The Necessary Stage Archives

Opposition: Cycles of Love, Forces of Change

Faezah Zulkifli dissects Opposition – a multilayered narrative of the relationships people have with one another, with themselves and the spaces they inhabit. This performance is the last of a trilogy of collaborations between The Necessary Stage and Drama Box. Light versus darkness, regularity versus irregularity, stability versus fluidity—from deconstructing binary oppositions to reconciling differences, […]

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Crispian Chan / Tuckys Photography

Podcast 99: The Mother and ________ Can Change

In this episode of the ArtsEquator theatre podcast, Naeem Kapadia, Matthew Lyon and Nabilah Said discuss two productions: The Mother by Pangdemonium, and ________ Can Change by The Necessary Stage. Stream Podcast 99: ArtsEquator · Podcast 99: The Mother and ________ Can Change Also available on Spotify. Podcast Transcript Nabilah Said (NS): Hello and

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The Year of No Return (1)_Courtesy of Tuckys

Tuckys Photography

Podcast 90: Critics Live: The Year of No Return by The Necessary Stage at SIFA 2021

Singapore critics Clarissa Oon, Lee Shu Yu, Nabilah Said and Naeem Kapadia discuss The Year of No Return by The Necessary Stage, presented at Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA). The performance took place from 21-22 May 2021 at Victoria Theatre, and from 5-20 June via video on demand. Critics Live! is a critics-led

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Tuckys Photography

Model Citizens: Pursuit of happiness, prosperity and progress

Note: This review contains some spoilers. Why do we do the things we do? In the beginning, we are dreamers. We remain true to ourselves and our purpose, until some forces along the journey manoeuvre us, changing our trajectory. Our society and its present system pushes us to fit into certain templates. We react in

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Gabriel Chia

Podcast 64: The Orange Production 2019

Duration: 37 min In this latest podcast, ArtsEquator editor Nabilah Said and theatre reviewer Naeem Kapadia discuss the productions We Were So Hopeful Then (written by Ellison Tan and directed by Alvin Tan) and Acting Mad (with texts by Haresh Sharma, Harris Albar and Maryam Noorhimli and directed by Haresh Sharma), presented as part of

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Gabriel Chia

Crashing realities: “Acting Mad” by The Necessary Stage

By Nabilah Said (747 words, 5-minute read) Content warning: References to self-harm and sexual assault Someone cried. Someone squeezed my hand. Someone felt seen. Someone drank tea. — The Necessary Stage’s latest offering, Acting Mad, pulls no punches. It treats mental health in an almost matter of fact way, like a doctor might gently,

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Tuckys Photography

Reframing Colonialism: “Civilised” by The Necessary Stage

By Naeem Kapadia (954 words, 4-minute read) There has been a slew of works responding to the bicentennial of Singapore’s founding by Sir Stamford Raffles, an event that the authorities have chosen to spend all year celebrating through a series of activities such as guided tours, exhibitions and immersive performances. Ayer Hitam: A Black History

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Tuckys Photography

Pain and Cauterisation in “Off Centre”

By Casidhe Ng (1, 543 words, eight-minute read) When the play ends (although it never really ends), Saloma sits on stage, alone, even after the house lights have been turned back on, with a look of uncertainty and shock plastered across her face. She feels – no, she is entirely real, and even more so

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Tuckys Photography

To V and S in “Off Centre”

By Teo Xiao Ting (1,103 words, five-minute read) Dear Saloma and Vinod, I first met the two of you seven years ago, when I was 16. I dissected your words, and tried to live alongside you in Off Centre. I fear I have outlived you. Yet after meeting the both of you again, I know

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Tuckys Photography

“Underclass” twists the knife in your middle-class guilt

Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to watch Underclass, please note that this review discusses certain plot points. By Corrie Tan (2,200 words, 11-minute read) You know that auntie. You’ve waved her off at the hawker centre, or maybe you’ve apologised, under your breath, because “I already have tissue”. You’ve plotted paths of avoidance around her

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Crispian Chan

Podcast 38: “Underclass《贱民》” Interview with Alvin Tan, Kok Heng Leun, and Teo You Yenn

