From how the work was created to what audiences saw onstage, the 1988 TheatreWorks production of Three Children was ahead of its time. The project, jointly led by Krishen Jit and Ong Keng Sen, saw the actors put through three months of rigorous training and devising sessions. When Three Children opened on 11 November, audiences and critics lauded the production’s unconventional, nonlinear storytelling and its bold mix of Chinese opera and Western stage techniques.
Thirty years after this landmark product
“Once upon a time, there were three children…”
Three Children gamboled onto stage in 1988 in a landmark Malaysia-Singapore collaboration helmed by Ong Keng Sen, artistic director of Singapore’s TheatreWorks, and Krishen Jit, co-founder of Malaysia’s Five Arts Centre. Written by Malaysian playwright Leow Puay Tin, the production astonished audiences on both sides of the Causeway, with critics calling it “inspired” and “a dramatic masterpiece”.
Over three decades later, two arts centres – Five Arts
8 March 2019 | 8:00pm
9 March 2019 | 8:00pm
10 March 2019 | 3:00pm
Centre 42 Black Box
This arts entertainment has been given the following rating and consumer advice: “Advisory (Some Mature Content)”.
Michael Chiang. The playwright who began his writing-for-the-stage journey in 1984. 30 years and 10 plays later, he is one of the most familiar names in Singapore and Singapore theatre. Lesser known was his role as editorial director at Mediacorp Publishing (1990 to 2009).
With casual chit-chat and open conversations, we go beyond the playwright and his plays to uncover and re-frame themes, obvious and obscure, in his body of work. We invite you to join Michael in our Living Room for a time of refle
Centre 42 is turning SIX on 21 Apr 2020! Come celebrate with us on Zoom with a reading of “WRITES” by Robin Loon – originally performed at our opening – and a toast to mark the occasion.
Our sixth birthday was supposed to have panned out differently.
Since we were returning 42 Waterloo Street to the National Arts Council on 1 May, 21 Apr was supposed to be a last hurrah in the blue house before we moved out. Planned with over 20 artists and friends, our sixth birthday would’ve been an evenin
In the Living Room with Juliana Lim was presented on 30 March 2017 in front of a live audience.
Juliana Lim, veteran arts manager, chatted with students from Singapore Management University’s (SMU) ACM301 Cultural Policy and Practice class, about cultural policy in Singapore. The students also presented an exhibition of their research on the evolution and influence of cultural policies on present-day practices.
In the Living Room with Juliana Lim was presented in par
The See You Later (SYL) Party was an event to mark Centre 42’s final days at 42 Waterloo Street before we moved out for renovations for the incoming Arts Resource Hub. The event was to take place on 21 April 2020, to mark the day when we first opened our doors to theatremakers, theatre-going enthusiast and artists from all walks six years prior. The SYL Party was going to be for our community, by our community.
In addition to a communal dumpling-making activity and a yard sale (because down-sizing!), we
ADN Event Series 2021-22 is a collection of public panels, roundtable critical responses and closed-door discussions taking place in 2021 and 2022, in lieu of the conventional conference mode held in one location. This series continues the network’s desire to regularly bring together dramaturgs and arts-practitioners from the ADN community and in and beyond the region for knowledge exchange and collective inquiry into dramaturgical knowledge and practice in Asia.
JENG JENG JENG…! Year in Review is back!
Where did 2021 go? How did the year unravel, and where have we arrived at?
In a year where the arts has had to acquiesce to multiple rules, hopeful for a return to normalcy, 2021 had us hurtling through an unknown abyss of multiple emotions best captured through this year’s theme: JENG JENG JENG!
From anticipation, to tentative excitement, shock, surprise and even the indescribable, our beloved colloquialism JENG JENG JENG covers it all. Into its
Purana Residences allegorizes Indian mythology as a residential apartment, inhabited by well-known legendary characters. The play scrutinizes a variety of situations faced by numerous married couples from Indian epics, legends and folktales, albeit with a modern-day lens. In doing so, the play explores the relevance of these stories to our contemporary world. Does modernity compel us to reread these stories in new ways, thus interrupting the grand narratives of tradition and culture? Or are we repeatin
8 October 2021 | 8:00 - 10:00pm
Black Box, 42 Waterloo St
Purana Residences is a by-invitation only presentation, please fill in the form above to register for an invitation if you would like to attend. You will receive an invitation email from Centre 42 confirming your seat.
Following the announcement of renovations to 42 Waterloo Street from May 2020, we would like to invite fellow arts-makers to reflect on the past six years of Centre 42’s existence, and to share how much Centre 42 means to us.
Love Letters to 42 is a loving tribute to Centre 42, comprising love letters from different individuals, to be collected and organised as an online repository of personal reflections and memories associated with Centre 42 and the iconic blue house on 42 Waterloo Street.&
How do we make sense of 2020? Year in Review 2020 is an invitation to the Singapore theatre community to gather and unpack this year, to try and make meaning, or to just find a space to decompress.
For some, this year has been a journey of opportunity and learning; for others, a year of unwanted change and a yearning for the way it was before. It’s been described as a pause, a loss, an unlearning and more. How have we been impacted, as art makers and workers, to audiences and supporters? How have yo
As 2019 draws to a close, we’re inviting the Singapore theatre community to come together to review our year in theatre. In this special edition of the Living Room, we will explore two topics which trended in this year’s slate of productions: sexual violence and decolonisation. A panel will kick off each session, followed by break-out groups so everyone can participate in the discussion.