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Building on its success in education and the arts, especially the Theatre For Youth Branch’s Development Through Drama programme, The Necessary Stage introduces its interdisciplinary Integrated Arts & Personal Development programme in 2001, with a focus on visual art and drama.

Targeted at secondary school students to young adults, the programme hopes to introduce to young people creative skills that will enhance their learning process. The course seeks to discover and adapt to the unique abilities of the student through hands-on teaching, finding the forms of expression that best suits them.

As with the Branch’s Development Through Drama programme, the course aims to develop and enhance students’ life-skills such as confidence, expression, communication, and social interaction and to introduce students to the arts and to open up their creative and imaginative faculties.  This programme is piloted at East View Secondary and Telok Kurau Secondary School.

In September 1992, Alvin Tan, Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage, established the Theatre For Youth Branch.

The aims of the Branch are:


to expose young people to theatre;
to create a space for artistic expression by and for young people;
to cultivate the aesthetic sensibilities of young people; and
to explore themes and issues relevant to young people in Singapore


We believe that theatre must grow out of the community and therefore pay close attention to issues that concern young people and educators. Our programmes develop from research, careful planning and consultation. The concern that students should benefit fully has led us to theoretical and hands-on learning; and cultivate students' life-skills and contribute towards their personal development.

The Branch also believes strongly in, and welcomes, partnerships with other sectors in society to achieve holistic outcomes for our programmes. The school's curriculum and directions in education are also taken into consideration when planning our programmes.