Open Roads: Reading Singapore Theatre

Nothing by Natalie Hennedige

2010-11-27T03:50:00.000-08:00

And with Natalie Hennedige's Nothing, the first season of Open Roads comes to a close!

Thank you for all your support ... and see you for season 2 in 2011!

Mergers and Accusations by Eleanor Wong

2010-11-13T07:26:00.001-08:00

Nine of us gathered this afternoon to talk about Eleanor Wong's Mergers and Accusations. Closing the session was the playwright herself.

Up next for Open Roads is our last session of the year. On Sat, 27 Nov, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1, we'll be looking at Natalie Hennedige's Nothing which won the Life! Theatre Award for Best Play in 2008 when it was staged by Hennedige's company, Cake Theatrical Productions.

Hennedige's unique imagination and theatrical sensibility manifests itself powerfully in this meditation on life and death and this is an opportunity not only to catch video clips of the 2007 production but also to talk to Hennedige who will be our special guest for the afternoon.

A review of the play is available here:
http://inkpot.com/theatre/07reviews/0428,noth,at.html

To register for the session, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

Note: The play is not available in the form of a published script but Hennedige has kindly given us permission to email copies of the script to participants in advance of the meeting.

Mergers and Accusations by Eleanor Wong

2010-11-03T06:29:00.001-07:00

The next play that the Open Roads book club will be talking about is Mergers and Accusations by Eleanor Wong. The session will be held on Sat 13 Nov, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1, and the playwright herself will be joining us for a Q&A to close the session.

In addition, TheatreWorks and W!ld Rice have kindly lent us videos of the 1993 and 2003 productions of Mergers and Accusations and we will be watching excerpts during the session as well.

To register for the session, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

(Advisory: Please note that due to the adult themes of the play, the session is open only to those 18 and above.)

"To label her trilogy as lesbian plays is to be reductive. These plays succeed primarily because they are textured, weaving ruminations on personal identity, love and friendship, family and kinship, religious faith, the inextricable connection between the personal and political, the dialectics of centre and margin." - Dr K. K. Seet on Invitation to Treat

First staged in 1993, the play about Ellen Toh, a closeted lawyer who falls in love with a woman after committing to a marriage of convenience with a man, went on to win the 1996 National Book Development Council of Singapore Award - Drama. It also spawned the sequels Wills and Secession (1995) and Jointly and Severably (2003). The play is available in the TheatreWorks collection Dirty Laundry, Mergers & Undercover: Plays from Theatreworks` Writers' Lab and Wong's collection of her trilogy, Invitation to Treat. Both collections are available at the national library.

Reviews of the play can be found here:
1. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/03reviews/03revinvitreamergaccuwillsece.html
2. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/01reviews/01revmergaccuwillsece1.html

PIE by Chong Tze Chien

2010-10-30T03:40:00.001-07:00

A group of 9 participants met up this afternoon to talk about Pan-Island Expressway. Joining us was our special guest, playwright Chong Tze Chien.

Next up for Open Roads on Sat 13 Nov, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1, is Mergers and Accusations by Eleanor Wong. First staged in 1993, the award-winning play (1996 National Book Development Council of Singapore Award - Drama) about Ellen Toh a married lawyer who falls in love with a woman, eventually spawned the sequels Wills and Secession (1995) and Jointly and Severably (2003). The play is available in the TheatreWorks collection Dirty Laundry, Mergers & Undercover: Plays from Theatreworks` Writers' Lab and Wong's collection of her trilogy, Invitation to Treat. Both collections are available at the national library.

"To label her trilogy as lesbian plays is to be reductive. These plays succeed primarily because they are textured, weaving ruminations on personal identity, love and friendship, family and kinship, religious faith, the inextricable connection between the personal and political, the dialectics of centre and margin." - Dr K. K. Seet on Invitation to Treat

Reviews of the play can be found here:
1. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/03reviews/03revinvitreamergaccuwillsece.html
2. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/01reviews/01revmergaccuwillsece1.html

To register for the session, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

(Advisory: Please note that due to the adult themes of the play, the session is open only to those 18 and above.)

