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“Off Centre marks a new maturity in Singapore Theatre, addressing an audience prepared to be challenged.”
—Hannah Pandian, The Straits Times Life

“... a major triumph.”
—Mayo Martin, TODAY Online

The Necessary Stage’s critically acclaimed play, Off Centre, returns 26 years after its premiere in 1993. Written by Haresh Sharma and directed by Alvin Tan, 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.

Off Centre follows the unlikely friendship between Saloma and Vinod, and traces their journeys as they deal with their personal conflicts as well as social prejudices against mental health conditions.

Selected in 2007 by the Ministry of Education 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.

This brand new staging features Abdulattif Abdullah and Sakinah Dollah, who will reprise their original roles as Vinod and Saloma respectively, as well as Aidli Mosbit as Mak.

“It’s impossible to not be astounded by the timelessness and thrust of Haresh Sharma’s Off Centre.”
—Naeem Kapadia, Crystalwords

In 2016, Drama Box and The Necessary Stage presented the groundbreaking sold-out production Manifesto, that delved into the relationship between art and politics.

This year, the two companies collaborate once again on a brand new work that explores poverty, inequality and human dignity in Singapore.

Underclass tells the story of Xinyi, who finds herself in a downward spiral after losing her job and her flat. When she moves into a rental unit, she meets Johari, and they strike up an unlikely friendship. Will they be able to get out of their disadvantaged status with the help of well-meaning friends, entrepreneurs, civil servants and politicians?

Whose responsibility is it to provide assistance for those who fall through the cracks? Can we make a difference and address imbalance in our society? Why should we?

Underclass asks urgent questions about the widening class divide in Singapore today. Who speaks up for the marginalised in society? Or will they be airbrushed out of our national narrative of prosperity and progress?

 

2016年，戏剧盒与必要剧场联合呈现座无虚席的创新剧场体验《宣言》，探讨艺术与政治之间的关系。

两个剧团再次合作，呈现崭新原创剧，探讨新加坡的贫困、不平等议题，以及人性尊严。

《贱民》讲述欣怡的故事。失去了工作和房子，欣怡的人生急转直下。当她搬进租屋单位，她遇见了Johari，两人发展出一段“不太可能”的友谊。他们能否在朋友、企业家、公务员、政客的帮助下，脱离困境？

谁有责任为弱势群体提供帮助？我们能否做些什么，为社会的不平等声援？我们有必要那么做吗？

《贱民》针对新加坡日益扩大的阶级鸿沟提出重要的问题。谁会帮弱势群体发声？他们是否会在宏大的国家论述下被消声？

Written and directed by Cultural Medallion recipients Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan respectively, untitled cow number one is about the journey of a widowed cow. The play, which is divided into 12 sections and covers the 12 days of mourning, is strongly influenced by Hindu and Buddhist texts, images and myths. This monodrama is performed by Gloria Tan for the first time in Bahasa Indonesia. 

UCNO has been performed in Macau International Fringe Festival (2000) Asian Theatre Festival in Busan (2002), National Theatre Festival in New Delhi (2003), and M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in Singapore (2015). 

UCNO's script opens up opportunities that allow artist the freedom to reinterpret the piece in accordance to their own style. We will see for the first time how this monodrama interacts with different cultural backgrounds together with WAFT-LAB (Surabaya) as the main artistic collaborator who will work on the audiovisual installations.

A terminally ill woman hires a digital legacy company to record video greetings for her children to watch long after she is gone.

In our technologically accelerating world, this scenario of social media legacy planning has become a reality. In the digitised future, memories can be made immortal. Our data can be turned into bots. Protests can happen from the comforts of our own homes. Humans, androids and robots are all adrift in cyberspace.

The Necessary Stage continues its 30th anniversary season with another provocative work—Sanctuary, an international collaboration with HANCHU-YUEI, one of Tokyo’s most innovative theatre companies.

It presents assorted characters—from social media influencers to virtual personal assistants—through the lens of hot-button issues of the day such as surveillance, alternative fact and post-life.

Sanctuary investigates the fragility of the human condition, at a time when technology is eroding our humanity. We are the data, but the data is never ours.

　

範宙遊泳は、2015年から、シンガポールの劇団THE NECESSARY STAGE（TNS）と共同制作を行っています。

共通の知り合いである通訳者の鈴木なお氏の提案から、いち劇団同士がお互いに興味を持ち対話を重ね、資金繰りから広報活動までのすべてを自発的に行う、インディペンデントなコラボレーションです。

​創作過程はTNSの方法にのっとり、範宙遊泳がシンガポールでリサーチとWSを行う＜phase1＞、TNSが来日し稽古と小作品の発表を行う＜phase2＞、シンガポールでの滞在制作と両国での上演を行う＜phase3＞と3つのステップを踏み、長い時間をかけてお互いの理解を深めてきました。

​脚本は、両国の劇作家、山本卓卓とハレーシュ・シャーマが共同執筆し、シンガポールと日本が抱える監視社会の問題や、未来の生活のあり方、デジタルアーカイブ、SNSセレブなどをテーマにディスカッションを重ね、がそれぞれ書いた脚本を、ひとつの物語に結合させました。

音楽家でありエンジニアでもあるバニー・ハイカルが手がける音楽と、範宙遊泳のアートディレクターたかくらかずきが手がける映像とのコラボレーションも、見どころのひとつとなっています。

​範宙遊泳は10月1日からシンガポールに渡航し、山本卓卓とTNSの演出家アルヴィン・タンとの共同演出で、シンガポール公演は大盛況で幕を閉じました。

A terminally ill woman hires a digital legacy company to record video greetings for her children to watch long after she is gone.

In our technologically accelerating world, this scenario of social media legacy planning has become a reality. In the digitised future, memories can be made immortal. Our data can be turned into bots. Protests can happen from the comforts of our own homes. Humans, androids and robots are all adrift in cyberspace.

The Necessary Stage continues its 30th anniversary season with another provocative work—Sanctuary, an international collaboration with HANCHU-YUEI, one of Tokyo’s most innovative theatre companies.

It presents assorted characters—from social media influencers to virtual personal assistants—through the lens of hot-button issues of the day such as surveillance, alternative fact and post-life.

Sanctuary investigates the fragility of the human condition, at a time when technology is eroding our humanity. We are the data, but the data is never ours.

What makes a marriage? The fully-furnished HDB flat, the mutual secret keeping, the mother-in-law? Azam and Xiaoyan have to confront their differences when Azam's mother and sister make a surprise visit at home. Clashes of culture, religion and gender lurk within the still waters of everyday life and threaten to undo familial ties. Heartbreaking and humorous in turns, Drip is an unflinching look at the sacrifices—big and small—that we make to be at peace with one another and with ourselves.

Drip was first conceived in July and August 2016 as part of a playwriting masterclass led by Huzir Sulaiman, Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre. It was written over six weeks under the guidance of Huzir, with the help of classmates Kimberly Arriola, Joses Ho, Debbie Ng, Dora Tan, Jo Tan and Nanda Yadav.

Two best friends and fellow actors perform the first scene of a play and decide to change it. As fiction and truth become interwoven, they share stories, secrets and sweets. A meditative play about the things you lose and the things you search for in life, Whale Fall explores the redemptive power of art and friendship.