Making A Stand by Project Tandem

Making A Stand – made possible with the Creation Grant from the National Arts Council – is a work-in-progress showcase that combines 2 genres of theatre:

a) Personal Story
In 3 intimate spaces, 10 performers will perform short solo pieces, revealing their lived experiences of making a stand (or not) through the forms of either an anecdote, a lecture or a confession.

b) Verbatim Tapestry
4 performers will perform a staged reading of a verbatim script, interweaving the voices of 12 D/deaf and disabled persons in Singapore, capturing the ‘shining moments’ from 40 in-depth and intimate interviews conducted. This tapestry serves as a short sampling of an extended verbatim production to reveal different themes and diverse viewpoints from the community.

Making A Stand was developed under Centre 42's Basement Workshop (now known as the Creation Residency). Read about Creation Residency here.

Making A Stand is the very first local disability-led theatre project, created and represented by emerging Deaf and disabled artists from Singapore, and includes experienced artists as creative mentors. Making A Stand is a platform for the artists to share the moments in which they stood up for something they believe in, at the same time highlighting issues related to identity, self-image, kinship, friendship, romance, livelihood, aspirations and barriers.

The project started out in April 2017 and has since grown into a community for creative support and development in weekly training workshops. The process of creating the work includes drawing from one-on-one in-depth interviews with the Deaf and disabled community, as well as regular content-workshopping with the community’s emerging artists and creative mentors. The aim is to excavate and present poignant verbatim monologues and individual stories that will debunk stereotypes of what it means to be disabled and reflect the lived experiences of the disabled in an ableist society. The personalized mentorship aims to gear the artists towards two forms of performances – Promenade Theatre: intimate solo storytelling; and Proscenium Theatre: ensemble verbatim performance.

Making a Stand is the parallel project to The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues, a UK-Singapore commissioned project which had also begun its research and development in April 2017. Learnings from the intensive development phases of The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues are integral to the conception and development of this new work. Read more about The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues below.

Tactility is something that I’m learning… It made me realise that sound is more than just loud or soft; it needs to travel not just to reach you, but to touch you. That’s just one very small instance where working with a D/deaf or disabled mentee has opened up what I had previously been comfortable with.
- Peter Sau

Read the article about Making A Stand below.