But, in recent years, I\u2019ve been looking at the Festival more as a platform for emerging writers rather than established ones. Because we really have so many developmental programmes for new plays, but actually so few instances when they lead to a full production. I don\u2019t want the ecosystem to be dominated by dramatised readings and works-in-progress and publications. Playwrights learn best when their plays are staged for an audience.<\/p>\n
Tell us about the Festival as a season of new and original writing. What themes are explored in these plays, and what common thread runs through them all?<\/h4>\n
One strong theme that\u2019s emerged is that of the memoir or life story, where playwrights use biographical material in their plays. I think one of the things we want to challenge is this idea that, unless you\u2019re some important agent of history, your story isn\u2019t worth telling.<\/p>\n
At the same time, we also want to debunk the idea that utilising biography means creating indulgent \u2018confessional\u2019 theatre. A lot of it is about the frames that you use for the material. So, in Pam Oei\u2019s Faghag<\/em>, for example, there\u2019s cabaret and humour. In Neo Hai Bin\u2019s When The Cold Wind Blows<\/em>, there\u2019s memory and dreamscape. In Ruth Tang\u2019s Building A Character<\/em>, it\u2019s about poetry and testing the limits of language. And, in One Metre Square<\/em>, the Sungei Road vendors\u2019 biographies are filtered through a journalistic approach.<\/p>\n We always start two years in advance. I watch as many plays as I can \u2013 I think quite a bit of my income goes towards play-watching (then again, I don\u2019t really spend on clothes and shoes). If a particular playwright catches my attention, I\u2019ll ask to read more works from this person.<\/p>\n Another approach we take is in terms of identifying gaps in the local theatre scene. In our 2016 Festival, for example, we featured four Malay playwrights \u2013 Nessa Anwar and myself, who wrote in Malay; Johnny Jon Jon who wrote in in a mix of both; and Helmi Yusof, who wrote in English. This year, we wanted to pay attention to Mandarin-language playwriting.<\/p>\n We discovered along the way that it isn\u2019t very easy for some young playwrights to get their new works staged. That\u2019s partly because of the repertoire of some Mandarin-language theatre companies \u2013 Nine Years Theatre focuses on translated classics and Drama Box on community theatre. There was a generation of Mandarin-language playwrights like Quah Sy Ren, Lee Shyh Jih and Li Xie; but to whom are they passing the torch?<\/p>\n What we also learnt was that there is still an ongoing debate in Mandarin-language theatre about the \u2018type\u2019 of Mandarin to be used on stage. Should it be a \u2018standard\u2019 literary form, which is prescriptive, or should there be a recognition of a vernacular form? Just as there is Singlish, is there such a thing as \u2018Sing-darin\u2019? And how can we employ it in our works without being accused of \u2018degrading\u2019 the language?<\/p>\n After a play has been commissioned for the Festival, I offer some dramaturgical support as the play undergoes several drafts and rewrites. I leave this up to the playwright \u2013 whether they want some broad comments or something more granular, where I go through the play line by line. I meet the playwrights, often over coffee or a meal, and we\u2019ll talk about the play, and then I\u2019ll throw out some references that might be useful\u2026 like, I\u2019ll say, \u2018That device sounds like something from a Roland Schimmelpfennig play\u2019, or \u2018You should read Caryl Churchill\u2019s experimental Blue Kettle<\/em>\u2019, or \u2018Let\u2019s go down to Paya Lebar on a Sunday and talk to the Indonesian domestic workers there\u2019. But I always maintain that, as dramaturg, I\u2019m not there to be a script doctor, to \u2018fix\u2019 their play. I\u2019m there as a midwife \u2013 to create the optimum conditions for them to deliver their baby.<\/p>\n Press Gang<\/em> \u2013 an expos\u00e9 on media dysfunction, the scoop we\u2019ve been waiting for.<\/p>\n Supervision<\/em> \u2013 Rights, Camera, Reaction!<\/p>\n One Metre Square<\/em> \u2013 Hearing stories from those who\u2019ve never had a chance to tell their stories to the public\u2026 until now.<\/p>\n When The Cold Wind Blows<\/em> \u2013 Written before the recent tragedies in NS and SCDF, it now feels prescient.<\/p>\n G.F.E.<\/em> \u2013 A play set in a red-light district that comes across as surprisingly tender and poignant.<\/p>\n![\"WhatsApp](\"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/images_BLOG_WhatsApp_Image_2018-05-21_at_10.32.03_PM_1.jpeg\")
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How did you go about curating the plays in this Festival?<\/h4>\n
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\nWhen The Cold Wind Blows<\/em> and G.F.E.<\/em><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\nWhy Mandarin plays in particular?<\/h4>\n
What happens once a new play has been booked for the Festival? How does that play go from page to stage?<\/h4>\n
In a nutshell, what excites you about each play in this year\u2019s Festival?<\/h4>\n