It takes a village to bring a theatre production together. This episode takes you further backstage and also back in time, to when the production Kingdoms Apart was first conceived. Technical Director Kenny cycles through some of the solutions that were conceived for this three-hour play to bring to life as much of the director’s vision as possible. Producers Joyce and Michele share the process of bringing a new work from concept to script, while Stage and Production Managers Carolene and Dan Fong speak about managing an ensemble cast of diverse ages, nationalities and languages.

Kingdoms Apart is a theatre production commissioned by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay that was staged in November 2022. It was one of the first performing arts presentations to open the Singtel Waterfront Theatre, a new multi-format theatre at Esplanade. Based on the seminal text the Mahabharata and staged in the round, this multi-language play was written and directed by established Singapore director Chong Tze Chien. Kingdoms Apart included elements of multimedia and puppetry, and was performed by an ensemble cast comprising actors of several different nationalities.

Featuring:

Technical Director, The Esplanade Co Ltd: Kenny Wong
Production Manager, The Backstage Affair: Lam Dan Fong
Stage Manager, The Backstage Affair: Carolene Ruth Liew
Producer, The Esplanade Co Ltd: Joyce Yao
Producer: Michele Lim
Director/Playwright: Chong Tze Chien
Script Translator: A Yagnya
Movement Trainer: Pallavi Sharma

“When you finally bring it from idea to
stage, when it is finally performed, is a
beautiful moment in time in space, it's
precious, because it's transient...to be able to
live that moment with the audience and the
team when it finally gets on stage, that, for
me, is what is really special about making a
theatre production, because it takes a village. ”

Joyce Yao, producer at Esplanade