery of salmons swimming against the current, in search for their roots. This year, inspired by&nbsp;0Zero01&nbsp;- excavating personal memories, family histories and cultural origins, The Practice Lab will revisit their existential present and reignite their primal thirst f

Upstream (2015)

Designer

Performer

After the demise of his girlfriend Jing, A-Le packs up to pursue his musical ambitions in New York. There he meets the easy-going A-Qiang, a fellow dream hunter from Singapore, who gets him a job at a restaurant. On a particular takeout delivery, an aspiring actress named Rose enters A-Le's life. Soon a bittersweet friendship of battered dreams and bruised hearts is born amongst them. But with each passing day, Rose begins to feel a little more for A-Le. Unknown to them however, the future is about to chang

If There're Seasons... (2014)

11&nbsp;·&nbsp;Gao Xingjian Devised&nbsp;is the final performance for The Practice Lab in 2013. Led by Lab Director, Liu Xiaoyi, 11 Lab participants underwent a year of training, discussion and sharing to bring you this collaborative work.

The performance will draw inspirations from the works of Gao Xingjian and spark off a journey in the search of self and escapism -&nbsp;

"Have you thought about leaving?
Are you afraid of leaving?
Why do you leave?
When was the last time you thought of leaving? .

11 · Gao Xingjian Devised (2013)

Devisor

Nine Years Theatre

An intense midnight quarrel leads to the murder of a man. Witnesses take the stand as his 16-year-old son is tried for homicide. With all testimonies against the boy, his fate now hangs by a thread as twelve jurors find themselves thick in the throes of rendering the final verdict.

In the stifling heat of the jury room, twelve personalities will clash in a bout of logic and intuition, reason and conscience. Caught between conflicting personal obsessions and prejudices, will the jurors emerge as defenders

Twelve Angry Men (2013)

As we bid farewell to the fictional world of&nbsp;The Silly Little Girl and the Funny Old Tree,&nbsp;we are transported back to the real world of ours. The Funny Old Tree is now a sickly and elderly Father. The family pools their money, food and resources to look after him, yet the infrequent family dinner is often clouded by an indescribable uneasiness. Time passes, and Father's health continues to deteriorate. The family seems to have grown accustomed to this inevitable decline and have moved on with thei

The Impending Storm: The Silly Little Girl and the Funny Old Tree (2012)

Lao Jiu&nbsp;is one of Kuo Pao Kun's most popular and accessible works. In 2005,&nbsp;Lao Jiu&nbsp;was adapted into a dazzling musical for the first time, and this year it will be restaged as an entirely new creative production to be rolled out featuring an exciting new lineup of performers and creative collaborators!&nbsp;

As the only son in the family, Lao Jiu (the ninth born) realises that he should grasp the prestigious scholarship opportunity that has opened up for him; yet, he hesitates at the crit

Lao Jiu: The Musical (2012)

Traditions & Editions Theatre Circus

A circus. Low down and out...
A story about love beyond boundaries and an ultimate fight for hope.
But, will it be 'happily ever after' like all fairytales? Maybe not... Maybe...
Can we continue to fight? What does it takes to fight?
How far are you willing to go to fight for what you believe?
You are living in Today Land... How do you want your Tomorrow Land to be?

Do you still dream? How long have you not been dreaming?
Where are your dreams?
In the country of Shadows, things are (almost) perfec

The Juggler's Tale (2011)

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral,&nbsp;the seminal script written by Kuo Pao Kun, the late dramatist and founder of The Theatre Practice is one of Singapore's most iconic representations of contemporary theatre. The material success of Ming dynasty eunuch Zheng He, in juxtaposition to his physical and psychological abjectness becomes a powerful theatrical metaphor for the repression and displacement of the modern man. Performed to critical acclaim throughout the world, Zheng He's journey into himself is un

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2010)

Paper Monkey Theatre

Boxes, a medium we use to pack our things and stack them away... with it our memories and unsettled feelings. Putting it all aside, we move on - out of sight, out of mind. Then one day, we chance upon these boxes. The memories and emotions that were carefully tucked away surfaces uncontrollably. Carefully but with hesitance, we go through the cherished items kept within.

Home Boxes&nbsp;- through the voices of six actors, a collection of three stories will be shared as the boxes unfold stories of dreams 

Home Boxes (2010)

Peter Sau

An elegy of dehumanization.
A game of torment that never ends.&nbsp;

In a period of constant change, seven Singaporeans transform into strange beings with keratin kernels, abruptly altering all their relationships with kith and kin.&nbsp;

Inspired by Czech writer Franz Kafka's bizarre short stories about transformation and alienation -&nbsp;The Metamorphosis, A Hunger Artist&nbsp;and&nbsp;A Report to an Academy&nbsp;-&nbsp;K&nbsp;was originally written by Goh Boon Teck in 1996. This interpretation, a

K (2010)

Dear countrymen,
Why war?
Why terror?
Why are you killing?

Change from you or change the world?
For freedom?
For liberation?
Do we have freedom in this free world?

I died many times in each war,
You mourned for me
You prayed for my soul
You lit up the candle for me
I am reborn again
You wished long life for me
but... it is a universal shame.