PIE by Chong Tze Chien

2010-10-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

The next meeting for the Open Roads reading club will be on Saturday 30 Oct 2010, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1 and we will be looking at Chong Tze-Chien's P.I.E. (Pan-Island Expressway), the political satire which took the first prize at the Singapore Dramatist Awards in 1998.

The playwright himself (who has gone on to write/direct such acclaimed works as Poop, Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Furthest North, Deepest South for The Finger Players) will be joining us to close the session with an informal Q&A.

We also have a copy of a 1999 TheatreWorks production of the play which we will be screening clips from to deepen our discussion.

"Every symbol of national pride so familiar to us is subverted by clever wordplay and skilful plot maneuvers" - The Flying Inkpot

"Chong enjoys playing with the device of multiple perspectives, often repeating a scene from the points of view of different characters – and subtly changing it each time ... This jumping back and forth in time is interesting, and Chong is skilled enough never to let this get in the way of the story." - Quarterly Literary Review Singapore

Reviews of the play can be found here:
1. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/01reviews/01revpanislaexpr.html
2. PopMatters: http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/p/pie-to-spoilt.shtml

To register for the session, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

The play can be found in "PIE to Spoilt" by Chong Tze Chien which is available from the various branches of the public library as well as major bookstores.

***

The Substation and The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance bring you a fortnightly series of reading club sessions from July to November 2010 where instead of novels, the group will come together to discuss scripts by local playwrights. This will be a safe, friendly space for anyone to come and share their views about a particular work, whether they are a regular theatre-goer or new to the theatre scene. Participants have included retirees, professionals, students, teachers, arts practitioners and army boys!

Sessions will be facilitated by Matthew Lyon and Kenneth Kwok, Editors of The Flying Inkpot, an online arts journal which has been active since 1996.

10 July: Emily of Emerald Hill (Stella Kon)
24 July: Off-Centre (Haresh Sharma) *special guest Haresh Sharma*
21 Aug: Everything But The Brain (Jean Tay) *special guest Jean Tay*
4 Sep: Those Who Can't, Teach 2010 (Haresh Sharma) *special guest Alvin Tan*
18 Sep: The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days (Kuo Pao Kun)
2 Oct: Three Fat Virgins Unassembled (Ovidia Yu) - available in the collection Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values *special guest Ovidia Yu*
16 Oct: Homesick (Alfian Sa'at) - available in the collection Alfian Sa'at: Collected Plays One
30 Oct: P.I.E. (Chong Tze Chien) - available in the collection P.I.E. to Spoilt *special guest Chong Tze Chien*
13 Nov: Mergers and Accusations (Eleanor Wong) - available in the collections Playful Phoenix and Invitation to Treat
27 Nov: Nothing (Natalie Hennedige) - copies will be made available to participants *special guest Natalie Hennedige*

Three Fat Virgins Unassembled by Ovidia Yu

2010-10-02T03:35:00.000-07:00

We had eight participants for this afternoon's session of Open Roads and joining us as our special guest was Ovidia Yu, the playwright of Three Fat Virgins Unassembled.

The next meeting for Open Roads will be on Saturday 16 Oct 2010, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1 and we will be looking at multiple award-winning writer Alfian Sa'at's Homesick. Thanks to W!ld Rice, we have a copy of a performance of the play which we will be showing excerpts from as part of our discussion.

"Rises to the occasion admirably ... endearing and engaging in its earnest intelligence and soaring ambitions." —The Straits Times

The play which explores the meaning of home through the story of a Singapore family quarantined during the SARS crisis, was first staged in 2006 and subsequently received a nomination for Best Original Script at the Life! Theatre Awards.

Reviews of the play can be found here:
1. Theatrex Asia: http://www.theatrex.asia/?p=30
2. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpotreviews.com/2006reviews/0802,home,at.xml
3. The Flying Inkpot: http://www.inkpotreviews.com/2006reviews/0805,home,ny.xml

To register for the session, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

The play can be found in Collected Plays One by Alfian Sa'at which is available from the various branches of the public library as well as major bookstores.

