Editorials

This October, The Vault: Past Perfect returns after its first run under the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) in May 2023. We say farewell to two of the original performers, while Nelson Chia, Oniatta Effendi, and Serene Chen gather once more to reflect on their journey through theatre in the 1990s. A new script brings us more tidbits and artefacts from the 90s - a decade of growth and experimentation in Singapore theatre - and expanded scenes! 

As a collective, we have always been very big on supporting and being cheerleaders for our fellow playwrights in the scene. In this open love letter, we list our favourite local plays - the ones that made us fall in love with theatre, and have touched us irrevocably, as both audience members and playwrights. This list also reflects our respective starting points in theatre, as most of these came to us in our early years in the scene. These plays that have moved us serve as sources of inspiration, learning,

Main Tulis Group Past and Present is a conversation on playwriting and being playwrights, between 3 former members of MTG - Adib Kosnan, Johnny Jon Jon and Zulfadli Rashid (Big) - with 3 current members of MTG - Hazwan Norly, Nessa Anwar and Sab Dzulkifli. Main Tulis Group was founded by Nabilah Said as a playwright’s circle in 2016. The discussion took place in English and Malay, and all Malay parts have been translated by Nessa Anwar. Parts of the conversation have been edited for clarity.

Theatre For Seniors (TFS) was a programme started by The Necessary Stage (TNS) in 2008. TFS started out as a three year training programme for older persons to learn theatre skills and become practitioners of theatre. It has since reached an estimated 40 seniors, and can boast of at least 10 formal public performances presented by TNS, alongside commissions to perform at local events such as PassionArts and also at eldercare Homes. This article is based on a study of TFS, which asserts that in later life

Quiet quitting, 躺平，摆烂… 他们说我们是没有用的年轻人 They call us useless, the wasted youth.  In a world that demands us to be productive, that attaches value to our productivity, what does it mean to be idle? Can we be idle? What does it mean to do “nothing”?  How do we confront the ugly feelings inside of us? This disgust, this anger, this neediness, this jealousy…  How do we articulate this disgust deep within us - how do we become human again amidst this nothingness? 我们是没有用的年轻人. ZOBO Co

The students of NUS Theatre & Performance Studies module TS3103 Theatre Lab went through 10 weeks of devising and conceptualising their response to Tan Tarn How's The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate 'S' Machine. We interviewed the students to find out what inspired their response and what discoveries they have made along the way.

In the programme booklet for the 1993 production of The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, Tan Tarn How writes:

The Something-Something Working Group is Chong Gua Khee, Corrie Tan, Deanna Dzulkifli and Shawn Chua. We were first convened through the ELEMENT#10 Research Residency at Dance Nucleus in November-December 2021. Our aim is to imagine and prototype new paradigms and infrastructures for knowledge production, artistic practice and their contingent entanglements. We desire to facilitate ways in which artists, arts practitioners, workers, organisations and institutions in Singapore might question, reflect on and

What comes to mind when the word 'nothing' is mentioned? Perhaps a blank white canvas, the black reflective surface of a screen, or perhaps a silent, empty room. There are many associations to be had with the concept of nothingness, but the act of theatre is not one that I would think of right off the bat. After all, the definition of the word 'act' is to do something, which is a direct opposite of 'doing nothing'. With this, I was curious on how to begin approaching the work of a theatre collective that br