Artistic Director's Message
Alvin Tan

What has been refreshing in this project is encountering people's energies and concerns which come to us from outside of our immediate reality. As we develop as a theatre company, it has become increasingly important for us to interact with such people, who in this instance, are a group older by a generation or two. As we hear their stories, we begin to see the texts of our present lives in the light of their texts, and vice versa. This has enabled us to enlarge our perceptions, challenging the stability of our own worldviews.

Company's Message

Begun in December 1994, with the company's appointment as the Resident Theatre Company of Tampines Regional Library, this branch aims to bring theatre to a wider audience by presenting theatre at community venues.

There Is A Tree

It's about you
It's about me
It's about all of us in Tampines

Project Director of Tampines Cultural Day
Kok Heng Leun

Tampines Cultural Day is a major cultural event, with 245 residents actively participating as performers and/or backstage, and 16 grassroots organisations lending invaluable support to the organisers. It is indeed a landmark event for Tampines AND the Singapore Arts scene. The Necessary Stage is proud to be part of this significant chapter in the cultural life of Singapore.

What are some of the conceptual questions at stake in Imagined Boundaries–Encounters with New Model Communities?

Lucy Davis: Imagingings of the "authentic local community", the "particular culture", or indeed the "specific artistic discipline" do not exist in a vacuum. They are contextually constructed and come about, for example, in antagonism with what are perceived to be greater entities. Or they develop in contrast to a homogenising discipline. Or, in equivalence with other particular localities, cultures, or identities that are imagined to experience a similar situation to "our own".

Anthony Yeo's Message

Since it is difficult to deal openly with suicide, The Necessary Stage must be applauded for bringing it on stage. It is done with a difference. The players are those who have seriously contemplated or have attempted suicide at one time or another.

Their true life stories, told by themselves offer us an invaluable insight into the struggles of those who consider suicide as a way to resolve life's painful dilemmas. They also provide an inside perspective of parent-child relationship.

Sunday Afternoon With Vinod and Saloma

This is an exercise which the main cast did during one of the rehearsals. Latiff and Sakinah went, in role as Vinod and Saloma, to Orchard Road. They looked for jobs, bought gifts and were shopping together. This is an account of what happened.

Artistic Director's Message: Get Involved For Real—Act With Us!

FORUM THEATRE? YES! Where you, the audience, can get involved in the play!

We are proud to be working with Sy Ren as playwright for the first time. Over the years, Sy Ren has been of great help to us as commentator, critic, translator and friend. We are pleased to have him back on stage after a six-year absence.

Interview with Haresh and Alvin

(Haresh's questions for Alvin)
H: The play uses 'Singlish', different languages and code-switching of languages. Do you think Literature should reflect the way we speak, or the way we SHOULD speak? Why?
A: Literature should reflect both. Certain cultural nuances and perspectives are best expressed in native or indigenous language. And we should struggle with translation. For me, Literature is not just about language. It is about human beings and culture. In today's world, there is a great lack of intercultural dialogue, so even when we get physically closer as a global village, we have so little tolerance and respect for minority cultures and beliefs. If Literature has a function, it is to help human beings understand ourselves in the context of culture. We have to be less ethnocentric and more open. So the way we SHOULD speak is to open ourselves up to the rhythms of multiple languages so that we can enjoy a more holistic formation. After all, isn't that the primary function of education?