Three Fat Virgins Unassembled by Ovidia Yu

2010-09-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

"Inside every fat virgin is a thin schoolgirl. There is no sadness like the inner sadness of fat virgins and skinny schoolgirls. There is no sadness like the sadness of a dreamy schoolgirl trapped inside the body of a fat virgin."

Session 6 of Open Roads will be held on Saturday 2 Oct 2010, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1 and we will be looking this time at Three Fat Virgins Unassembled by award-winning playwright Ovidia Yu.

The play, an insightful but playful commentary on what it means to be a woman in contemporary Singapore society, is available from public libraries and major bookstores in the collection "Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values".

The full text is also available online for free public access at:
http://econtent.elibraryhub.com/SHC/Singapore%20Pages/NORA/Literature/Drama/Ovidia%20Yu%20-%20Three%20Fat%20Virgins%20Unassembled.pdf

The playwright has generously agreed to join us for the session and we have also managed to get a recording of a 1992 production of the play from TheatreWorks that participants will be able to take a look at as part of our discussion.

To register, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days by Kuo Pao Kun

2010-09-12T07:13:00.001-07:00

Next on our reading schedule are The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days which we will be discussing on Sat 18 Sep. Thanks to TheatreWorks, we will also be screening clips from a 1990 production of Coffin.

As always, the fee is $5 and the session will run 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1. Please email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com if you would like to attend.

Both monologues are classic works of Singapore literature and were penned by the late Kuo Pao Kun, co-founder of the The Substation and a leading figure in the local theatre scene till his passing in 2002.

Regarded as a mentor and inspiration by many practitioners today, Kuo received the Cultural Medallion in 1989 and the ASEAN Cultural Award in 1993. His plays have been translated in various languages and performed around the world.

These two short plays were his first English-language plays after years in the Mandarin theatre scene. Both are also among his first few works after release from detention by the government under the Internal Security Act (1976 - 1980).

Copies of the texts are, as always, available from public libraries and major bookstores.

You may want to think about the following questions when reading the plays:

1. One of the key themes of both plays is the conflict between the individual and the bureaucracy of the state. What other tensions do you think are being explored?

2. Are there incidents in your own personal life that mirror the circumstances described in the plays? To what extent do you feel that the plays are specific to Singapore? How do you think the plays would translate overseas?

3. What are the similarities and differences between the two plays? Why do you think Coffin has been staged much more often than Parking?

4. To what extent do you think the two texts work specifically as pieces of theatre? If you were a director, how would you choose to present the plays onstage?

Reviews of productions of the plays can be found here:

1. W!ld Rice (Singapore, 2000 and 2001)
http://inkpot.com/theatre/00reviews/00revkuopaokundoubbill.htm
http://www.wildrice.com.sg/images/doc/news/2001/20010207INKPOT.pdf

2. Teater Mandiri and The Theatre Practice (Indonesia and Singapore, 2001)
http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/01reviews/01revcoffistoobighole.html

3. Alec Tok (USA, 2001)
http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxxi/2001.02.02/ae/p19coffin.html

4. Drama Box (Singapore, 2010)
http://www.inkpotreviews.com/2010reviews/0223,coff,kk.xml

Those Who Can't, Teach (2010) by Haresh Sharma

2010-09-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

We had ten participants for this afternoon's session of Open Roads and joining us as our special guest was Alvin Tan, Artistic Director of the The Necessary Stage and the director of the 1991 and 2010 stagings of Those Who Can't, Teach.

The next meeting for Open Roads will be on Saturday 18 Sep 2010, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1 and we will be looking at two canonical texts of Singapore literature, the monologues The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days, both by the late Kuo Pao Kun.

To register, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

Copies of the plays are available from the public library as well as major bookstores.

