9 – 11 November 2023
Esplanade Theatre Studio
Fall
by James Saunders
The Music Lovers
by Georges Feydeau, adapted by Reggie Oliver
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Directed by Aarne Neeme
Performed by ITI's 2023 Graduating Cohort
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Presented by Intercultural Theatre Institute
In collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Advisory (Some mature content and coarse language. Parental guidance is advised.)
SYNOPSIS
Fall
Helen, Kate, and Ann, each with a different outlook on life, meet at their mother's home in anticipation of their father's passing, gradually unveiling the intricacies that shape their individual journeys. Step into the world of the three siblings as they navigate life's complexities amidst a backdrop of family, love, and self-discovery.
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The Music Lovers
Mistaken identities and witty banter abound in this fast-paced play, where Lucile's anticipation for her music teacher turns into a comical whirlwind when Edouard, convinced he's meeting his mistress, steps in. Hilarious misunderstandings and clever twists ensue.
These amateur productions of “Fall” and “The Music Lovers” are presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
The challenge of choosing a graduation play is finding one that allows all the graduating actors an opportunity of displaying their skills. This was particularly difficult with the present composition of four women and one man. So the answer was in finding several plays that together provided a balance of parts. An added advantage of this, was then allowing the actors to show off their ability in a number of roles and styles.
So we chose a weighty modern tragedy Fall followed by a brisk period farce The Music Lovers, thus celebrating the full breadth of the theatrical experience for both actors and their audiences. The Classic Greeks would end their tragedies with the uplift of a comedy and satyr play; the Elizabethans end theirs with a jig.
The theme of Fall is dealing with loss. A family crisis involving a mother and her three daughters facing the impending death of the father. Leading to a consideration of past events and future prospects, examining the meaning of life, both communal and personal. The catharsis of tragedy evoking awe and compassion for human suffering.
While The Music Lovers uses the elements of farce — mistaken identities and the complications arising from them, slapstick and comic obscenity, to reveal the vagaries of life, and celebrate its continuance through an amicable resolution.
In a tragedy, the audience comes to learn about the characters; whereas in a farce, they know more than the characters do!
It has been a great privilege and pleasure to work with this group of actors and crew. I would also like to express my special thanks to Dorothy Png for Design, Lim Chin Huat for Movement and Choreography, and Simon Stollery for Voice and Text.
— Aarne Neeme, Director
CAST
Fall
Abinaya Jothi
as ANN
Cheng Kam Yiu (Yolanda)
as MARY
Choy Chee Yew
as FOX
Mika Oskarson Kindstrand
as HELEN
Swathilakshmi Perumal
as KATE
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The play is set in a provincial suburban English garden. On an afternoon in late summer, in the 1980s.
The Music Lovers
Abinaya Jothi
as BAPTISTE
Cheng Kam Yiu (Yolanda)
as LUCILE
Choy Chee Yew
as EDOUARD
Mika Oskarson Kindstrand
as MADAME
Swathilakshmi Perumal
as GABRIELLE
- ◆ -
The play is set in an elegant drawing-room in a Paris apartment. On a morning in the late 1890s.
CREDITS
DIRECTOR
Aarne Neeme
PLAYWRIGHT
FALL
James Saunders
PLAYWRIGHT
THE MUSIC LOVERS
Georges Feydeau
(Adapted by Reggie Oliver)
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Dorothy Png
SOUND DESIGNER
Jevon Chandra
WIG DESIGNER
Ashley Lim
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Tawfiq Ismail, Max Yam
PUBLICITY PHOTOGRAPHER
Tawfiq Ismail
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Clarisse Ng
STAGE MANAGER
Vivi Agustina
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Cheryl Lee
FRONT OF HOUSE MANAGER
Ruzaimah Abuamin
ITI students work as a professional company in their third year, and undertake ticketed public performances.
These Final Year Productions are an integral part of the ITI curriculum.
GRADUANDS
Abinaya Jothi
(INDIA)
Abinaya Jothi is a theatre practitioner and dancer from Tamil Nadu, India. Her passion for the performing arts was ignited in 2013, during her time at PSG College of Arts and Science.
