First Act(s) is a 4-part series featuring 8 plays-in-progress from a group of budding playwrights brought together by fate. These plays were born at the ‘Playwriting Workshop with Haresh Sharma’ (organised by the National Library Board, September – October 2018), and have now been taken to their next developmental step of rewrites and readings.

The plays will be publicly read to an invited audience for the first time, over 4 separate Guest Room sessions from March to July 2019:

Part 1, March 2019

Twin Butterflies by Clara Mok
We Cannot Bring Money When We Die by Christine Chia

Part 2, April 2019

Touch Wood by Auderia Tan
Untitled by XM Lim-Fang

Part 3, June 2019

A Midsummer White Dream by Ivy Chen
The House of Golden Chains by Larnce Alahendra

Part 4, July 2019

If Tomorrow Comes Again by Ivan Choong
First-World Problems by Alicia Kan

First Act(s), Part 4 was developed under Centre 42's Guest Room (now known as the New Scripts Residency). Read about Guest Room here.

First Act(s), Part 4

Synopsis
If Tomorrow Comes Again is a play about everyday relationships that define who we were, we are and will become.

Playwright
Ivan has now attempted singing, acting, and writing in perhaps a desperate attempt to find meaning for his soul. He never thought he would act, let alone write – he is thankful and grateful.

Director
Oliver Chong

Actors
Karen Tan, Lian Sutton, Zee Wong, Rei Poh, Vignesh Singh

Synopsis
Noise. In this world that we live in, silence is considered rare. People are often silenced, yet unaware that they are. People are often silencing others, yet unaware that they are, too. What do you consider people who are silenced? Would you say it is based on the comparison that you are at the forefront of this society and ‘privileged’? First-World Problems speaks silence in our everyday language and questions people’s notion of what being silenced means.

Playwright
Alicia majors in Acting and is a lover of sketching and painting in her leisure time. Though a strong introvert, she finds delight in hearing every individual’s story and meeting people from all walks of life, especially in her wanderlust journeys. Occasionally, just, occasionally, Alicia trips over her philosophical indulgence and goes missing.

Actors
Auderia Tan
Christine Chia
Damien Ng Wei Jie
Hilary Armstrong
Grace Kanai
Wayne Lim Wei Wen
Michaela Hay
Rochelle Edelweiss Boon
Su Paing Tun