We invite artists and practitioners to respond critically and personally to canonical Singapore classics, lesser known pieces and rarities, reworks and adaptations, and cross-cultural and cross-genres works. We are looking for proposals that:

Demonstrate a unique artist motivation and point of view for their choice of text .

Clearly articulates a research question behind the inquisition.

Work towards a presentation mode that is feasible to fulfill and deliver the response.

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: S.O.S.

S.O.S. is a devised performance responding to The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine. First staged thirty years ago in 1993, Tan Tarn How’s The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine is a political satire where Derek, the Chairman of ‘various committees and subcommittees’, is tasked with finding the soul of a nation. He finds himself debating if he should submit a recommendation that he feels is morally right and risk the consequences of going against the wishes of the government. After its

Start: 8 April 2023

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Yeast

Content Warning: Strong language, depictions of sexual violence, racial prejudices and suicide Yeast is an all female adaptation of the 2006 play Smegma. Smegma was written by Elangovan and was originally slated to be staged by Agni Kootthu (Theatre of Fire) in 2006. The play is a series of ten vignettes depicting imbalances of power dynamics, socio-economic paradoxes and moral dilemmas. In Yeast, playwright Euginia Tan has edited and dissected the play to put women at the forefront of

Start: 1 July 2022

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Rear View Mirrors

Rear View Mirrors comprises three devised performances responding to Chang & Eng: The Musical. First staged in 1997 by ACTION Theatre, Chang & Eng: The Musical is based on the lives of the Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker, conjoined at birth and destined to spend every moment of their lives together. The musical traces the story of the twins’ childhood, marriage and their dreams of living separately. Written by Ken Low and Ming Wong, Chang & Eng: The Musical premiered in Singapore at V

Start: 8 April 2022

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: The Interchange

All aboard the Waterloo Express! The year is 2065 and time travel has just arrived in Singapore. Take a journey to visit the cultural landmarks of Singapore through some of our most classic plays. The Vault: The Interchange is a performance that revisits classics from the Singaporean theatre canon and explores the shared theme of losing culturally significant spaces. Just as Singapore’s landscape has been fast changing, so has its theatre reflected the transformation of these sites and how it

Start: 13 November 2021

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: RE:CALL

The Vault: RE:CALL is an inter-disciplinary exploration of the creative synergies between dance and theatre. It is a performance response to the text Recalling Mother and its conceptual framework as a “living script”. First written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed in 2006, and in revised iterations later on in 2009, 2015 and 2016, Recalling Mother is an evolving text featuring two women telling stories about their mothers and the complexities in their relationships

Start: 21 August 2021

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Who's Asking? Who's Talking?

Marking the 30th anniversary of the Singapore premiere of Madame Mao’s Memories, Who’s Talking? Who’s Asking? comprises two original performances devised in response to the play. Written by Henry Ong in 1989, Madame Mao’s Memories is a monodrama based on accounts on the life of Jiang Qing (1914 – 1991), former Shanghainese actor, major Chinese political figure, and consort to the Chairman of the Communist Party, Mao Zedong. After the death of Mao in 1976, Jiang Qing was imprisone

Start: 9 April 2021

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Ties That Bind

The Vault: Ties That Bind comprises two short performances devised in response to Eleanor Wong’s Wills and Secession. This public presentation was to have taken place on 18 April 2020 at Teater Ekamatra’s Greymatter, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Since January, eleven students of the National University of Singapore’s Theatre Studies TS3103 Theatre Lab have been engaging with the text and context of Wills and Secession. The play is the second work of Eleanor Wong’s landma

Start: 18 April 2020

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Desert Blooms

The Vault: Desert Blooms is a lecture-performance tracing the history of Singapore theatre from 1985 to 1995 through a queer lens. It was during this period amidst laments of Singapore’s “cultural desert” that bold queer and queer-allied voices quietly but insistently began proliferating across the local theatre scene. Starting at the time when Army Daze’s Kenny Pereira first declared he could do a fabulous impersonation of Diana Ross (and the Supremes), through to when Mergers and Accusations’s Ellen me

Start: 30 November 2019

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Gossip, Symphony & Other Matters

One Year Back Home by Robert Yeo is about the lives of 20-something-year-old Singaporeans returning home from studying overseas in 1972. What will 20-something-year-olds nearly 40 years later make of the play? First staged in 1980, One Year Back Home was a runaway breakthrough for Singapore English-language theatre. In 2019, students from the National University of Singapore’s Theatre Studies Theatre Lab delved into this landmark play and have crafted three unique performance responses: Symp

Start: 20 April 2019

THE VAULT RESIDENCYThe Vault: Sau(dara)

Thirty years ago, a remarkable English-language theatre production was staged in Singapore. Three Children, written by Malaysian playwright Leow Puay Tin, is a story about three grown-up siblings who return to their childhood home to confront their past. The 1988 production of Three Children by TheatreWorks took many bold steps at a time when professional Singapore theatre was in its infancy. It brought together theatre powerhouses from both sides of the Causeway – Krishen Jit and Ong Keng Sen – who

Start: 5 October 2018

FAQ

What is this Residency about?

The Vault safe-keeps Singaporean works dating back to our early theatre years. The platform does not merely document the past but manifests as contemporary responses to these works presented at Centre 42 premises. The Centre invites artists and practitioners to respond critically and personally to canonical Singapore classics, lesser known pieces and rarities, reworks and adaptations, and cross-cultural and cross-genres works.

How do I apply to be a part of The Vault?

Given the limited resources, there is no open call for the The Vault Residency. If you wish to be a part of The Vault, or require more information, do email info@centre42.sg and we will get in touch with you to further discuss the project and its possibilities.

Where can I find articles related to the Vault?

With every Vault project, we take the opportunity to educate the public about Singapore theatre. In the lead up to every Vault presentation, we publish a series of articles providing information about:

The original Singaporean play(s) the artist is responding to;
The playwright of the original play;
The context in which the original play was first created and staged;
Theatremakers (individuals and groups) relevant to the original play; and
The Vault artists and their processes for creating their response.

You may find these articles linked within the relevant webpage for each Vault project.

The Vault Residency

The Vault safe-keeps Singaporean works dating back to our early theatre years. The platform does not merely document the past but manifests as contemporary responses to be presented.

Type of work supported

FAQ

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