Duration: 43 min The latest collaborative production between Singapore theatre companies Drama Box and The Necessary Stage is Underclass 《贱民》, which explores poverty, inequality and human dignity in Singapore. It runs from 16 May to 3 June 2018. In this podcast interview, Corrie Tan convenes Alvin Tan, artistic director of The Necessary Stage, Kok Heng Leun,

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Weekly Picks: Indonesia (19 – 25 March 2018)

Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Bali, Solo, Yogyakarta and Jakarta from 19 – 25 March 2018 On Thursday, in Central Java, there are 2 music performances to watch for your Thursday night art entertainment. In Solo, the Parkiran Jazz series presents “Wanita Berkarya”, a jazz night dedicated to women. The night will feature

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Ken Takiguchi: A Dramaturg’s Sanctuary

The Necessary Stage, in collaboration with HANCHU-YUEI, one of Tokyo’s most innovative theatre companies, brings us a work that explores the digital remains of life after death in another thought provoking work, “Sanctuary” opening 1 November 2017. Acclaimed playwright Leow Puay Tin interviews the production’s dramaturg, Ken Takiguchi about being the man in the middle. Ken

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The Orange Production: A Double Bill by The Necessary Stage

By Akanksha Raja (800 words, 7-minute read) The Orange Production is The Necessary Stage’s platform for experimental collaborations, producing new, pocket-sized works. This inaugural showcase is a double-bill featuring Drip, by journalist and emerging playwright Nabilah Said, and Whale Fall by Faith Ng. While the two works are vastly different in structure and themes, they

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Art That Moves: Embracing the Off Centre

Art that Moves is an occasional series where we ask artists and other creative workers to reflect on artworks, performances or events that were personally important to them. This article is also one of three pieces on ArtsEquator this week focusing on the people, plays and processes of The Necessary Stage, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Aside

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The Benefits of Multitasking, and then Hoarding, in the Case of Alvin Tan

This article is one of three pieces on ArtsEquator this week focusing on the people, plays and processes of The Necessary Stage, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Aside from Felipe Cervera’s profile of Alvin Tan, we also feature Akanksha Raja’s personal reflection on Off Centre, and an interview with Edlyn Ng and Shawn Chua on the upcoming online TNS Archive. By Felipe Cervera (1980

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The Necessary Stage’s Archive Fever

This article is one of three pieces on ArtsEquator this week focusing on the people, plays and processes of The Necessary Stage, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Aside from Archive Fever, we also feature Felipe Cervera’s profile of Alvin Tan, and Akanksha Raja’s personal reflection on Off Centre. Shawn Chua and Edlyn Ng have been nose

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“Being Haresh Sharma”: Parading a Lifetime of Achievements

By Eugene Koh (970 words, 10-minute read) The stage is bare, somewhat bare, with the lighting set-up visible from the wings and a simple structure fixed upstage that prominently features a wide screen for multimedia projection. At one definitive moment in the play, the multimedia projection zooms in to focus on a young Haresh Sharma

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Class Conflict: “Those Who Can’t, Teach” by The Necessary Stage

By Marcus Yee (904 words, 9-minute read) The Necessary Stage’s most recent production, Those Who Can’t, Teach makes a strange journey to its eventual arrival as a “play that salutes teachers”. For one, Haresh Sharma’s script distances itself from the conventional narratives of a teacher’s struggle over a difficult student, with the student’s future success

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Crisis of Masculinity: Best Of (His Story)

By Matthew Lyon (480 words, 6-minute read) The Necessary Stage’s Best Of (His Story) is a response to the company’s 2013 monologue, Best Of that detailed a day in the life of a young Malay-Muslim woman. The project of the original piece was to endow a racial stereotype with such verisimilitude that when she fails her

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Necessary Nuance: Best Of (His Story)

By Kathy Rowland (1010 words, 10-minute read) Best of (His Story) is a monologue set on a crowded stage. A young man, alone in an apartment decorated by his wife, reflects on his marriage on the day his divorce is to be finalised in the syariah court. He is kept company by the familial expectations,

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