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Though we think that women in Singapore have come a long way--so called 'liberated'--we are still subjected to various conditioning and control. So when Alvin Tan of The Necessary Stage approached me to do something for Fringe '92, I thought it would be an opportune time for this play. I held a brainstorming session with six people, males and females, and discussed ideas for the play. After this meeting, I gathered three actresses to begin improvisations. We discussed our own experiences--growing up as a female, the expectations of parents, family and so on. We improvised scenes in different situations--childhood, parents and daughter conflicts, women at the workplace...I finally decided to focus on women conditioned by society, family, media, man and other women--women can sometimes be their own worst enemies.

The word 'movement' in theatre seems to scare people. "What exactly do you mean--a movement-based play?", ask actors when I ask actors if they are interested in participating. When asked by The Necessary Stage to direct this, I wasn't too sure myself what shape the play would take. We often take refuge in words. What the cast and I have done is to use as our starting point, not content but form--working with rhythm, sound, colours, texture, imagery to come up with movement-base improvisational pieces that use no words. Words picked up from various sources cut and patched together were introduced only when we got used to using our bodies, rather than just our mouths.

Can You Hear The Eclairs Calling Your Name? and Fitness Freaks are written by Haresh Sharma and produced by The Necessary Stage. Both skits are performed by students from De La Salle school.

 A short play about healthy eating.

Still Building is about people trapped by family, by friends, by buildings and by themselves, and their attempts to break free.

This is a fable about the Garden. Shay, who lives in the garden, becomes a victim when the garden is destroyed. Banished to the tree with the seven branches, she has to endure the darkness and coldness of the destroyed garden.

Dev, Gerald and Thomas are three good friends working together and enjoying the time they spend with each other. However, not everything is as neat as it appears. All three have problems with their race, religion or background. they discover things about their friendship they never knew existed until a promotion and a talentime come between them.