Home
Home

Browse By

Clear all

By type

Or by Title

Or by date range

Reset Year
Apply
See results
 

Staging

godeatgod

A layered and moving exploration of power, sexuality, spirituality and survival in the post traumatic world, this multimedia, multiracial and multinational romp is interwoven with the stories and emotional landscape of its characters. godeatgod is an intimate, personal and at times funny exposition about trying to live a better life; a take on censorship in the context of art; and an examination of love and grief.
2012
 -
Singapore
 

Festivals

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2012

2012
 

Productions

Pantang

Can a stove of burning charcoal determine the luck of three ladies?
2012
 -
Singapore
 

Productions

Mosquito

Three aunties get into an argument when an inspector discovers mosquitoes breeding in a pool of water. Who's the culprit?
2012
 -
Singapore
 

Staging

Mosquito and Pantang

2012
 -
Singapore

Productions

Singapore

Singapore. Singapura. Temasek. When does a name begin? When does a country begin? TNS examiens present-day Singapore by bringing historical characters to life. Factual and fictional characters merge with real and imagined events to create a theatre that makes the impossible possible. Looking at the themes of Migration, Harmony and Identity, Singapore probes deeply into a counry's history and, along the way, the psyche of the people occupying it. Featuring a very politically-correct multi-racial cast, the play is seriously funny, bluntly cutting and deceitfully truthful.
2012
 -
Singapore

Staging

Singapore

Singapore. Singapura. Temasek. When does a name begin? When does a country begin? TNS examiens present-day Singapore by bringing historical characters to life. Factual and fictional characters merge with real and imagined events to create a theatre that makes the impossible possible. Looking at the themes of Migration, Harmony and Identity, Singapore probes deeply into a counry's history and, along the way, the psyche of the people occupying it. Featuring a very politically-correct multi-racial cast, the play is seriously funny, bluntly cutting and deceitfully truthful.
2012
 -
Singapore
 

Workshops

Theatre For Youth and Community 2012

In September 1992, Alvin Tan, Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage, established the Theatre For Youth Branch. The Branch was re-named Theatre for Youth and Community in 2002, our 10th anniversary year.

The aims of our Youth Drama Programmes are to:


expose young people to theatre
create a space for artistic expression by and for young people
cultivate the aesthetic sensibilities of young people
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.

Our programmes are relevant and involve theoretical and hands-on learning: cultivating students' life skills towards their personal development.

We also believe strongly in 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.

Theatre is not meant to be simply a high-brow affair for the wealthy and intellectual. It is a language that each of us have the right to learn and speak, in order to find release, and to make meaning of our world.
2012
 

Publications

Plays for Schools

The Necessary Stage has been at the forefront of youth arts education since 1992. In 20 years, the company has created numerous plays which have toured primary and secondary schools. Six of these plays can be found in this brand new collection.

Award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma has created stories and characters that will entertain, delight and surprise the reader. The plays include contemporary adaptations such as Hamlet, Such Sweet Sorrow (based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), What Big Bombs You Have (based on Little Red Riding Hood) and Ah Boy & the Beanstalk (adapted from Jack and the Beanstalk). The collection also includes the hugely entertaining History, Whose Story? and Survivor Singapore.

Plays for School contains notes on the plays by the writer as well as an introduction by Alvin Tan.
2012
 

Publications

Model Citizens

A man stabs an MP at a Meet-the-People Session. But this is not their story. It is the story of the man’s girlfriend, an Indonesian maid who wants to get married and become a Singaporean citizen. It is the story of the MP’s wife, who tries to cope with her husband’s injury and the media spotlight. It is the story of the maid’s employer, who is also struggling with her own tragedy. These three women may mean nothing to each other, but they need one another to survive. The maid, the employer and the MP’s wife. Are they all model citizens?

Written by veteran Singaporean playwright Haresh Sharma, Model Citizens won Best Director (Alvin Tan) and Best Actress (Siti Khalijah Zainal) at the 2011 The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards.
2012

Talks & Interviews

Who’s Afraid of Theatre?

In this discussion, TNS will reflect on the contentious events in its history and its struggle to remain independent whilst working within the system. It will discuss what strategies it employs in its works as well as its relationships with agencies that regulate the arts through funding.

In reflecting on the obstacles to art making and The Necessary Stage’s journey with regulation and controversy at the eve of its 25th Anniversary (2012), two significant events in its history (1993) come to mind. The play, Off Centre, and Forum Theatre will be the springboard for this sharing. These two incidences culminated in a newspaper article in the The Straits Times (Jan 1994) framing Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma as Marxists.

Forum Theatre and Performance Art were immediately proscribed. This came 7 years after Third Stage leaders were incarcerated in the 1987 Marxist Conspiracy, and 18 years after the massive leftist purge which saw Kuo Pao Kun, the doyen of Singapore theatre, and his choreographer-wife Goh Lay Kuan, detained under the Internal Security Act.

By 1994, the “Marxist” label, employed with similar intent as the “Communism” label in the 70s to demonise dissidents, was beginning to wear thin amongst Singaporeans. Perhaps the unuttered mistake of the 1987 Marxist Conspiracy resulted in only the art forms being proscribed rather than artists being detained.

Nevertheless, the predicament of artists being persecuted in the name of national security only makes sense when one takes the historical perspective.

What is so threatening about theatre? How does a theatre company negotiate the ebb and flow of top-down regulation to sustain the integrity of its art making especially when what is considered sensitive in one era may not be in another? Are the factors determining the decision to contain art and artists objective, real and transparent, or arbitrary? Or is it just a means to protect the status quo? Does bullying theatre make it more powerful or weaken it? Does it help the government to be more or less accountable? Does it make for a more mature citizenry?

The Necessary Stage’s engagement with controversy is a story that questions the importance of survival: is it better to be a martyr or to live another day so that the work continues? More importantly, history as controversy then has a pulse and can provide continuity, which is a necessary ingredient to enable transformation in the long run. 
2011
 -
Singapore

Productions

Old Flames

The Theatre for Seniors Interest Group is proud to present 3 skits on the different dimensions of living and loving.

Be entertained and be part of the post-show dialogue led by Alvin Tan, Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage whose social ideals led to the birth of TFSIG.  Senior Artist, Catherine Sng will co- lead  the discussions.
Each skit will be followed by a short discussion. 
2011
 -
Singapore
Filter