SINGAI SERIES
May 2014
Aliwal Arts Centre
SINGA
The play opens with a scene showing the daily life of the peaceful and fun-loving inhabitants of Temasek, the prosperous fishing village. Temasek is a strategic port of call in the most extensive and important trading route of that time. Success invites jealousy and precisely so, Temasek becomes the target of envious neighbours, pirates and looters. The peace-loving villagers of this tiny island are distraught and are unable to defend themselves.
The villagers hold a council to discuss their predicament. Audience will then be introduced to Jeev, a feisty young girl whose brilliant idea goes unnoticed. In the next few scenes, our esteemed actors will vividly dramatize the antics of the village leaders, evoking amusement and laughter.
When nothing else works, Jeev is in the limelight again. In a succession of scenes, Jeev and her friends create a giant puppet figure of a fearsome creature named ‘SINGA’ to scare away the intruders.
It was at this moment that a young prince, mesmerized by the majestic ‘SINGA’ renames the land as Singapura; establishes a Kingdom and together with the natives, develops it to achieve greater glory.
July 2015
Aliwal Arts Centre
PARAMESWARAN
As the title represents, this folklore is about prince Parameswaran, the last King of Singapore. The story takes stage in the training grounds with the prince and his blind master. The master observes that the prince’s dynamism in winning battles is at the risk of others’ lives. He decides to stop the training short and to instill the right virtues to the young prince.
He brings to life the story of a banyan tree and a magical snake, which has made the tree its home. The story takes several twists and turns, and the conclusion is left at the hands of the audience. The master stops the story and discusses with the audience on alternatives to end the story, placing importance on the definition of home and teaching an important lesson in what makes a home - the space or the people??
The story takes several twist and turns while leaving the ending at the hands of the audience. The master will stop the story and discuss with the audience on ways to end the story, giving important to the definition of home and teaching a important lesson in what makes a home... the space or the people ??
February 2016
Goodman Arts Centre
KATTIYANGARAN MANICKAM
The story commences with a ‘Koothu’ troupe travelling from India to Malaya to showcase their performance on a ship. They are the first troupe venturing to a far-away land to share their love and joy of theatre.
Manikam leads the Koothu troupe and plays the role of Kattiyangaran. Kattiyangaran is the witty narrator who injects laughter and carefully juxtaposes the current issues into the Koothu. In real life, Manikam is not only intelligent and funny, but also a lover of art. He constantly pushes his boundaries in the art form and leads his team into new ventures.
During the journey, they rehearse the songs and movements to keep themselves merry and to kill their anxiety of facing new audience. The travelling conditions take a toll on the artistes and the main cast, Singaram falls ill during their eight-day sea trip.
Upon landing on the Island, the troupe meets the organizers who request them to stage any folklore that is familiar in Malaya. After some discussions, the story of the King Rajasuran who came to Singapore in an attempt to conquer China was decided.
Succumbing to ill-health, Singaram and a few other actors are unable to perform as planned. And so the troupe is forced to explore the possibility of local talent to be cast in the Rajasuran Koothu. An ‘audition’ is held within the play amongst the audience to select proficient ‘actors’ to don the roles in the story.
After casting and rehearsals, the big day comes. The Koothu gets staged with experts from India and the locals. And the play becomes a big hit!
When the time comes for the Koothu troupe to leave for their home, Manikam decides to stay back and make the Island his new home. He decides to be a part of the extremely hardworking community and build the nation with them.
April 2017
Malay Heritage Centre
700 years ago in Singapore
The play will begin with the picture of an ornament which was found in the Fort Canning Hill excavations (courtesy of National Archives). The picture will be zoom out to the past location and the plays gets rewound from there.
A group of soldiers will be on night sentry duty in the top of the Fort Canning Hill. They will decide to come up with riddles to keep them awake. They will decide to make music with their bows and tell riddle story (ancient art from of Villupattu will be employed here).
After few rounds of riddles, one of the soldier will place a bet of armlet to the person who solves his riddle When the riddle is about to be solved the commander arrives. The soldiers starts to panic. In state of distress, the gold armlet gets tossed and fells into the spot which was never to be found again for many years to come.