* A Posting on Arts Community E-group on 21 April 2007 *

Dear colleagues in the arts,

For the past two and a half months, I have been rehearsing with three
talented dancers on a dance theatre project - Bophana - to be
presented at the Play Den in The Arts House@Old Parliament from 3 - 6
May 2007.

Bophana is a story about a woman's torturous journey towards death in
the infamous Tuol Sleng Prison School in Phnom Penh during the Pol Pot
regime.

Later this afternoon (21 April 2007, 1600 hrs - 1800 hrs), co-director
Sonny Lim and our cast members will gather at the Library@Esplanade to
give a talk on dance theatre in Singapore and Indian classical dances.
We will also put up a small demonstration of some new
vocabularies of Indian dance we have discovered/created.

Here's a simple line-up of what we would be sharing with you:

1. Introduction to different types of Indian classical dances and the
attempts performers make to try “break” them.

Is Indian classical dance the only dance form that can be used in the
telling of Ramayana, an Indian epic? Can it be told through
contemporary dance/movement? Performers from the production will share
their experiences in trying to “break” Indian classical dance in the
rehearsal room to try discovering new dance vocabularies.

2. The relationship between text and dance/movement.

Text and movement serve as narrative threads in a story. Text belongs
to the world of drama, while movement in dance. Can both of them blend
into a single production, and not override each other when the
performance is carried out?

3. The concept of dance theatre, especially Indian dance theatre.

Is Indian dance a form of dance theatre? It has movement, music, eye
movements and costumes. It seems to appeal to all 5 senses.

4. The transference of emotions and representations through
movement/dance.

What will happen when Indian dance is were distilled into its most
minimal state? Will the dance movements continue to convey the
essential emotions to the audience? Most importantly, will important
stage representations be lost?

For more information on Bophana, please visit
http://www.apsara-asia.com/maya/bophana.html

In addition, my small theatre production with Verena Tay is on the run
this evening at The Substation Theatre. It is entitled Between Woman
and Man: The Erasure of Verena Tay.

Do drop by for that too.

More information could be obtained from http://www.littleredshop.org.

Best,

richard

29 Mar 07, Thu, 8pm
DEVIATION : DICHTERLIEBE
by Wilson Goh | Esplanade Theatre Studio

Deviation is a departure from what is prescribed or expected. This project is part of the artist's on-going dialogue with ideas of performance. In particular, he hopes to explore new means of approaching the performance of classical music.

Robert Schumann's song cycle, Dichterliebe (Love of a Poet) is used as the ideas and issues suggested in Heinrich Heine's poetry (on which the song cycle is set). Through such devices as lighting design, contemporary poetry and audio-visual presentation, the elements of performance are altered or enhanced to produce new relationships within the cycle itself.

Please come:

Admission is Free
(Tickets available at the door one hour before the performance on a first-come-first-served basis) For details, visit www.esplanade.com
 

A good monologue, well-performed, will move audiences from their seats, bring tears to their eyes, inspire them. The monologue is a wonderful challenge for any actor. Little Red Shop - a theatre society with a focus on monologues and small productions - aims to revive monologues and small productions in the local theatre scene.

In 2007, we have a modest line-up of events, ranging from a resident artist presentation to small monologue presentations throughout the year. Little Red Shop is also collaborating with The Substation & Books Actually on a monologue presentation this year. We are now seeking dynamic practitioner-actors with the passion to create their own theatre.

Auditions will be held for the following monologue development programmes:

(a) Young Monologue Programme (For potential practitioner-actors below 25 years of age) – a programme under Little Red Shop

(b) Project Chiaroscuro 2007 (For potential practitioner-actors above 25 years of age) – a programme under The Substation

Details of the programmes are at: http://www.littleredshop.org .

Applicants for (a) will have to prepare a 2 – 3 minute monologue of their choice. They can be in any language. Please kindly email your name, age and contact details (email addresses and mobile phone numbers)  by 10th Feb 2007.

Applicants for (b) – Please visit

http://www.littleredshop.org/index.php?option=com_dfcontact&Itemid=44 ,
and submit a 300 word monologue/text.

Please indicate your interest by 10 Feb 2007. Auditions will be scheduled from
13 Feb 2007 onwards.

Should you need additional information, please email me .