Now Playing
Adukku Veetu Annasamy 1
1:49:41
Now Playing
Making Dragon Ladies Don't Weep
24:45
Now Playing
Yusof
24:31
Time taken : >15mins
Premieres 10 Jul, 12pm
Available online until 31 Dec, 11.59pm
While many of us think of history as an epic canvas on which wars are fought and nations and empires rise and fall, it actually begins with the personal—a lived experience unfolding through time and space. This makes performance a natural medium through which to experience living histories. The immediacy of change, conflict and catharsis are played out intimately within the four walls of a theatre.
What we see in Replay – Screenings from the Esplanade Archives, is that an archival recording or docufilm of a performance adds another layer to that living history. Watching it, we reflect on a performance experienced by an audience in the past. Artists may also reflect on the making of that performance, as they do in the docufilm Making Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep. As Kok Heng Leun, the dramaturg of celebrated Singapore-born toy pianist Margaret Leng Tan’s autobiographical solo performance pithily describes their art-making process, “It’s really constantly trying to struggle with what stories need not be told so that the music can tell everything."
The docufilm on Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep, a work co-commissioned by Esplanade and performed here in 2021 and 2022, is one of three videos in this collection, all rooted in biography or a historical period. The others are an archival recording of Adukku Veetu Annasamy 1 (2015), the first work in an uproarious Tamil-language trilogy set in Singapore in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and an archival excerpt of Yusof (2015), playwright Zizi Azah’s dramatisation of the story of Singapore’s first President and her grand-uncle Yusof Ishak. Both were commissioned by Esplanade for the occasion of the nation’s 50th anniversary.
Going from SG50 to SG60, what has changed? How are individual lives a microcosm of society, yet also much larger than the events they are caught up in? His-tory, Her-story is an invitation into their worlds and the myriad ways in which they touch ours.
Texts by Clarissa Oon and Woo Yu Ning
An Esplanade Commission
By Ravindran Drama Group (Singapore)
In Tamil with English subtitles
First created by P. Krishnan, distinguished Tamil-language writer and Cultural Medallion recipient, Adukku Veetu Annasamy (literally ‘High Rise Flat Annasamy’) began life as a well-loved 52-episode radio play which aired from 1969 to 1970. Esplanade commissioned the Ravindran Drama Group to adapt the material for the stage, leading to three instalments from 2015 to 2018.
This is the full archival recording of Adukku Veetu Annasamy 1, a slice-of-life, heartwarming comedy detailing an era when families were uprooting from rustic kampungs to high-rise HDB flats. The neighbouring families of Annasamy and Arokiasamy must contend with the troublesome Panchanadham, who is visiting from Malaysia and freeloads meals off these two families.
The popular reception to the radio play was echoed over four decades later when the theatre adaptation played to full houses and much laughter at Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2015. Even as mediums of entertainment shift over time, the humour and sensitivity of the script remained undimmed; watching the characters navigate their quotidian lives unites audiences new and old to share in the power of a tight-knit community.
Director: S S Vikneswaran, Ebi Shankara
Playwright: P. Krishnan
Dramaturge: Nandabalan Hemang Yadav
Production Manager: Kay Kay Nizam
Stage Manager: Uttara Krishnakumar
Lighting Designer: Muhamad Ismail Bin Abdul Wahab
Set Designer: Noor Effendy
Managing Director, RDG: T Nakulan
Cast
V Mohan
Udaya Soundari
Md Amin
Veeraraghavan
Ravee Vellu
Sajini
Kay Kay Nizam
Featuring Margaret Leng Tan (Singapore/USA)
Asia TOPA Connected
This documentary captures the making of an award-winning solo work featuring Singapore-born, New York-based Margaret Leng Tan, a leading figure in experimental music.
In Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep, Margaret Leng Tan counts and recounts significant moments in her life, weaving together a tapestry of multimedia and sound that compels our fascination with her personal story. Recalling different life stages from young aspiring classical pianist to becoming John Cage's musical collaborator, and finally ruminating upon mortality in her 70s, Tan's narration and performance of composer Erik Griswold’s music breaks apart the linearity of time and memory, but also arrives at an acute realisation that all is interconnected.
Tan turns her obsessive act of counting (a result of her OCD) to align with the repetitive counting in music, intertwining her personal and professional life. Through a haunting soundscape performed on the toy piano and prepared piano, coupled with multimedia projections which extend like a door into another dimension, we enter her internal world which resonates powerfully.
Tan’s history as an artist bridges Asia and the West, just as Cage’s avant garde approach to music has been inspired by Asian culture. Fittingly, the production is a cross-cultural collaboration between Chamber Made (Australia) and CultureLink Singapore. It has been performed in Melbourne, Adelaide, Singapore, Taipei and London, and picked up the Work of the Year: Dramatic award at Australia's APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards in 2021.
An Esplanade Commission
Written and directed by Zizi Azah Binte Abdul Majid (Singapore)
In Malay with English subtitles
Yusof (2015) is a sweeping yet personable look at the life and times of Singapore’s first Head of State, Yusof Ishak. In a non-linear fashion, the play spans his teenage years and familial interactions, to his foray into journalism, and finally his role as the Yang di-Pertuan Negara. Throughout his life, Encik Yusof remains steadfast in his commitment to personal integrity and promoting multiracialism, making him an admirable leader in the country’s tumultuous years of early independence.
Encik Yusof understood keenly the importance of owning the means to representation for his people. This guided his founding of the Utusan Melayu, the first newspaper created by Malays for the Malay community, at a time when British colonialists controlled the government and media. While his dedication to his beliefs is shaken by internal doubt and external questioning, ultimately, his humility and inner strength prevail. His commitment to education and labour causes continues to inspire today, as the play celebrates the man supporting his community from behind and leading his country beyond.
This is an excerpt of the production commissioned for Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts 2015, written by noted playwright and director Zizi Azah, and featuring a stellar cast led by Sani Hussin as Encik Yusof and Siti Khalijah Zainal as his wife Puan Noor Aishah. Yusof will be revived by Teater Ekamatra at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre at Esplanade from 17–19 Oct 2025.
Director/Playwright: Zizi Azah bte Abdul Majid
Dramaturge: Haresh Sharma
Lighting Designer: Yo Shao Ann
Costume Designer: Fatimah Mohsin
Set Designer: Izmir Ickbal
Music Director: Alhafiz Jamat
Choreographer: Norisham Osman
Producer: Rydwan Anwar (Esplanade)
Production Stage Manager: Sazali Hussain
Assistant Stage Manager: Norisham Osman
Make-up/Wardrobe: Fatimah Mohsin Wedding Gallery, Sara Salim, Suhailah Zull Bahri, Norzaliza Noorzali
Surtitles Operator: Fatin Nabilah Azeman
Crew
Saiful Azri b Uthil
Muhd Faiq Hasif b Asri
Cast
Dalifah Shahril
Erwin Shah Ismail
Farah Ong
Najib Soiman
Sani Hussin
Siti Khalijah Zainal
Connect with luminaries and compelling stories from Singapore and the region’s performing arts history through Esplanade's first extensive release from its rich archives and those of longstanding artistic collaborators. Experience over 30 full recordings, films and excerpts of performances, across nine thematic collections. Available on Esplanade Offstage from 10 Jul 2025 to 31 Mar 2026. Find out more.
If you’ve enjoyed Replay – Screenings from the Esplanade Archives, help us do more. With as little as one dollar, you can support Esplanade’s mission to make the arts accessible to everyone through original content and gems from our archives, freely available online. As a charity and not-for-profit organisation, every contribution helps keep the arts alive and within reach for all.
Support usContributed by:
Clarissa Oon is Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Head of Digital & Content (Marketing) as well as an arts writer and former journalist.
Woo Yu Ning is an English Literature major at Nanyang Technological University. When she’s not tackling her never-ending reading list, she can be found biking through Singapore.
