{"id":27475,"date":"2016-05-01T18:31:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T10:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=27475"},"modified":"2021-04-30T16:09:04","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T08:09:04","slug":"adventures-in-geylang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/adventures-in-geylang\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Geylang"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a stormy evening in the heart of Geylang, we take shelter in a bustling\u00a0kopitiam<\/em>\u00a0with Rodney Oliveiro. The relentless rain is keeping Rodney from completing his task for the night \u2013 shooting more video footage of the neighbourhood\u2019s sights and sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This unexpected break in the schedule gives us time to discuss how Geylang has inspired Rodney creatively for close to two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a certain kind of vitality to Geylang,\u201d Rodney muses. \u201cA different vibe or energy, which could be due to the large number of migrant residents who have settled here. This has endured through the years, even though the area has become more gentrified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodney\u2019s first intimate experience with Geylang came in 1997, when he performed in Geylang People in the Net<\/em>, a play by the late, great Kuo Pao Kun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPao Kun felt that there was a need to document the area through all its changes and transitions,\u201d Rodney recalls. \u201cWe devised the play over three months, with a big, diverse cast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get better acquainted with the area, the cast immersed themselves in Geylang. In groups of four, they spent an entire night \u2013 from 10pm to 6am the next morning \u2013 wandering through the neon-lit lorongs<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire experience left quite an impression on Rodney. It\u2019s why Geylang People In The Net<\/em> came to mind when, as young & W!LD\u2019s co-director, he was looking for a play for W!LD RICE\u2019s youth development division to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodney began working on the script with the third cohort of young & W!LD. But, as they amassed more and more material through workshops, devising sessions and their own field trip to Geylang, he decided to let it all \u201cgrow into its own play\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe characters and ideas we came up with were so vibrant and inspiring,\u201d he explains. \u201cI thought it was a shame to discard them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final piece, simply titled Geylang<\/em>, weaves together four stories inspired by incidents from Geylang\u2019s past and present. These include the racial riots that took place in the 1960s, which sparked a subplot exploring the tensions between the Chinese and Malays who call the area home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play is also populated by gangsters, single mothers and civil servants, whose trials and tribulations will take audiences on a thrill ride of nostalgia, crime and urban renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s little doubt that Geylang<\/em> holds a special place in Rodney\u2019s heart. \u201cThis is a first for me,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a drama educator, a lot of my work has been for schools. I\u2019ve never written or directed a play that has been performed for the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lights, camera, action! Rodney captures people and places in Geylang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s currently working on refining the play to fill the larger space it will occupy as part of the Singapore Theatre Festival. Geylang<\/em> was a sold-out hit when it debuted as a young & W!LD showcase in May last year, but it played in a tiny venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this incarnation of the play, Rodney is planning to expand its scope through multimedia. \u201cI\u2019m trying to bring some of the space of Geylang into the theatre,\u201d he explains. \u201cI want to capture new angles and new ways of seeing Geylang, particularly the parts you don\u2019t normally see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Rodney has spent several evenings prowling through Geylang with his video camera. As he threads his way up and down the lorongs<\/em>, he shoots footage of people and places, which he will splice together in collaboration with multimedia director Andre Chong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this point in our conversation, the rain has lightened to a drizzle. We leave the bright, hectic coffee-shop and, within moments, we are in a dark, quiet back alley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we walk, Rodney stops every so often, shooting footage of anything that catches his eye. He captures a meditation session, as well as a Christian mission located just a stone\u2019s throw away from a hotel. His camera peeks between the shutters of a shop filled with Buddha statues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does anything about his many field trips to Geylang still surprise him? \u201cThere\u2019s always an element of mystery,\u201d he affirms. \u201cYou can walk down a lorong<\/em> and stumble upon a staircase that disappears upwards into darkness. Suddenly, you\u2019re transported back to an old-school, film noir<\/em> version of Singapore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strolling through the lorongs<\/em>, it\u2019s hard to shake the feeling that there\u2019s something oddly romantic about Geylang. More than anywhere else in Singapore, it feels like a place where rules and inhibitions somehow hold less sway than they ordinarily would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFood, durians, sex, nightclubs,\u201d Rodney observes with a smile, as we part for the night. \u201cYou can indulge all your appetites here \u2013 it\u2019s a place where you can go wild!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geylang,<\/em> written and directed by Rodney Oliveiro, plays at the Singapore Theatre Festival from 30 June to 3 July 2016. Visit www.singaporetheatrefestival.com<\/a> for more information!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s more to Geylang than beef hor fun and Hotel 81! Rodney Oliveiro takes us on a personal tour through Singapore\u2019s most colourful district.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":27476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[368,223,34],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}