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This interactive theatrical experience will feature excerpts of Off Centre that traces the friendships that the protagonist, Vinod, forges—one with Charlie, his ex-classmate from Junior College, and another with Saloma, who—like Vinod—struggles with a mental health condition.

Can Vinod draw support from his friends, in the face of social prejudices against those suffering from mental illnesses? Will their friendships be able to withstand the personal conflicts that each of them experience?

Off Centre is a landmark play in the history of Singapore theatre, best remembered for presenting an honest and unflinching look at mental illness and the stigma surrounding it. Selected in 2007 by the Ministry of Education (MOE) as the first Singaporean play to be offered as a GCE O- and N-Level literature text, Off Centre is once again back on the syllabus since 2018.

Off Centre will be presented live via Zoom. To support teachers through this new format of presentation, there will be a teachers’ briefing session prior to the performance. Attendance is compulsory.

Learning Objectives


Explore issues related to mental health conditions, its challenges and stigmas
Gain a better understanding of the experiences and feelings of people who live with mental health conditions
Be empowered to effect changes in their own lives and friendships

Don't Know, Don't Care looks at a family trying to deal with terminal illness within the household. Wrapped up in their own lives, the family members 'don't want to know', and prefer to leave the caregiving to strangers. Soon, they realise they have to know, and they discover the importance of being there for each other.  

Can a time of illness allow a family to finally share a bond and experience joy?  

Originally commissioned by HCA Hospice Care in 2012.  

 

The Necessary Stage celebrates its 30th anniversary with the return of Those Who Can’t, Teach!

First staged in 1990 and subsequently in 2010 to full houses at the Singapore Arts Festival, Those Who Can’t, Teach is a Singaporean theatre classic by Cultural Medallion winners Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma.

Set in a secondary school, the play looks at the madcap lives of teachers and students—with often hilarious results. As the teachers struggle daily to 'nurture and groom', the students prefer to hang out and chill. In the meantime, they all have to deal with the dreaded 'parents'.

With upskirting and texting, teaching and politicking, school has never been the same. Join the rambunctious cast of characters as they struggle to prove that Those Who CAN, Teach.