Those Who Can't, Teach (2010) by Haresh Sharma

2010-08-30T07:40:00.001-07:00

On Saturday 4 Sep, we will be looking at Those Who Can't, Teach (2010) by Haresh Sharma for what will be our fourth Open Roads reading club session. We are happy to announce that our special guest for the afternoon is Alvin Tan, Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage.

The fee is $5 and the session will run 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1. Email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com to register.

Copies of the text (which you should of course have read before the session) are available from public libraries and major bookstores.

Those Who Can't Teach, was first staged by The Necessary Stage in 1990 but the recent Singapore Arts Festival production in May 2010 was a completely new version re-written by the playwright specially for the occasion. It tells the story of Mrs Phua Su Lin and her colleagues and students at the fictitious Marine Parade Secondary School.

Reviews:

1. Singapore Arts Festival Blog
http://singartsfestival.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/those-who-cant-teach-by-the-necessary-stage/

2. Today Online: For Art's Sake!
http://blogs.todayonline.com/forartssake/2010/05/20/singapore-arts-fest-teachers-pest/

3. Just Watch Lah
http://www.justwatchlah.com/2010/05/those-who-cant-teach-by-necessary-stage_20.html

Here are some things you might want to think about before the session:

1. There are many characters featured in the play. Whose story did you find yourself most attracted to? Were there characters that you struggled with? Did you feel that the play handled the large cast of characters well?

2. "Those Who Can't, Teach is a play about the passion of one's calling ... do we know what the price of dedication is today?" - director Alvin Tan. To what extent do you agree that this is the main focus of the play?

3. Do you feel that the play is an accurate representation of the challenges faced by teachers and students today? Is that important to the success of the play?

4. What do you think the purpose of education is? What about the purpose of a school? Is it different? What do you think the role of a teacher is? Do your views change depending on whether you are a student, teacher or parent?

5. What do you think is the significance of the title of the play?

6. What are your memories of school? Would you ever consider being a teacher?

Everything but the Brain by Jean Tay

2010-08-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Our Open Roads session this afternoon had a very special guest, playwright Jean Tay herself, who joined us for an informal question and answer session at the end of the discussion.

The next meeting for Open Roads will be on 4 Sep 2010, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1 and we will be looking at Haresh Sharma's Those Who Can't, Teach (2010) which was staged earlier this year as part of the Singapore Arts Festival.

To register, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

Everything but the Brain by Jean Tay

2010-08-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

As planned, we will be looking at Everything but the Brain by Jean Tay for our third Open Roads reading club session on Sat 21 Aug 2010, 2pm, The Substation Classroom 1. We are happy to announce that the playwright has kindly agreed to join us on the day for the last part of our discussion. We still have a few vacancies left - email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com to register. (More information about Open Roads is in our first post below - 11 Jun 2010).

Everything But The Brain is about a Physics teacher who, upon learning that her father is dying, devises a plan to turn back time, using her knowledge of the Theory of Relativity. The play won the Life! Theatre Award of Best Script in 2006 and is marked by its poignancy, humour and spirit.

"Jean's adroit handling of themes, from the origins of genius to gene heritage and the tyranny of Time, makes Everything but the Brain one of the best things seen on stage here in a while" - The Straits Times

"One of the most thoughtfully constructed shows to come out of Singapore in recent times." - The Business Times.

The idea behind a reading club is to allow a free-flow of ideas to be shared but here are some things you might want to think about before the session while reading the play:

1. "I believe that Everything but the Brain is fundamentally about the love and desperation of a daughter who does everything she can to keep her father alive" - Jean Tay. To what extent do you agree with this?

2. How do you feel the device of the chorus impacts on the structure of the play? If you were directing Everything but the Brain, how would you stage the shifts in time and present the three bears onstage?

3. How succesfully do you think the playwright employs scientific theory and fairytales to frame the action of the play? How do they enhance our understanding of the play's themes?

A Flying Inkpot review of the 2007 production of the play by ACTION Theatre can be found here.

Off Centre by Haresh Sharma

2010-07-26T05:15:00.000-07:00

12 participants turned up for Open Roads on Saturday 24 July 2010 to discuss Haresh Sharma's Off Centre. We were fortunate to have the playwright himself join us for a conversation at the end of the session.