In her work with various theatre groups in Tamil Nadu, one of Abinaya’s performance highlights was taking part in the play Chandala (the Impure), a Tamil adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, in which she played multiple characters (2018). This performance travelled across India and to Europe for the 20th Bharath Rang Mahotsav, New Delhi (2019), Saarang Theatre Festival, Pune (2019), META Theatre Fest, New Delhi (2019) and Francophonie Festival in Limoges, France (2018). Recently, she wrote and performed a solo piece in Tamil titled Who is to be Sacrificed? as a part of Solo/Orayaal, a production by Singapore Indian Theatre & Film Explorers (SITFE) that was staged at Esplanade Theatre Studio.
Her hope is to demonstrate theatre's ability to positively impact our world. She also hopes to encourage more women and children to explore the world of theatre, particularly those without access to formal education.
Abinaya is a recipient of a scholarship sponsored by a private philanthropist and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund*.
Cheng Kam Yiu (Yolanda)
(HONG KONG)
Cheng Kam Yiu (Yolanda) is a bilingual theatre practitioner from Hong Kong. She believes that theatre is a vessel revealing the truth of life, and has dedicated her life to it.
Yolanda previously trained at the Tang Shu-Wing Theatre Studio in Hong Kong and had interned at the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. She was actively involved in theatre and music performances at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She conducted the FUN! theatre workshop, collaborating with ITI student Lam Man Yik and alumnus Sandeep Yadav at the Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, India. In Singapore, she has worked in Nanyang Collective’s Life (2023) and T:>Works’ The Swimming Pool Library Exhibition (2022).
After graduation, Yolanda will continue her research and practice in immersing Asian traditional forms into contemporary theatre. She also intends to establish an ensemble creating contemporary work with social impact.
Yolanda is a recipient of the Tan Chay Bing Education Fund Scholarship and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund*.
Choy Chee Yew
(SINGAPORE)
Choy Chee Yew is a Singaporean theatre performer, playwright and arts manager. As a performer, he has been involved with youth theatre organisations such as Buds Youth Theatre and The Second Breakfast Company in Singapore. He also has extensive working experience in fundraising and marketing communications with The Theatre Practice, Singapore's longest-standing professional bilingual theatre institution.
He aspires to continue creating original Singaporean works that speak for the voiceless and question cultural norms in society. He also intends to deepen his training, particularly in the fields of Biomechanics (Meyerhold), Suzuki Method of Acting, Viewpoints and Lecoq.
Chee Yew is a recipient of the Tan Chay Bing Education Fund Scholarship.
Mika Oskarson Kindstrand
(SWEDEN)
Mika Oskarson Kindstrand is an actor and assistant director from Sweden. Exposed to both Asian and Western theatre training from an early age, via the World Theatre Project (Sweden, India, Mozambique, China), Mika started performing at the age of 5. Since then she has performed in numerous roles in various theatrical productions at regional and national institutions in Sweden, such as Folkteatern Gävleborg, Hälsinglands Träteater, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, Stockholm Stadsteater and Orionteatern. She has also worked as an assistant director in major productions for several prominent Swedish directors, such as Stina Oscarson, Natalie Ringler, Lars Rudolfsson and Peter Oskarson.
Mika has trained in Noh Theatre with the Kita School since 2017 and is a company member of the international theatre ensemble Theatre Nohgaku. In recent years she has performed with various groups around the world, such as Theatre Nohgaku, Theatre of Yugen (USA) and Dairakudakan (Japan).
Swathilakshmi Perumal
(INDIA)
Swathilakshmi Perumal is an actor and theatre-maker from Tamil Nadu, India. Swathi holds a Master of Arts in English Literature. During her studies, she developed an interest in theatre and went on to pursue a Diploma in Acting (Folk and Traditional Forms) from the National School of Drama, Bangalore, India. Swathi has also trained in Bharatanatyam and several other South Indian forms such as Yakshagana, Kalaripayattu, Dollu, Parai, Mudiyettu and more. Her interest in bridging traditional forms and contemporary theatre led her to ITI.
