A Necessary Practice
Alvin Tan

For TNS, collaboration is a methodology of resistance; resisting the rationalised mindsets ingrained in cultures of both contemporary urban lifestyles and the production structure of the traditional Western model theatre. Intense competition had created an environment that jeopardised social cohesion. Individualism was rife, and when combined with pragmatism, could result in the focus on self-interest. Oppressive power structures that imposed limits and constraints have inspired the cliched image of rebellious artists who pursued freedom of expression either by outright confrontation (agit-prop) or intense retreatism and introspection (autonomous and ahistorical postmodern works). Collaboration, however, is about constant negotiation, dialogue and interaction between artists and audience. Many things can still happen in the 'play' of things.

When The Alarm Rings

You should have been there. On 22 Dec 1992, The Necessary Stage's Studio One was the venue for Theatre By Youth Showcase 1, an evening of short works-in-progress. A total of nine excerpts were staged by about fifty 13-18 year olds-participants of our series of Drama Workshops held in December. Below is a script devised by one of the groups.

Trust the Imagination
Alvin Tan

As there is no attempt to dumb down the issues, students will be confronted with identity, community, fighting for one's passion, taking risks, self-hurt, abused love, failure in intergenerational communication, suicide, terrorism, history as myth, and other challenging and often pressing themes.

Such Sweet Sorrow
Haresh Sharma

Of the three stories, the one depicting Adrian Lim and Catherine Tan is the most horrific. I was initially unsure if it would be an appropriate story for students. But there is much that can be taken away from this gruesome tale which happened in our very own backyard. Similar to What Big Bombs You Have, the play is best discussed with guidance and strong facilitation.

Old Flame Rekindled

The Necessary Stage's Lanterns Never Go Out, first staged in 1989, then 1990 for the Singapore Festival of Arts Core Programme, was given a new breath of life earlier this year when it was staged for Young People's Theatre as a Theatre-in-Education (TIE) Programme. Directed by Elvira Holmberg, the programme was divided into two parts. In the first part, the cast went to schools a week before the play opened and conducted exercises and fun-filled activities with students. Along the way, students found out about Kah Wei, the protagonist of the play.

Preface
Alvin Tan

All the plays emerged from a rigorous three-phase process with substantial intervals in between the phases for ideas to brew. Phase 1 is marked by field work and improvisations. We would interview doctors, lawyers, hospice supervisors, care-givers, ex-political detainees and anyone who could share experiences related to the themes and issues. We would then create characters with the actors and develop them through improvisations.

Working with Ensembles: Worlds Made Visible by Exploring Literary and Non-literary Vocabularies
Alvin Tan

An ensemble comprises a group of actors working on a project over a substantial period of time. It was impossible in the late 80s and early 90s to employ actors full time, but dedicated ones stayed long enough to workshop a play to fruition.

Two separate ensembles were there with us for Lanterns and More. By the mid-90s, a full-time ensemble came onboard for Hope and Talk 1. Working with ensembles also gave rise to developing physical vocabularies which were applied effectively to More and Talk 1.

Foreword
Alvin Tan

Whilst Haresh has been the sole face-to-face interviewer-researcher, I often embark on another strategy—to obtain stories on Facebook. A Facebook status update often brings forth a pool of volunteers who wish to share their stories but prefer to remain anonymous.

Working with Siti Khalijah Zainal and Haresh Sharma
Alvin Tan

The Alvin Tan-Haresh Sharma collaborative methodology started with The Necessary Stage's Lanterns Never Go Out. It involved an intensive interview with an actor, Low Kah Wei. Haresh then wrote the script. After workshopping it and several re-stagings, it was finally staged at the 1990 Singapore Arts Festival at the old Drama Centre. That approach has been refined over the 27 years of the company's existence, and has become a methodology from which we draw from and are still developing.

Playwright's Voice: a Forum on Playwriting

Haresh: It is not so much that I want to reduce my role, but to write a text in terms of working with the ensemble. That means incorporating other aspects of theatre like movement and using texts from the actors themselves. And when I work with directors I tell them: if you can summarise one page of my lines into an action, do it. Because the writing itself is not really the point of the whole play.