Dark Room by Edith Podesta

By Phil42, 18 November, 2021
Category
Creation Residency
Years Active
From February to May 2016
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Dark Room follows the lives of men housed together in a five-by-five-metre cell, 23 hours a day, every day, until their release. This original work, based on true accounts, explores the codes and regulations of society “on the inside”. It charts the prison experience from pre-trial to imprisonment, and the reintegration into society as “returning citizens”.

If “prison is the punishment that keeps on taking”, Dark Room gives voice to the incarcerated by staging their stories and making their experiences visible to a wider audience.

(Source: Esplanade Presents: The Studios 2016)

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

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Development Milestones
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February - May 2016
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by Centre 42
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Dark Room was developed in residence at Centre 42’s Basement Workshop from February to May 2016.

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In-Residence at Basement Workshop
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5 July 2014
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As part of Esplanade Presents: The Studios RAW 2014
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Dark Room x8 performed at Esplanade Theatre Studio
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28 April – 1 May 2015
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As part of Esplanade Presents: The Studios 2015
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Performed at Esplanade Theatre Studio
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Creation Process
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Directed and written by Edith Podesta, this play was first developed under the Esplanade Presents: The Studios RAW in 2014 as a work-in-progress reading. It went on to clinch the Best Ensemble Award at the 15th M1-The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards in 2015. Read more about the development of the first iteration titled Dark Room x 8 here.

This second iteration of the play, re-titled as Dark Room, is a commission by Esplanade Presents: The Studios 2016 and will premiere on 28 April 2016 at the Esplanade Theatre Studio. Centre 42 supports the development of this second iteration from February to April 2016.

 

Interviews

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Searching for Acceptance (18 Apr 2016)
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Edith Podesta shares her motivations behind creating her verbatim theatre piece Dark Room. Her objectives for the work are to break the cycles of shame and judgement that often accompany incarceration, and to help convicts – past, present and future – and their loved ones find acceptance in society and in themselves.

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Searching for Experiences (18 Apr 2016)
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Edith Podesta talks about the research interviews with individuals with prison experience in crafting Dark Room. She shares how she sought out her interviewees, how she put their experiences together in the play, and how she tried to retain the veracity of the accounts onstage.

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Searching for Subtext (18 Apr 2016)
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Edith Podesta relates her experience converting the audio recordings of her interviews into text. For her, transcription was ad verbatim, so she included fillers, pauses, slangs and swear words. While she found the process to be painstaking and frustrating, it was ultimately rewarding to be able to communicate the essence of the characters to the actors. She also touches on the subtext of performance, which emerged in preparing for the full staging of Dark Room in 2016 when the actors could perform without the script.

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Searching for More Stories (18 Apr 2016)
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In this second iteration of Dark Room, Edith Podesta added three new characters to the play – a pair of parents and a female inmate. She discusses the additional interviews she had to conduct to gather these new stories, and how they added to the emotional depth and range of the prison experiences in Dark Room.

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Helmi Yusof of The Business Times speaks with Edith Podesta on her motivation to create Dark Room and tell the stories of prison immates. Read it here.

A Straits Times Life article on the Esplanade Presents: The Studios, on its theme and the artists involved. Read it here.

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Reviews

Dark Room Sheds Light on Prison Life by Citizen Reviewer Isaac Tan.

Struggling with the Outside from the Inside by Citizen Reviewer Alisa Maya.

Chained and Connected by Citizen Reviewer Beverly Yuen.

Prison tales retold by Akshita Nanda, The Straits Times.

Edith Podesta and The Studios’ Dark Room is an immersive and intimate retelling of life in Changi Prison Complex by Karin Lai, TODAYonline.

Dark Room Sheds (More) Light on Prison Life by Isaac Tan.

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Others

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In a dark setting, a man in a white shirt, carries a bright, lighted box which illuminates his face.
Members / Person Credits
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Edith Podesta
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Director
Writer
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Erwin Shah Ismail
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Cast
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Ian Tan
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Lim Kay Siu
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Cast
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Mohd Fared Jainal
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Cast
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Nelson Chia
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Cast
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Neo Swee Lin
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Noor Effendy Ibrahim
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Oliver Chong
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Pavan J Singh
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Shafiqhah Efandi
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Timothy Nga
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Michele Lim
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Producer
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Adrian Tan
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Lighting Designer
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Chris Chua
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Chris Chua Teck Leong
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Set Designer
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Darren Ng
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Sound Designer
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Hayden Ng
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Costume Designer
Costume Stylist
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Mirabel Neo
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Production Stage Manager
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Tan Chia Wei
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Assistant to Director
Assistant to Producer
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Vivi Agustina
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Assistant Stage Manager
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Chng Xin Xuan
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Understudy
Surtitle Operator
Rehearsal Manager
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Crispian Chan
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Photographer
Moderator
Person Profile Reference
Oniatta Effendi
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Community Engagement
Person Profile Reference
Rosemary McGowan
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Community Engagement
Tags
Basement Workshop
Media Type
Video
Post-Residency
Yes