An Esplanade Commission
By Toy Factory Productions (Singapore)

In Chinese with English subtitles

All the World is One’s Stage, a Chinese-language production staged for Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2021, gathers four veteran actors in Singapore and interweaves their respective life stories. The play draws its emotional resonance from the range of its actors who vividly embody different people they encounter on their acting journeys who impacted their lives.

As experienced in this archival recording, the actors take a trip down memory lane and recollect their first ventures into the performing world, contemplating their passion and hard work, doubts and setbacks. What underlies all narratives is their unwavering devotion to the stage. Joining the four veteran actors are four young actors, staging a moving dialogue across time and space as the veteran actors reflect on their younger selves.

As the actors meander through the understated set design of a campsite, it is reminiscent of how people tell stories over the glow of a campfire. These narratives are passed down through generations – just as this group of actors bask and share in their palpable love for theatre. 

Director: Goh Boon Teck 
Co-director: Alvin Chiam, Ric Liu 
Producer: Justin Wong 
Playwright: Chi Katamaru, Goh Seok Ai, Chan Wai Kit, Quek Yee Kiat 
Lighting Designer: Manuel Garrido Freire 
Sound Designer and Sound Engineer: Sandra Tay 
Costume Designer: Anthony Tan 
Hair Designer: Ashley Lim 
Make-up Designer: Bobbie Ng (The Make Up Room) 
Make-up Artists: Amber Zheng, Esther Goh, Hiroko Willot 
Graphic Designer: Cao Yimeng 
Photographer: Lionel Lai 
Production Manager: Chan Lee Lee  
Stage Manager: Petrina Dawn Tan 
Assistant Stage Manager: Chantel Goh 
Assistant Stage Manager: Jessy Choo 
Surtitle Translator and Operator: Quek Yee Kiat 
Teleprompter Operator: Rachelle Lee 
Lighting Operator: Eliezer 
Sound Operator: Rachel Ong 
Company Manager: Jiang Daini 
Radio Frequency Operator: Gwendolen Gwee  
Assistant Marketing Manager: Shaleihin Pi’ee  
Project Coordinator: Chan Wai Kit 
Marketing Coordinator: Masturah Malik 
Film Director: Clayton Lai
Director of Photography: Joel Heng

Cast
Yong Ser Pin
Johnny Ng
Liow Shi Suen
Leanne Ong Teck Lian
Timothy Wan
Jodi Chan
Neo Hai Bin
Liew Li Ting

An Esplanade Commission & Production
Written by Felix Chia, adapted by Zulfadli Rashid & directed by Alvin Tan (Singapore)

In Baba Malay and English with English subtitles

A Peranakan play first written and staged in 1994, Mari Kita Main Wayang (Let’s Stage A Play) was chosen to be restaged in 2023 and refreshed for a contemporary audience. This metatheatrical play was the first of its kind in the context of wayang Peranakan, as a more traditional, linear plot progression has been typically favoured. This video is an excerpt of the 2023 production.

A group of Peranakans get together and decide to stage a play, where they embody characters in a fictitious royal Peranakan court. Within that play, the King, Raja Cheekopak, is obsessed with having a male heir for lineage, but his Queen, Nyonya Chinkadok, has only produced daughters. The Raja therefore schemes to get more wives, and in concession, gives up his wealth piece-by-piece to his previous wives, with ironic consequences.

As characters flit in and out of the play they are staging, and their lives outside of it unfurl, the binary between tradition and progress in Peranakan theatre-making is brought to the fore. The play-within-a-play framing also deconstructs previous conceptions of Peranakan identity and culture, for a more self-aware and ever-evolving representation.

Director: Alvin Tan 
Assistant Director: Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit 
Playwright (Original script): Felix Chia 
Playwright (Transcreation): Zulfadli Rashid 
Producer: Michele Lim 

Peranakan Consultant: G.T. Lye 
Peranakan Translation and Language Coaching: Melanie Wee, Rapheal Koh 
English Translation: Suhana Laila  

