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Off Centre is The Necessary Stage’s landmark play in the history of Singapore Theatre. It is best remembered for bringing mental illness and its patients’ plight to the attention of the media and the public.

The play uses effective techniques of flashbacks; moving the characters in and out of their schizophrenic and normal selves to elicit the rational and emotional experiences of two schizophrenics, Vinod and Saloma.

Off Centre was first staged in September 1993 at The Drama Centre.

Interlogue is a Series which brings into critical focus the works of Singapore writers in English. The Series aims for stimulating insights presented in a refreshing manner through sustained engagements with a variety of approaches, themes and perspectives. The first 3 volumes concentrate on fiction, poetry and drama. The contributors range from established scholars to new, young researchers in the field. All offer essays which serve to extend and enrich current understanding of the literature. Later volumes focus on individual authors and texts. Interlogue is designed to put Singapore Literature on the world map so that it will get the attention it deserves.

This volume in the Interlogue Series examines in detail Haresh Sharma’s extensive body of work, beginning with his very early writing and ending with his 2006 work. Prof. David Birch tries to paint a large social, political, economic and cultural landscape of Sharma’s writing and theatre since 1988, within and outside of his work with The Necessary Stage. He poses some key questions about Sharma’s development as a writer; the themes and issues he engages with and his vision and practice of theatre.

Invisibility is a poignant tale about alienation and the search for meaning in modern urban society—various people on the margins of society seeking to connect with others in juxtaposition with the tale of a man searching for the secret to make himself invisible.

Drawing from diverse sources of Chinese literary classics and graffiti as modern social commentary, this critically-acclaimed play by Quah Sy Ren takes you on a voyeuristic ride towards urban myth.