In Retrospect
Julius Foo

This whole process was very stressful and none of us knew where we were heading. The next stage was more focused. The improvisation revolved round the theme "God is coming to visit" and we had to find means of "cleaning" up the place so as to impress "God".

Model Citizens: Celebrating Difference
Alvin Tan

When I think of the phrase 'model citizens', I am prompted to ask: What am I looking at? What citizenship are we addressing here? What is this reality we 'belong' to? Would there not be an array of modes and modulations when we take into account the rate and range of intercultural interactions occurring in a world without borders? Indeed, how do we prepare ourselves to be citizens of contemporary realities? We have to quarrel to converge. We have to engage in conflict to synthesise. We have to debate to transcend.

A Censorship Manifesto
Alfian Sa'at

By pumping up Gaynor's celebratory queer pride anthem, deploying absurd cartoon aesthetics through high-speed acting, as well as eliciting laughter through the "NETS or Cashcard" reference (revealing how the negotiation between censor and artist had been reduced to one of an economic transaction), the staging of the censorship act took on lurid shades of the carnivalesque.

Haresh's Notes

If Off Centre comes across angry at times, it's only because I was angry when I was writing it. After being commissioned by the Ministry of Health in Singapore to create a play on mental health, with funding of S$30,000, the Ministry then read the first draft of the play and requested for "less extreme depictions of mental illness". The Ministry also had problems with the way the play represented God/religion and National Service [Ministry of Defence].

Reviewing Performance and Forum Theatre in Local Performance Space
Sinclair Timothy Ang

The authorities are wary that both Forum Theatre and Performance Art might be used politically to threaten social stability. As such, practitioners of these art forms have a hard time getting a public entertainment license. Even if a license is granted, any non-scripted performance—and Performance Art that does not come with a script—will not be funded by the National Arts Council (NAC). In addition, the artists are required to deposit a sizeable security deposit.

The Arts & Society: How Far Should Art Go?

In May 2000, TNS hit the headlines again for having a naked man in an R(A) performance. In response, NAC's executive director, Mr Choo Thiam Siew, was quoted in the press as saying that he "did not find the performance objectionable". Yet the contention in the media has less to do with the naked body than the positioning of an R(A) show in an HDB precinct. It begs the question of whether violation of decency has any geographical relation.

Artistic Director's Message
Alvin Tan

Singapore needs her artistes. Those who have chosen to stay on in Singapore and struggled with the Arts development ought to be thanked and recognised for their foresight and sacrifice. It is these few who stayed on who should be awarded for their efforts. They have inspired the mushroom of new and significant theatre companies in recent years.

Artistes need to be in touch with a base, with a home. Artistes and Country—a curious relationship which challenge and enrich, always at some tension, yet needing each other, needing to belong to yet some plot of land.

Zoom in on the Critic's Chair: Seven Years in Waiting (An Interview with Hannah Pandian by Haresh Sharma)

Haresh: I remember you asking me once why I don't leave. Why not Alvin and I just leave Singapore and practise somewhere else. I don't remember the answer. Do you ?

Hannah: Years ago, you said you made a difference, and I understood, appreciated and envied that. Very recently, you told me how much things have changed, how much the internet has opened up communication, how much more information Singaporeans expect than they did before. All good things. Good things in a country I love so dearly that its smells haunt me when I'm sleeping!

History of TNS
Lisa Marie Tan

It did all begin in 1986; The Necessary Stage, that is. However, it is then known as the "!" and the group was propelled into public limelight with its performance of "God" at the NUSSU Arts Festival where it won the Most Outstanding Production award. Those were the days when members of the group were still students in the university. It has come a long way since and today, here at ONE-TWO-SIX, Cairnhill Arts Centre, there are now 4 full-time staff handling the different portfolios to keep the group running smoothly since it turned professional this year.

History, Whose Story?
Haresh Sharma

More importantly, I wanted to merge fact and fiction, myth and reality, so that the audience could have a discussion afterwards about the intricacies and different facets of Singapore's history. Ultimately, the play tries to stay true to its title by pointing to the fact that there are many sides to history and many stories to be told.