The TS3103 Theatre Lab module of the NUS Theatre Studies programme focuses on learning through response and practice as research. In line with The Vault’s aims of documenting and manifesting contemporary responses to Singapore theatre history, the partnership behind TS3103 and Centre 42 aligns both pedagogy and practice.
Apart from developing a theatrical response, the students are required to deliver documentation to self-reflect and consolidate their learning processes. They embarked on this documentation journey with an introductory workshop conducted by Daniel Teo (Centre 42) on 21 February 2020. The workshop covered broad principles and focused on two methods, namely auto-ethnography and interviewing.
These skills were put to practice throughout the semester via individual and group documentation assignments. Each student had to document their own journey by submitting monthly reflections, effectively testing their auto-ethnography skills. The two groups – GEL and Old Lines New Meanings – would concurrently document the other group’s processes and practices. Each group had to conceptualise and rationalise their approach to documenting theatre and practice, and produce a written and a video documentation of the other group’s process behind their performance response.
The documentation output listed below provide insights to the creators’ process, but it also reveals the students’ reflexivity, sensitivity to, and understanding of the practices of others.