Rei Poh: Being Serious About Having Fun

Rei Poh is a theatre practitioner, director, educator and actor. But think of Rei, and one is also likely to think of his love for gaming and particularly his interest in the use of gaming narratives within participatory theatre. 

When he worked with Drama Box in 2006, Rei presented many workshops and community engagements, and worked closely with Theatre of the Oppressed principals. From there, he naturally progressed into investigating engagement within participatory performances, and how to bring them to life.

Later, he joined the Victorian College of the Arts’ Master of Directing for Performance Programme, which he often cites as the catalyst for his foray into participatory experiences.

Then, in November 2017, Rei founded Attempts, a collective that aims to engage, provoke, and transform the audience into players using participatory performances. Their first creation, Attempts: Singapore was developed under Centre 42's Basement Workshop (now known as the Creation Residency). Attempts currently consists of Rei Poh and actor and theatre practitioner Cheryl Tan Yun Xin.

Since the start, Attempts has pushed the boundaries on participatory theatre in Singapore while remaining fiercely indie, presenting works like A Tiny Country (2019), Dating Sim (Beta) (2019) and WINDOW (2022) that explore various modes of audience participation and themes like surveillance and technology.

In our spirited discussion, I note that Rei’s practice is not only inspired by gaming in form, but fueled by values that work well both in games and theatre, that is, a sense of curiosity, a desire to be different, and room to be reiterative and replayable. As a follower of Attempts’ work, I should know; I have experienced no less than four versions of their 2019 experiment Dating Sim. Though he laughs at this, Rei points out that it is not the end, and Dating Sim will always be in ‘beta’: “The same story can be told in many different ways.” 

As part of Centre 42’s tenth anniversary special, Rei tells but just one version of a story here: on gaming, Attempt’s journey, and his practice and relationship with the Centre. 

What is an object you would pick to represent yourself as an artist and why did you pick it?

I’ve picked a game controller, because the whole philosophy of theatre-making behind Attempts is about games and fun.

In my childhood, gaming and having fun was frowned upon: if you're having fun, you're not serious enough. But one of the first few lessons I learned as an actor was how to have fun at being serious and be serious at having fun. 

As part of Attempts, Cheryl and I only take on things that we feel are fun and that we are interested in, so we rarely take on gigs. For us, it's more important to have fun than to have a very good product, because a fun product will eventually be good. 

Does the particular game controller have a significance?

Definitely. It’s an old-school Nintendo controller, one of the first consoles I ever had. 

I am not a great gamer. I lose interest easily, so I jump from game to game. I've never completed Mario. Have you?

No, Mario stresses me out! Platformers are just me falling off: “Whee, bye-bye!” 

Exactly! I always admire people who can complete those games. It takes a lot of patience and excellence for you to die (in game) and say, "Oh, I'm going to grind this."

A big lesson for me in Nintendo's games is failing and being okay with failing, and then trying it again and again. I like that philosophy of having a second chance at life.

Woah, that got deep real quick!

Because that's what save points are about! If we know that there are save points, we would be living our life to the fullest, wouldn’t we? But we don't, so we live carefully – or, at least Singaporeans do. We follow the same route that’s been proven and we don't have fun.

That ties back to saying yes to things that will bring you joy in Attempts, right? Even if it's not a path that’s tried and tested?

Yes. Playing safe in theatre is at odds with what the art form is. I'm not interested in doing something that is safe. Making games that are safe can sometimes be quite horrible! For example, I generally don't like Triple-A games. I’d rather play some indie games where (the creators) are more bold and they deeply consider the different mechanics and storytelling. 

I’m still playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild –

You are so behind!

– I am! I’ve never played Zelda before this, so I’m savouring it. From what I've read online, they tried something new with Zelda and the open world concept and drew so many new players like myself!

Yes, that's a great example. Zelda is a game that follows a core that could be thematic or narrative, but historically, it changes its mechanics all the time. Each time, it's a hit because a game that is more interested in making it fun and meaningful for players instead of following a certain pattern.

In theatre, there is also a certain route you can take and a certain kind of work that appeals to audiences. I'm not interested in making safe work like that. I'm interested in building games that might not be as fun or entertaining for all, but it tries to explore in a different way.

How has Attempts evolved over time? 

Attempts came about when I went to do my Master’s (at the Victorian College of the Arts’ Master of Directing for Performance programme). At first, I thought I would develop myself as a director for Mandarin theatre. But that whole idea changed when I met the interesting people in my cohort. Everybody was a director but each for a specific type of theatre. There were people who were directing musicals, classic plays, queer shows, opera, translated plays, and more, respectively.

That pushed me to reconsider the work I wanted to do. Mandarin theatre was one type, but participatory theatre was another. 

Later on, Attempts developed with those who were involved. Currently, Cheryl Tan and I are in the collective. Unless we both have a desire to change its direction, Attempts will be whoever is in it. 

I love working with Cheryl because she has all this enthusiasm that I don’t! She’s the one that makes it happen and pushes the project and direction of the collective to fruition. 

And how do you think you have evolved as an artist? 

When I was in my twenties and thirties, there was a lot of waiting for other people to engage me to do things. 

With a platform like Attempts, I can do work independently; I have opportunities to fail and test and trial and somewhat succeed. It's an important process for a maker. If you don't make, you will forever be thinking about how other people are making. So, I think I'm becoming more daring as an artist. I have my own voice. 

If you had a wish for the theatre landscape, what would it be?

If I could have a wish, it would be to grow our indie scene.

It takes guts to be doing indie theatre, and groups should operate separately from mainstream theatre companies because indie work needs a different synergy. It needs different expectations and modes of appreciation. You cannot come and watch an indie company expecting it to be a Triple-A game.

Having a platform of your own is important as an indie maker because you are no longer controlled by mainstream expectations and you can push the boundaries in a deeper way.

Centre 42 was the place that helped Attempts to grow without huge expectations. The place, what it represents and the people that go to Centre 42 to watch us: those things fuel the indie scene. 

What, for you, are certain indicators or environmental conditions in which an indie scene can thrive?

To be honest, when I think about a thriving indie scene, I think about Centre 42’s Late-Night Texting event. 

Late-Night Texting was an important event that generated energy and passion which nobody else can replicate!

From what I’ve noticed, it’s often young people who are dating or who want to have a night out who attend. They view it as a form of 消费 (‘expense’) and a way to discover something new and soak in the vibes; it’s a great sign for the indie scene.  

What kind of role do you think Centre 42 plays for us as people and the ecosystem?

What I love about Centre 42 is the sense of trust they have with independent artists. With fewer hoops to jump through and questions, by the time we do the show, we are still energised. That's an important aspect that fuels a healthy ecosystem where there isn’t an expectation to prove yourself worthy.

Do you have a birthday wish for Centre 42?

I wish that Centre 42 gets to do the things that they feel are important.

I wish they get more funding that is suitable for their needs so they can be properly compensated for the work that they do. They have a bigger operation than we think, so they should be valued just as much as other companies. Everybody be happy, everybody be rich!

Published: 12 July 2024

Centre 42 celebrates our 10th Anniversary in 2024, marking ten years of supporting the theatre community around us. As part of our anniversary celebrations, we chart the growth of 10 noteworthy practitioners who have worked with us in the past decade, through a series of editorials that trace their personal and artistic development and Centre 42's role in their journeys so far. 

Read the other articles in this series: