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Esplanade Presents
12 Jul 2024, Fri, 8pm
13 Jul 2024, Sat, 3pm & 8pm
14 Jul 2024, Sun, 3pm
(Intermission: None)
Singtel Waterfront Theatre at Esplanade
This event is over.
This event is over.
“An intriguing exploration of Singapore’s lesser-known stories and the dispossession of the indigenous Orang Seletar” – The Straits Times
Air is a verbatim play, intimately sharing the authentic voices of the Orang Seletar, an indigenous coastal community that once lived in Singapore. Through interviews and conversations, the play unfolds their stories, struggles, and resilience as they compromise with the encroaching changes to ensure the survival of not only their people, but more importantly, their identity. As the community strives to preserve its heritage, the verbatim captures the raw emotions, dilemmas, and unique perspectives of the Orang Seletar.
First staged in 2019 as part of the well-received double bill, Tanah•Air, this new iteration of Air is a further development of the threads presented in the play’s original staging. In the careful hands of acclaimed playwright Zulfadli Rashid, materials new and old are woven into a tapestry of stories, resulting in an emotionally potent play that resonates now more than ever, confronting the issues of land, dispossession and community. Air is helmed by co-directors Adib Kosnan and Kok Heng Leun, and features evocative production design and a cast comprising Dalifah Shahril, Rizman Putra, Saiful Amri and Suhaili Safari.
Check out What is Living? What has been lost? What more can we be? by Drama Box (13 Jul 2024) at the Esplanade Black Room, a companion programme to Air. Join members of surviving coastal communities of Singapore and Johor speak about their culture and history in this contemplative dialogue.
Playwright
Zulfadli Rashid
Co-directors
Adib Kosnan & Kok Heng Leun
Dramaturg
Charlene Rajendran
Producer
Jo Lim
Set Designer
Mohd Fared Jainal
Lighting Designer
Emanorwatty Saleh
Sound Designer & Live Performer
Tini Aliman
Multimedia Designer
Jevon Chandra
Costume Designer
Max Tan
Researcher
Ilya Katrinnada
Performers
Dalifah Shahril, Rizman Putra, Saiful Amri & Suhaili Safari
Accessibility
Assistive Listening
There will be a post-show dialogue after all performances as follows:
12 Jul: With members of the Orang Seletar community
13 & 14 Jul: With select members of the cast and/or creative team
Drama Box
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Founded in 1990, Drama Box is a socially engaged theatre company known for creating works that inspire dialogue, reflection and change. By shining a spotlight on marginalised narratives and making space for the communal contemplation of complex issues, the company seeks to tell stories that provoke a deeper understanding of Singapore’s culture, history and identity.
Drama Box is a charity and Institution of Public Character (IPC) registered in Singapore, supported by the National Arts Council under the Major Company Scheme for the period of April 2023 and March 2026.
Zulfadli Rashid
Zulfadli Rashid is a playwright, known for his thought-provoking and powerful works that explore the complexities of the human experience. His works tackle a wide spectrum of topics, from personal struggles to societal issues, and are always marked by their emotional intensity and unflinching honesty. Written in the Malay and English language, his body of work continues to grow and evolve.
Over the course of his career, Zulfadli has written, adapted and more recently transcreated numerous plays that have been performed in Singapore and beyond.
Zulfadli is also a dedicated educator and mentor, working with young minds to help them develop their craft and find their own creative voices.
Adib Kosnan
Adib Kosnan is a theatre practitioner who is passionate about creating platforms for communication through theatre.