Set Design: Wong Chee Wai 
Lighting Design: Petrina Dawn Tan  
Costume Design: Max Tan 
Hair & Make Up Design: Sha Shamsi 
Music Director and Arranger: Julian Wong 
Band Leader: Riduan Zalani 
Sound Engineer: Shah Tahir 
Props Master: Loo An Ni 
Multimedia Design: M. Nurfadhli Jasni 
Choreographer: Richard Tan (Opening and Closing numbers)  
Production Manager: Lam Dan Fong (The Backstage Affair) 
Stage Manager: Carolene Ruth Liew (The Backstage Affair) 
Technical Manager: Kailash 
Wardrobe Manager: Theresa Chan 
Band Manager: Hamizah Abdul Hamid 
Surtitle Operator: Nurul Jannah Jamaludin 
Production Coordinator: Georgia Sim (The Backstage Affair) 
Assistant to Set Designer: M. Nurfadhli Jasni  
Assistant Stage Manager: Saffa Afiqah (The Backstage Affair), Gillian Ong (The Backstage Affair) 
Assistant Wardrobe Mistress: Nur Fatin Nabilah  
Wardrobe Assistants: Qina, Shahirah 
Headgear Designer: Wong Wai Toh 
Key Hair Stylist: Leong 
Hair & Make Up Assistant: Laea Hidayah 
Hair & Make Up Assistant: Eunice W. 
Crew: Charlotte Tan Yi Jing (The Backstage Affair), Wann Nurul Asyiqin (The Backstage Affair) 
Assistant to G.T. Lye: Md Muazzam (Zam) 
Key Visual and Design: Chang Sheau Ling 
Photographer (publicity): Crispian Chan
House Programme Writer: Dawn Marie Lee

Cast
Cynthia Lee
G.T. Lye
Frederick Soh
Karen Tan
Kimberly Chan
Loong Seng Onn
Munah Bagharib
Masturah Oli

Musicians
Ahmad Shahruddin bin Safari (Din Safari)
Azrin Abdullah, Alhafiz Jamat
Ismahairie Putra Ishak
Julian Wong
Riduan Zalani

Co-Produced by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
By AGAM Theatre Lab (Singapore)

In Tamil with English subtitles

Are communities doomed to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors? In this theatrical remake of George Orwell’s 1945 classic Animal Farm, Vilangkuppannai explores the age-old questions of cyclical power struggles and the paradox within the fight for equality resulting in further subjugation.

The animals at Manor Farm are getting restless under constant human domination. A pig by the name of Old Major initially rallies the animals to incite a revolution against their human masters. After Old Major’s death, a power vacuum opens up which two other pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, fight to occupy. As Napoleon emerges victorious, the farm ironically degenerates into a regime similar to its previous rule under humans. As we observe the shortcomings of each animal, the famous line from Orwell’s allegory rings clear, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

As a Tamil play co-produced by Esplanade and AGAM Theatre Lab, Vilangkuppannai reimagines a canonical literary work for the theatre. Capturing the psychological intensities of the text and magnifying it for the stage, the allegorical play is bold, thrilling and unflinchingly direct in grappling with its subject of power and politics.

Producers: Agam Theatre Lab & Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Directors: Subramanian Ganesh, Karthikeyan Somasundaram
Playwright: P. Krishnan 
Script Adaptation: Karthikeyan Somasundaram
Research, Lyrics and Songs: Nallu Dhinakharan
Assistant Director and Choreographer: Udaya Soundari
Production Manager: Charlinda Pereira
Stage Manager: Koh Yi Wei
Assistant Stage Manager: Patricia Gabriel, Pavinyaa
Set Designer: Wong Chee Wai
Lighting Designer: Alberta Wileo
Sound Designer: Ramesh Krishnan
Costumes Designer: Mumtaz Maricar
Makeup Designer: Kel Liew, Norehan Fong
Translation and Surtitlist: Murugam Durga Devi
Sound Engineer: Lavindra Rajmohan
Technical Assistant: Fiona Lim Ng Hwee
Hair and Makeup Assistant: Nurul Hafizah binte Jahari, Nurhayati binte Mohamed
Publicity and Marketing: T Sangitha
Publicity Designer: JS Sasikumar
Playbill Designer: Vinith Kumar
Photo and Video Production: Lo Land Photography, Praveen Kumar TR

Cast
Mohan V
Karthikeyan Somasundaram
Udaya Soundari
Mano Vikneshwaran
Saravanan
Shaikh Yasin
Vinith Kumar
Indu Elangovan
Ponkumaran
T Sangitha
Keerthana Kumarasen
Nallu Dhinakharan
Karls Karthikeyan
Akhilesh Dayal