The next meeting for Open Roads will be on 21 Aug 2010, 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1 and we will be looking at Jean Tay's Everything But The Brain. A review of the 2007 production of the play can be found here.

To register, email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com. The fee is $5 which you can pay on the day itself.

(There will not be a session of Open Roads on 7 Aug 2010 due to the National Day weekend)

Off Centre by Haresh Sharma

2010-07-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

As per our reading schedule, we will be looking at Off Centre by Haresh Sharma for our second Open Roads reading club session on Sat 24 July 2010, 2pm, The Substation Classroom 1. We still have a few vacancies left - email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com to register. (More information about Open Roads is in our first post below - 11 Jun 2010)

The idea behind a reading club is to allow a free-flow of ideas to be shared but, as with our first session, here are some things you might want to think about before the session while reading the play:

1. What are the issues surrounding the topic of mental illness raised in Off Centre? How are these connected – if at all - to the play’s larger commentary about other aspects of Singapore society?

2. To which character – Vinod or Salmoa - are you more drawn? Which character’s journey resonates more powerfully with you?

3. How does your emotional response to Off Centre change at different points of the play? Which specific lines and scenes do you find particularly memorable?

4. How do you feel about the supporting characters such as Emily, Razali, Charlie, Denise and especially Mak? What do they contribute to the play?

5. How do you feel about the unconventional structure of the play, specifically the use of a narrator and the fact that the play's timeline is non-linear? What is your reaction to the way the play opens and closes?

6. To what extent do you think Off Centre is a uniquely Singaporean play?

7. To what extent do you think someone reading or watching the play today will have a different experience from someone in the early 1990s when the play was first written and performed?

8. Why do you think Off Centre was selected as the first local play to be used as an N and O level Literature text in Singapore?

Off Centre by Haresh Sharma

2010-07-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here are four reviews of Off Centre productions that you might be interested to take a look at in advance of our second Open Roads session on 24 July 2010:

1. The Straits Times - original 1993 production

2. The Straits Times - 2007 production

3. The Business Times - 2007 production

4. The Flying Inkpot - 2007 production

Reading Schedule from 24 July 2010 to 27 Nov 2010

2010-07-10T03:48:00.000-07:00

We had a group of 13 participants at the first Open Roads session this afternoon (10 July 2010) to discuss Stella Kon's Emily of Emerald Hill and I'm happy to say that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive:

Productive, energetic discussion - loved how much we managed to cover. Time actually seemed too short. Would like to come for more.

Love that it's small and intimate. Love that it's participative and encouraging. Might have to extend beyond 2 hours.

Enriching, thought-provoking, gained some different views. Good session.

Very energizing session - inspired me to really look into reading the oeuvre of Singaporean plays.

We've also settled on the reading schedule for the next nine sessions:

24 July: Off-Centre (Haresh Sharma)
No session on 7 Aug
21 Aug: Everything But The Brain (Jean Tay)
4 Sep: Those Who Can't, Teach 2010 (Haresh Sharma)
18 Sep: The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days (Kuo Pao Kun)
2 Oct: Three Fat Virgins Unassembled (Ovidia Yu) - available in the collection Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values
16 Oct: Homesick (Alfian Sa'at) - available in the collection Alfian Sa'at: Collected Plays One
30 Oct: P.I.E. (Chong Tze Chien) - available in the collection P.I.E. to Spoilt
13 Nov: Mergers and Accusations (Eleanor Wong) - available in the collection Invitation to Treat
27 Nov: Nothing (Natalie Hennedige) - availability to be confirmed

**Please note the change in date for the Kuo Pao Kun double-bill**

Please drop us a line at admin@inkpotreviews.com if you would like to register for any of the sessions.

All sessions are $5 each - Saturday (fortnightly except 7 Aug), 2pm - 4pm, Substation Classroom 1.