As an actor, he was named Best Supporting Actor at the Life Theatre Awards 2020 for his role in Angkat by Nabilah Said and Noor Effendy Ibrahim. His directing credits include Tanah•Air 水•土:A Play In Two Parts by Drama Box (co-director with Kok Heng Leun, 2019) and Rindu Di Bulan (2022) produced by RupaCo.lab. In 2021, he wrote and acted in Keluarga Besar En. Karim directed by Claire Wong and Joel Lim, which was staged digitally by Checkpoint Theatre and the Esplanade to critical acclaim. Adib was also a co-lead artist for Both Sides Now: Mengukir Harapan (2020 – 2022), a community engagement project focusing on end-of-life issues in the Malay Muslim community, produced by Drama Box and ArtsWok Collective. As a facilitator, Adib engages in forum theatre regularly and has devised and also conceptualised interactive programmes with students ranging from pre-school and tertiary levels.
Most recently, in 2023, Adib was awarded the National Arts Council scholarship to pursue his Masters in Arts Pedagogy and Practice at the LASALLE College of the Arts.
Kok Heng Leun
Kok Heng Leun is a prominent figure in the Singapore arts scene, having built his career as a theatre director, playwright, dramaturg and educator. As artist and founder of Drama Box, he is known for engaging the community through the arts and championing civic discourse across different segments of society.
Having begun his work in the theatre more than 30 years ago, some notable directorial works include Drift, Trick or Threat, Manifesto and Underclass. His explorations with multi-disciplinary engaged arts has produced works like site-specific theatre ubin, Project Mending Sky, a series on environmental issues, Both Sides, Now, a project that seeks to normalise end-of-life conversations and It Won't Be Too Long, which touched on the dynamics of space in Singapore. Tanah•Air 水•土:A Play In Two Parts was about the dispossession of the indigenous Malays and Orang Seletar of Singapore.
For his invaluable contributions, Heng Leun has been recognised with the Young Artist Award (2000), Cultural Fellowship (2014), and Singapore’s highest arts accolade, the Cultural Medallion (2022). He also represented the arts sector as a Nominated Member of Parliament (2016 – 2018).
Charlene Rajendran
Charlene Rajendran is a theatre educator, writer and dramaturg. She is interested in questions of difference, listening, interdisciplinarity, play-based pedagogy and thought-leadership in urban multicultural contexts. Her work as dramaturg includes interdisciplinary and community arts projects such as ItSelf TerJadi (2023), Kepaten Obor (2022), In the Silence of Your Heart (2018) and Both Sides, Now (2013-2018). Publications include (Asian) Dramaturgs’ Network: Sensing, Complexity, Tracing and Doing (lead editor, 2023), Changing Places: Drama Box and the Politics of Space (lead editor, 2022), and Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit and Contemporary Malaysian Theatre (lead editor, 2018), academic articles and creative texts. She works as Associate Professor at the National Institute of Education – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Assistive Listening
Assistive listening system is available for this venue. Hearing aid users with a Telecoil-enabled programme can benefit from the system provided. Please arrive at the venue 30 min before the performance so we can assist with the setup.
Assistive Listening
12 Jul 2024, Fri
8pm
13 Jul 2024, Sat
3pm
8pm
14 Jul 2024, Sun
3pm
Standard | Students, NSFs, Seniors & PWDs |
|
Price | $48 | $40 |
Standard Ticket
Concession Ticket
Esplanade&Me Specials
Early Bird (3 – 26 May 2024, limited tickets)
Black: 20% savings
White: 15% savings
Discover: 15% savings (Min. of 2 tickets)
From 27 May 2024, 10am
Black: 15% savings
White: 10% savings
Discover: 10% savings (Min. of 2 tickets, limited tickets)
Applicable to Standard tickets only. Terms and Conditions apply.
The Studios 2024 Season Pass
(3 May 2024 – 14 Jul 2024, limited tickets)
Enjoy 20% savings when you purchase min. 1 ticket to each of the 4 applicable productions, valid for up to 4 tickets per production:
Applicable to Standard tickets only. Terms and Conditions apply.
Tote Board Arts Grant
All Upper Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges/ Centralised Institute & ITEs may use the Tote Board Arts Grant to subsidise up to 50% of the programme cost.
For more details, please contact Esplanade Box Office at 6828 8389 or email boxoffice@esplanade.com.
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