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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?