Emily of Emerald Hill by Stella Kon

2010-06-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

As you know, we will be looking at Emily of Emerald Hill by Stella Kon for our first Open Roads reading club session on Sat 10 July 2010, 2pm, The Substation - email us at admin@inkpotreviews.com to register. (More information in our first post below)

Of course, the idea behind a reading club is to allow a free-flow of ideas to be shared but these are some things you might want to think about before the session while reading the play:

1. What are your impressions of Emily Gan? Different actors over the decades have emphasized different aspects of her multi-faceted character. Which quality of Emily's life and personality resonates most with you when you read the play? Does it change as the play progresses?

2. What are your favourite scenes in Emily of Emerald Hill and why? What do they tell us about the character and her life? Are there people and situations in your own life that these scenes remind you of? To what extent do you think Emily and her story are distinctively peranakan?

3. How do you feel about the way the story of Emily's life ends in the play? To what extent is she a "general who wins battles but finally loses the war" (Anne Pakir)? Do you think Emily is a victim of circumstances or ultimately responsible for her own fate? When you look back on your own life, what are some of the things you are proud of? What are some of your regrets?

4. Emily of Emerald Hill is certainly much-loved but to what extent do you think it deserves its place in the canon as a great work of Singapore literature? Is the enduring appeal of the play due to its literary merits as "compelling drama" (Pakir) or its wider cultural / historical significance as say, a heritage play about peranakan culture? Stella Kon once said that the play is not so much the story of one woman as it is "the story of a generation". Do you agree?

5. Have you seen stage versions of the play? If so, did you think they were successful? If you were a director, how would you stage the play? What are your thoughts about adaptations such as the casting of a man in the role of Emily Gan or having the part played by different actresses at different points in the play?

6. What do you think of Theodore Lim Li's poem Emily of Emerald Hill (1998)?

Testing the days against their patience,
stuttering through an intravenous
sequence of delusions, the
septuagenarian, paralysed from half a
side down continues divesting the
days with a serpentine rustling of
sheets.

Sliced by jalousies, each disjointed
mundane occurrence adheres only to
surrender at the next to the aberrant
itinerary of a fly, settling on a rim of
glass, mating the unfettered universe.

The soliloquy of tea taken
without a sound: a face is
a luminous stain dissolving in a
saucer before a human spout;
the spasmodic jerking: of a
bone-dry arm - a springroll
disembowelled.

Only the artefacts around her commune,
with time loosening its grasp on meaning,
and all that were left, nothing more than
the efflorescence of a flowering screen, or
the noble sentiments that fall down
hanging scrolls of silent calligraphy.

Still, as a matter of form
the relatives intrude
to resurrect the fact
that she
who had studied all her life
to serve, survived
her husband and her only son,
and now sequestered, sloughing offthe years
on batik prints.

It was actually the maid
who blurted before a shocked congregation
at Bethesda,
that the vociferous railing
of her venerable mistress
had had nothing to do with the miserable cancer
gnawing at her chest.
It was the ignominy rather
of having to share the late Master's
last official moments with another,
of admitting to the sanctity of the demised,
the pollution of another wife!

Upstaged to the very last
she would contrive
as forbearingly as before
to preserve the dignity
of a family of Emerald Hill.

The ivory cane that was
today a seven-bended kris
unsheathes.

A bell.
The arrival of the faithful.
The dignified cadaver turns
from the hieroglyphics
of a gutted dream
to regard the ragged band
of gold-brocaded, diamond-pointed
jade encrusted cronies
manipulated by their maids,
unfold the trivial pattern of their woes,
their flowers, their gardens,
their gilt-entangled mansions.

(Those of you who are unable to join us on the 24th but have ideas about the play that you want to share with us here, please feel free to use the Comments option below.)

Emily of Emerald Hill by Stella Kon

2010-06-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

The first session of OPEN ROADS: READING SINGAPORE THEATRE on Saturday 10 July 2010 will look at Stella Kon's classic one-woman play Emily of Emerald Hill which was produced as recently as June 2010 as part of the Singapore Arts Festival.