Her notable works include Mallegalalli Madumagalu (a nine-hour play, 2020); Uuru Bhanga (Yakshagana dance-drama, 2019); Kariya Devara Huduki (2019); Beral Ge Koral (2019); The Duchess of Malfi (2018) and Hamlet (2017). In Singapore, she was a stage manager and lighting designer for Romei (2022), a collaborative work with six ITI alumni at 42 Waterloo Street.
After graduation, she intends to write, act and direct works that are interdisciplinary, multilingual and intercultural. She hopes to create art that gives voice to the voiceless.
Swathi is a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund*.
* * *
* The Möbius Fund is a revolving loan fund for actor-students.
* * *
ITI Graduands' Headshots by Bernie Ng
CREATIVE TEAM
Aarne Neeme
DIRECTOR
Involved in theatre since the 1960s, Aarne Neeme is a freelance director who has frequently been engaged for theatre as well as television work. He has also taught at various tertiary institutions over the past forty years and is a faculty member of ITI.
He was previously Artistic Director of several Australian theatre companies, Head of Department of Theatre at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore.
In 2013, he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his significant service to the performing arts as a director and educator in theatre and television.
Neeme’s recent works include The Gospel According to Paul, which had a major success touring Australia; a touring production of a stage adaptation of Mother and Son; and Mr Bennet's Bride which was staged in Canberra in September 2023.
His association with ITI goes back to the early days of TTRP. He has had the pleasure and privilege of working with most of their graduates.
Dorothy Png
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
A lighting designer by profession since 1994, Dorothy has worked with most of Singapore’s theatre and dance companies. She also collaborates with independent artists for their own performances out of a passion for creative experimentation. Her range of work spans across theatre, contemporary dance, ballet, opera, musical, site-specific works, outdoor productions and music concerts.
Trained at the University of Iowa, Dorothy’s secondary profession is scenic design. She has increasingly done more set design in recent years. Her most recent set and lighting design is for ART:DIS 30th year celebratory production Chachambo : Taking Flight, held at the Victoria Theatre (August 2023), where she faced the challenge of designing specifically for the cast and audience with various disabilities in mind.
Jevon Chandra
SOUND DESIGNER
Jevon Chandra (b. 1991, he/they) works across contemporary art, performing arts, and public service. He is drawn to operations that exhibit transdisciplinarity, site sensitivity, and decency, and has fulfilled roles such as lead artist, sound designer, multimedia designer, composer, and facilitator. He is currently the inaugural National Gallery Singapore (NGS) Calm Room artist-in-residence, a co-lead of art collective Brack, and a futurist in the Centre for Strategic Futures.
As lead/co-lead artist, his projects have been presented at the National Gallery Singapore’s Gallery Children Biennale 2023, the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (2022), the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) (2021), and Fujinoyama Biennale (Japan, 2020). As a collaborator in the performing and media arts, select credits include multimedia and sound design for Between 5 Cows and the Deep Blue Sea... (2022) for Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam Festival, and live multimedia design for Songsmith (2023) with singer-songwriter Inch Chua.
Ashley Lim
WIG DESIGNER
Ashley started his hairstyling career in 1986. In 1999, he set up Ashley Salon to further pursue his dedication towards the art of hairdressing, especially for the theatre. He has worked on over 300 productions locally and abroad, and recently took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre, presented by Mediacorp.
ABOUT ITI
Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), based in Singapore, is a three-year, practice-based, professional actor training programme founded on a rigorous, intercultural learning methodology with a view to producing original, contemporary theatre.
The school began as the Theatre Training & Research Programme (TTRP), founded in 2000 by renowned dramatist Kuo Pao Kun (1939–2002) and current Director T. Sasitharan — both Cultural Medallion recipients. It is shaped by Kuo Pao Kun’s vision of intercultural learning that draws from a matrix of traditional theatre systems and modern theatre-making.