- Noushad M


Creative Lab (2009)

Assistant Producer

The world of spirits is a world of flux.

Five post-war personas in a state of limbo gather at a deserted place.

Searching for a way home, they stop only to hear each other’s poignant tales of war and loss, endeavors and bygone dreams.

Soon, haunting memories of guilt and pain are unveiled and they realize they are tangled to each other in their choices and consequences.

With their relationship to each other now clear, they unleash a series of questions about the sense and senselessness of war.


The Spirits Play (2009)

Singapore Repertory Theatre

On this tiny red dot, where sand is as precious as gold, and both living and dead jostle for space, Boom tells the story of a stubborn old woman and her property agent son, who are struggling over the en bloc sale of their home. Their destinies become linked with that of Jeremiah, an idealistic civil servant, who is facing the greatest challenge of his career - persuading a reluctant corpse to relocate.


Boom (2008)

A sinister rape and murder sets the whole community abuzz: what dangers will it bring to this woman's life? What has she weathered from her labyrinth of broken loves? Where does she stand in the glittering world of prostitutes, porn stars and playboy models? What does one stripper have to do with the turbulence of anti-colonialism, anti-pornography movements and the birthing pains of nations and cultures that rocked the Fifties?&nbsp;

Look upon his-story with her eyes.
And know her tale from her own ton

I am Queen (2008)

Surtitle Translator

Surtitle Operator

Intercultural Theatre Institute

Theatre Training & Research Programme

Müller wrote Hamletmachine in 1977 in East Germany, and called it the description of a petrified hope, an effort to articulate a despair so that it can be left behind. Banned by the East German authorities, it received its first staging in Brussels in 1978.

Created in an era when communism began to crumble and capitalist society was to emerge from the debris, the play places Hamlet and Ophelia in the midst of 20th Century political, economic and social change.


Hamletmachine (2008)

A dynamic and compelling work of physical theatre examining the kamikaze spirit. War is by no means something that starts overnight, but rather a very calculated preparation by political forces, The indoctrination of the glory of death and the brandishing of the rifle and sword from the corporeal expression of six actors reveals how humans can lose the sense of being Human.

The cast has already undergone two and a half years of full-time contemporary theatre training , including immersions in Noh theatre

The Divine Wind and Tears Lost in the Rain (2008)

Shocking and exciting, ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE is characterised by playwright Martin Crimp’s vision of contemporary society as a place of social decay, moral compromise and barely suppressed violence.

An interplay of contemporary concerns from politics, terrorism, consumerism t ethnic violence, each of the seventeen scenarios&nbsp;&nbsp;focuses on the ‘her’ in the title.

But who is she?&nbsp;
Who is this her?&nbsp;
Is she a terrorist?&nbsp;
Is she a star?&nbsp;
The girl next door?

This is Ann
Ann

Attempts On Her Life (2007)

Are objects truly inanimate? Come with an open mind - you'll never look at your objects the same way again!


Objects of Desire (2006)

We must live together
to live on;
We must have forbiddance&nbsp;
to live together;
The question is,
How to live on,
With forbiddance.&nbsp;


Strange Fruit: Forbidden (2004)

Translator

Betrayed by his brother, Antonio, Prospero the rightful duke of Milan and his daughter, Miranda, are cast out to sea, and left at the mercy of the waves and winds. They come ashore to a desolate island, where they remain for years.

Now, due to a fortitudinous turn of events, Prospero is presented with the opportunity to exact his revenge and regain his status. By his mastery of certain magical arts and with the aid of the spirit Ariel, Prospero calls forth a sea-storm, casting Antonio and his colleagues 

Tempest (2004)

Projection Operator

Subtitle Operator

A conundrum that we still face: Is the coffin too big? Or is the hole too small? What should we do next?

Director Jim Chim creates a new perspective from light, space, and three performers.


The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole (2003)

Just as the Eunuch Admiral Zheng He sailed off from China on expeditions to uncharted lands, director Poo Hong Chen leads the cast in an exploration that starts from Pao Kun's canonical text, and leads to this new production, in the unexpected black box setting of the Guinness Theatre.


Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2003)

Toy Factory Productions Limited

The Mad Phoenix&nbsp;is the legendary account of prodigal Cantonese playwright Kong Yu-Kau [1909-1984] as narrated by a storyteller in present-day China.

The thirteenth son of a well-to-do government official in the South Sea region of China, Kong was a brilliant, playful, and defiant boy who loved traditional Cantonese opera.&nbsp;

In order to pursue his interest, Kong gave up a career as a doctor. Instead, he took up teaching and spent his free time watching and composing Cantonese operas. His talen

Mad Phoenix (2003)

Crew

<p>Centre 42 currently has limited information about this person/organisation. If you would like to submit information about this person/organisation, please visit <a href="http://bit.ly/c42archivebio">bit.ly/c42archivebio</a> or contact us at <a href="mailto:archive@centre42.sg">archive@centre42.sg.</a></p>


Zachary Ho

WORKS DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHIVE

Zachary Ho

WORKS DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHIVE

Join Our Mailing List