Since 1983 when her story of Peranakan matriarch Emily Gan won Kon her third National Playwriting Competition award, Emily has been staged around the world - Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, America, England, etc. - and the role of Emily have been played by a host of women (Leow Puay Tin, Margaret Chan, Pearlly Chua, Neo Swee Lin) and at least one man (Ivan Heng).

Here are some reviews of past productions which you may want to read:

1. Men’s Review (Malaysia, 1999)
http://www.artseefartsee.com/ma/199911/dl-emily-review-mensreview.shtml
2. ArtSee.net (Malaysia, 1999)
http://www.artseefartsee.com/ma/199910/asfs-emily-kpc-review.shtml
3. The New Straits Times (Malaysia, 1999)
http://www.artseefartsee.com/ma/199910/dl-emily-review-nst.shtml
4. The Straits Times (Singapore, 1999)
http://theatrearchivesingapore.blogspot.com/
5. The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance (Singapore, 2000)
http://www.inkpot.com/theatre/00reviews/00revemilemerhill.html
6. The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance (Singapore, 2001)
http://www.inkpotreviews.com/2001reviews/0829,emil,ml.xml
7. Kakiseni.com (Malaysia, 2002)
http://www.kakiseni.com/articles/reviews/MjU5.html#top
8. Voize.My (Malaysia, 2009)
http://voize.my/events/arts-culture/emily-of-emerald-hill-review
9. Today (Singapore, 2010)
http://blogs.todayonline.com/forartssake/2010/06/12/singapore-arts-fest-the-original-little-nyonya-emily-over-the-hill/

You may also want to check out these notes on the play prepared by director Krishen Jit based on Kon's own words.

Trivia: The premier performance of Emily on 17 November 1984 took place in Malaysia (directed by Chin San Sooi and starring Leow Puay Tin). Emily only saw its first Singapore production in 1985 (directed by Max le Blond and starring Margaret Chan).

Register with OPEN ROADS: READING SINGAPORE THEATRE

2010-06-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

OPEN ROADS: READING SINGAPORE THEATRE
Presented by The Substation and The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance

Date: Saturday 10 July to Saturday 27 November (fortnightly except 7 Aug 2010)
Venue: The Substation, Classroom 1
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Fee: $40 for 10 sessions / $5 for 1 session

Do you want to unearth the rich heritage of Singapore theatre with a group of like-minded enthusiasts?

The Substation and The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance bring you a fortnightly series of "book club" sessions where instead of novels, the group will come together to discuss scripts by local playwrights.

This will be a safe, friendly space for anyone to come and share their views about a particular work, whether they are a regular theatre-goer or new to the theatre scene.

Sessions will be facilitated by Matthew Lyon and Kenneth Kwok, Editors of The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance, an online arts journal which has been active since 1996. Both have facilitated a variety of community-based workshops and dialogues for adults as well as teenagers.

**updated on 10 Jul 2010**
10 July: Emily of Emerald Hill (Stella Kon)
24 July: Off-Centre (Haresh Sharma)
No session on 7 Aug
21 Aug: Everything But The Brain (Jean Tay)
4 Sep: Those Who Can't, Teach 2010 (Haresh Sharma)
18 Sep: The Coffin is too Big for the Hole and No Parking on Odd Days (Kuo Pao Kun)
2 Oct: Three Fat Virgins Unassembled (Ovidia Yu) - available in the collection Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values
16 Oct: Homesick (Alfian Sa'at) - available in the collection Alfian Sa'at: Collected Plays One
30 Oct: P.I.E. (Chong Tze Chien) - available in the collection P.I.E. to Spoilt
13 Nov: Mergers and Accusations (Eleanor Wong) - available in the collection Invitation to Treat
27 Nov: Nothing (Natalie Hennedige) - availability to be confirmed

Registration:
For block registration, please email chris@substation.org or call 6337 7800 (Chris)
Last Day of Registration for Block Registration: 7 July, by 8pm

For single session registration, please email admin@inkpotreviews.com

http://www.substation.org
http://www.inkpotreviews.com