In a continuing series exploring dance and dramatic text, Singaporean contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai responds to three banned plays — Talaq, Smegma and Stoma — written by playwright Elangovan. In a performance that is both structured and improvised, Mun Wai intends to move past the initial shock value of Elangovan’s works, to facilitate and broaden the discussion of the social issues examined in the plays.

Video Documentation

Contemporary dance artist Lee Mun Wai presents his artistic response to the works of playwright Elangovan, specifically the three banned plays Talaq, Smegma, and Stoma, published in a collection titled The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Resources

Reading Materials About The Plays

Talaq, Smegma and Stoma are plays by Elangovan which were banned from performance in the years 2000, 2006, 2013 respectively. The plays portrayed social tensions and inequalities in stark and often provocative ways, which led regulatory authorities to deny or withdraw their performance licenses.

Although never publicly staged, the three play-texts were published in 2014 in a collection titled The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

About Talaq (1998)

Published: 14 February 2017

About Smegma (2006)

Published: 16 February 2017

About Stoma (2013)

Published: 21 February 2017

Programme Handout

The programme handout for The Vault: Dancing the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Photographs

Photograph of a male figure shining a light on himself in a dark room.

Photographed by Daniel Teo.
View more at: Centre 42 Facebook

Profiles

Lee Mun Wai

Artist

artefacts

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Three banned plays

"My art contributes towards establishing a sort of alternative 'thematic universe' in Singapore, considered to be an over consuming and over managed society in Southeast Asia. "My concern is to be a voice for the voiceless, even in silence... [...] "... I have been walking far too long in minefields. I enjoy this dangerous journey though I have lost much in material benefits. I am growing spiritually strong day by day. Not in a religious sense. I have no religion except my art – poetry and theatre.

Elangovan

Published: 2014

About Stoma (2013)

Stoma – which refers to a natural opening in the body – is a play written by Elangovan, centring on a disgraced former priest who had been defrocked over alleged sex abuse. Over seven scenes, he undergoes a surreal, graphic process of confession to seek redemption.

About "Stoma"

Published: 21 February 2017

About Smegma (2006)

By 2003, Agni Kootthu [Theatre of Fire] was running into financial difficulties. The company did not manage to secure funding from the National Arts Council (NAC), and its staging of Mines in June 2002 did not do well in terms of sales: Titled after the cheese-like secretions found in genitals, Smegma comprises a series of ten short plays, each examining the many faces of power and exposing a different aspect of exploitation within society. This is how playwright Elangovan descri

About "Smegma"

Published: 16 February 2017

About Talaq (1998)

Talaq – which means “divorce” – is a one-woman play about Nisha, a Muslim girl from India who is married off at the age of 16 to a Singaporean man twice her age. She finds out that her husband has been having an affair with another woman. When she confronts him about it, he beats her. The physical, sexual and psychological abuse worsens, but Nisha’s cries for help are drowned out by her husband’s family and relatives, and those within the community.

About "Talaq"

Published: 14 February 2017

The Vault: Dancing the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Synopsis

Video Documentation

Resources

Photographs

Profiles

artefacts

Join Our Mailing List