ITI’s distinguished alumni include Yeo Yann Yann, winner of two Golden Horse Awards for her performances in Wet Season and Ilo Ilo and International Emmy Award nominee for her role in Invisible Stories; Peter Sau, Head of Performing Arts and Artistic Development of ART:DIS; Felimon Blanco, recipient of the 2013 Most Outstanding Zambosurian Award (Philippines); and Sankar Venkateswaran, recipient of the 2019 Shankar Nag Theatre Award, presented to theatre all-rounders under the age of 40 who embody the spirit of service to theatre in India.
SUPPORT ITI
ITI is an independent theatre school founded on the belief that theatre has little meaning if it is not connected to life and society. Through the years, ITI has developed critically and socially engaged artists who are capable of working across cultural, linguistic, social and national boundaries, and who have contributed meaningfully to their cultures and communities.
ITI is a registered charity and an approved Institution of Public Character (IPC), and more than 60% of its income has to come from fundraising. Donations to ITI are eligible for 250% tax exemption and dollar-to-dollar matching by the government’s Cultural Matching Fund.
Your donations will make a critical difference and support ITI in its seminal work.
“I was trained to be not only a good actor but also a better person. So to those who want to make a difference, please consider supporting a student in ITI and we will make this world a better place using the arts”
~ Denise Mordeno Aguilar ‘14
Regina Foo ('17, Singapore) is a Singaporean artist-educator and associate artist at Access Path, an organisation that produces theatrical and cultural experiences that centre the narratives and talents of the marginalised. Her practice focuses on young children and adults with disabilities. She is also currently exploring projected play through puppetry. Regina leads the Participatory Drama programme under Access Path’s education and outreach platform, creating and conducting weekly workshops with the disabled community.
Lakshmana KP ('18, India) is a theatre and performance-maker whose work centres around events, people, and stories from the Dalit community, who are marginalised and stigmatised on the basis of caste in Karnataka, India. In March 2023, his play Daklakatha Devikavya, an original script written and performed in the Kannada language, was nominated for several categories including Best Original Script, Best Director and Best Production in the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) in New Delhi, India. He is a recipient of the Shankar Nag Theatre Award 2023.
Aaron Kaiser Garcia ('21, Philippines) is a performance-maker from the Philippines with a background in folk, contemporary dance, and theatre. His work explores the potentiality of the body to process and reveal the layered landscapes of the Filipino socio-political psyche, or actively counter political revisionism via choreography. Aaron is a member of the Executive Council of the National Committee on Dramatic Arts representing Eastern Visayas, and a contributing member of InITIate PH - a collective of ITI alumni offering theatre training, access to resources and knowledge to underserved communities in Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro and other areas.
CHAIRMAN
Mr Arun Mahizhnan
Special Research Adviser, Institute of Policy Studies
MEMBERS
Mr Chew Kheng Chuan
Independent consultant in philanthropy
Ms Winifred Loh
Director, LeadForte Consulting
Dr Nazry Bahrawi
Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian Literature and Culture, University of Washington
Mr Andrew Nai
Director at Aura Private Equity, Aura Group
Ms Jean Tay
Playwright
Dr Frances Barbe
Lecturer and Associate Dean of Discipline: Performance, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Prof Tadashi Uchino
Vice President and Professor, Department of Japanese Studies, Faculty of Intercultural Studies, Gakushuin Women’s College
Prof Richard Gough
Professor of Music and Performance, Faculty of Business and Creative Industries, University of South Wales
Artistic Director, Centre for Performance Research, Aberystwyth, Wales
Dr Nazry Bahrawi
Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian Literature and Culture, University of Washington
Mr Aarne Neeme, AM (Order of Australia)
Director and educator
Assoc Prof Paul Rae
Head of School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne
Assoc Prof Noushad Mohamed Kunju
Faculty, Department of Theatre Arts, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad
Mr Peter Sau
Head of Artistic Development, Performing Arts, ARTDIS Singapore
Mr Nelson Chia
Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Nine Years Theatre, Singapore
Dr Jane Gilmer
Independent theatre practitioner
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ITI ANGELS INITIATIVE
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ITI Angels Initiative has also received contributions from Nicholas Goh and Wang Gungwu
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