Admission Information
Admission is FREE
Category
Programme Title
Lecture-Performance
Venue
Black Box, Centre 42
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1964 – Singapore was part of Malaysia.
1964 – The year of racial riots between ethnic Chinese and Malays.
1964 – The year when two pioneering Singaporean dramatists wrote English-language plays in response to the lack of local plays that reflected recognisable themes, characters and speech. Prior to 1964, Lim Chor Pee’s Mimi Fan (1962) stood alone in the scene. In 1964, Goh Poh Seng wrote his first play and then, there were two.
2014 – We respond to these two writers’ sophomore creations respectively and collectively. We remember the plays while we refresh our perspectives on them – and retell the stories we see in them. Nora Samosir, Serene Chen, Casey Lim and Robin Loon investigates the texts of When Smiles are Done (Goh Poh Seng) and A White Rose at Midnight (Lim Chor Pee). They will suggest critical relationships between the present and the past while ruminating on their own connections with the texts, Singapore and Singapore theatre.
For one evening only, we invite you to share in these artists’ personal responses in an intimate lecture-performance.
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Video Documentation
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Part 1: Introduction, Frame & Context
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Robin, Casey, Nora and Serene introduce The Vault programme and its tenets, and explain what iteration 1.1 will cover. Robin then talks about the year 1964, specifically the significant events within the year, both in and outside of Singapore, as well as touches upon writing for the English-language stage in 1960s Singapore.
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Part 2: An English Education
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Nora and Serene read excerpts from Act 1 of "A White Rose at Midnight." Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from an interview with playwright Lim Chor Pee and an early history of English-medium schools in Singapore.
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Part 3: The Malcontent & Smoking on Stage
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Nora and Serene read from Act 1 Scene 1 of "When Smiles Are Done". Serene also shares her personal responses to the character of Chong Kit and the smoking in the script.
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Part 4: Romance and Melodrama
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Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 1 of "A White Rose at Midnight". Robin shares excerpts from a 1961 Straits Times report on Shirley Wong and a study by Krishen Jit.
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Part 5: The Cabaret Girl
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Nora and Serene read from the bar scene (Act 2, Scene 1) of "When Smiles Are Done". Robin reads an excerpt from a 1960 Singapore Free Press article on cabaret girls, and Nora shares a personal childhood memory of cabaret girls.
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Part 6A: The Nightclub Singer
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Nora and Serene read from Act 2 Scene 2 of "A White Rose at Midnight".
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Part 6B: The Nightclub Singer
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Casey responds to the excerpt in Part 6A with a video montage of media portrayals of nightclub singers.
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Part 7: Racial Tensions
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Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of "When Smiles Are Done". Robin intersperses the reading with excerpts from news articles on the 1964 racial riots in Singapore.
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Part 8: The Unexpected Nation
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Nora and Serene read from Act 3 Scene 1 of "When Smiles Are Done" and Act 3 of "A White Rose at Midnight". Robin shares excerpts from articles on Singapore English-language theatre and Singapore's English-educated. Nora and Serene conclude by reading the final scenes from both plays.
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The Plays
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- Advertisement for When Smiles Are Done (18 Dec 1965) View
“See Local Comedy When Smiles Are Done By Goh Poh Seng, Presented by Centre 64. At Cultural Centre, Fort Canning, S’pore Tonight – 8.30 p.m. Tickets at $2, 3, 4.”
- Report on When Smiles Are Done (8 Dec 1965) View
“A play about family life in Queenstown When Smiles Are Done, written by Dr. Goh Poh Seng, will be staged at the New Town Secondary School at 8.30 p.m. on Friday… On Dec. 16 at 8.30 p.m. the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Inche Yusof bin Iskhak, will attend the play at the Cultural Centre.”
- Review of When Smiles Are Done (2 January 1966) View
“Dr. Goh Poh Seng, the President [of Centre 65], may be an amateur playwright who has still a lot to learn about the construction of a play, but this did not mar my enjoyment of When Smiles Are Done, which this enthusiastic group presented recently at the Cultural Centre Theatre.
“The theme was not original, but the play was interesting throughout, well acted and maintained a brisk pace. Above all, it was audible.”
- Report on a well-known soprano singing in A White Rose at Midnight (9 June 1964) View
“Miss Joanna Woo, the business manager, said: “This is an ‘angry young man’ type of comedy which should appeal to the theatre enthusiasts who have been complaining about the lack of Malaysian drama.”
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Documentation
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Resources
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Prior to the event, the “Insider’s Guide to Enjoying Nineteen Sixty-Four” was emailed to participants who had registered to attend the Lecture-Performance. The guide contains quick tips and explanations on what to expect at our ‘Lecture-Performance’ and who our artist-collaborators are.
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Lecture-Performance Handout #1
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The “Participant”s Notes on Nineteen Sixty-Four” was a handout given to all who turned up at the Lecture-Performance. The content within was designed to guide the participant to follow the Lecture-Performance, if required, and provided insight into the working relationship of the artist-collaborators.
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Lecture-Performance Handout #2
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Nineteen Sixty-Four, a Centre 42 Vault project that revisits When Smiles Are Done and A White Rose at Midnight.
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Media Type
Video
PDF
Post-Residency
Yes