Local Drama—A Step Ahead
Alvin Tan, Andrew Koh

Throwing in Singlish for the sake of making the play local is an ornamental gimmick that fails to appease the aesthetic sensibilities of Singaporeans. In fact, sometimes it comes across as contrived. It is not enough. The audience must be able to identify, let alone be convinced of the character portrayals, the gestures, the essence of the themes, and even the blatant and implied tensions of our society that make up the context of the play. The design of the set—right down to the arrangement of the furniture—must be taken into account. The production, besides the directing, has to be aesthetically sound in local terms.