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Published here in DRAFT: Volume 3 Issue 1 - Discord/Harmony Side A.


Theatre director Alvin Tan needs no introduction. The founding artistic director of The Necessary Stage (TNS), his works are known for their sharp social sensibilities and multilayered aesthetics, amongst many others. This issue, we wanted to talk to Alvin about his approach to artistic creations, his views on the audience and the social environment, and how he finds balance in the array of ideologies today, and that we did, over tea and cupcakes.


Project Serial Number: AA201401

Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to reproduce the full essay/writing online. Please contact the resource owner directly for permissions if reproduction rights do not belong to The Necessary Stage Ltd. Otherwise, kindly contact us for access to the full resource. Do note that archival access and reproduction charges may apply.

How has the growth of civil society in Singapore affected the development of multi-sectoral partnerships in the city-state?  What are the political context of state-society relations in Singapore, and the prospects for such multi-stakeholder partnerships?

 

Project Serial Number: AA200201

Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to reproduce this essay/writing online. Please contact the resource owner directly for permissions if reproduction rights do not belong to The Necessary Stage Ltd. Otherwise, kindly contact us for access to the full resource. Do note that archival access and reproduction charges may apply.

Published in Substance July-August 1999.

This essay/writing was reproduced courtesy of The Substation.

Project Serial Number: AA199901

This thesis investigates collaboration as a creation method that contests the assumptions behind traditional theatre's hierarchical structure. Tradtionally, the playwright occupies the primary creation phase, leaving the director, designers and actors to fulfill an interpretative function. However, works primarily reliant on non-literary signifiers require a methodology that involves artists from varied disciplines earlier in the creation process.

Collaborating hierarchically gives way to co-authorship collaboration, revising the natures of artistic roles, relationships and composition. Interdisciplinary practice is adopted by practitioners interested in exploring the interactions between the literary text and the resources of other disciplines, giving rise to hybrid and semiotic-based performance texts.

The aim of this thesis is to appreciate the ways in which issue-orientated '60s and '70s social transformation theatre is contemporised to a theatre of empowerment whose object is to challenge rationalised mindsets and empower imaginations through engaging the audience as co-artist. The collaborative practices of British playwright Caryl Churchill and American's Wooster Group are compared to examine the relationships between their processes and application of artistic strategies in organising their materials. The thesis concludes with an analysis of how a Singaporean theatre company, The Necessary Stage modifies and applies the lessons learned in its collaborative works Pillars and Galileo (I Feel The Earth Move).

Project Serial Number: AA199902