Be a Friend of Practice, Be a Part of Singapore TheatreFor more information, please visit http://www.practice.org.sg/en/supportus/be-a-donor/The Theatre Practice (TTP) is the longest-standing professional bilingual theatre group in Singapore. In 1965, theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun and dancer/choreographer Goh Lay Kuan founded Singapore Performing Arts School, The Theatre Practice’s earliest incarnation.As a non-profit arts institution, The Theatre Practice is proud to have countless friends and partners who journeyed with us along the way for more than five decades, sharing our passion for meaningful and quality theatre.It is only with your generous support that we are able to forge ahead with the greatest confidence. Your contribution, big or small, will definitely make a difference.And through our Friend of Practice programme, we intend to recognise your donation in a more meaningful way!For more information, please write to friends@practice.org.sg. 

Created by: Li Xie, Jean Ng, Kok Heng LeunFacilitated by: Li Xie and Kok Heng Leun Created by veteran theatre practitioners and creative team members behind the impactful and popular piece, The Lesson by Drama Box, this original participatory theatre piece will immerse its audience in the complex issues surrounding poverty and inequality. How do we respond?

巫婆一族的小魔女kiki要过10岁生日了！巫婆奶奶亲自送来一份神奇礼物，那是一本有趣的魔法书。原来神奇的魔法书是一本活的故事书，故事中的角色会如电影般的呈现出来，于是巫婆奶奶让kiki看到了丑小鸭、皮诺曹、卖火柴的小女孩儿的故事，顽皮的小魔按照自己的喜好改变了原本的故事，玩累了的小魔女不知不觉睡着了，醒来时发现自己走进了童话的世界，小魔女要找到回来现实的出路，在路上遇到了傲慢无力，却又胆小怕事的丑小鸭，两人结伴上路在森林里看到皮诺曹正在抢劫狐狸和猫，胆小怕事的丑小鸭拉着小魔女就逃，两人躲进了卖火柴的小女孩的家，希望她能收留他们，好吃懒做的小女孩却要求两人为她卖火柴……童话故事变得一团混乱，小魔女要如何安排结局？

“Built to be lonelyto love the absent.Find meFree mefrom thiscorrosive doubtfutile despairhorror in repose.I can fill my spacefill my timebut nothing can fill this void in my heart.”– Sarah Kane, 4.48 PsychosisHow can one survive and love in a broken world? How do we get along with ourselves?Inspired by British playwright Sarah Kane’s last work 4.48 Psychosis, Young Artist Award recipient Liu Xiaoyi presents FOUR FOUR EIGHT, a brand-new work that leads you into a world, a social construct, where every audience member becomes a participant in a space of gathering and camaraderie; in a place of urban loneliness – the bar.Taking place in an actual bar, the perceptions of individual audience members are challenged the moment when one enters the performance environment. Taking in the sights and sounds, each person becomes aware of the presence of self, others, the space, and various activities in the venue. The experience is an individual realisation, and is up to you to create and dictate.Singapore theatre company Emergency Stairs has earned a reputation for boundary-pushing works that generate much discourse among its audiences. Following Offending the Audience in 2017, and Einstein in the Carpark in 2018, FOUR FOUR EIGHT is the third instalment of the company’s Post-Dramatic Series. With FOUR FOUR EIGHT, together with award-winning artists lighting designer Lim Woan Wen and sound artist Darren Ng, Liu continues to explore the possibilities of, and challenge the limitations of what constitutes a theatre space."Please open the curtains." She said. This performance begins long before you step into the bar. Small, deliberate moments will connect you with the artist and his inner world. Through emails and other ephemeral social interactions, you will be drawn into the artist’s processes of creation—the impulses, the loneliness, the struggles, and the triumphs... and we invite you to be part of the creation process.Please write to 448@emergencystairs.org with “I want to open the curtains” to get connected, and do remember to attach an image of your ticket.Contains mature content and coarse language. This is a durational piece, the start and end time of the show is decided by you, entry and exit is also free and easy throughout the piece. 

         There is no past without colonisation,             and there is no future without it.As we commemorate the bicentennial of the founding of Singapore, let us take a moment to express our gratitude to our founding father/s for their foresight in transforming Singapore from a small fishing village to a global metropolis. We are civilised!Let's marvel at how, all over the world, our land has been plundered, our laws kept archaic and our freedoms curtailed by those in power. Let us honour our pursuit of economic success and excess [nothing less will do], as we continue to colonise today-through money, discrimination and land conquests, even in space. We are civilised!Because after all, through colonisation, we are civilised! We are also schooled and silenced.Written by Haresh Sharma and directed by Alvin Tan, Civilised by The Necessary Stage is a groundbreaking new work that takes you on a wild ride through the complications and violence of colonisation past, present and future.Featuring:Edith PodestaGhafir AkbarKoh Wan ChingLian Suttonand Siti Khalijah ZainalSet Design by Vincent LimLighting Design by Adrian TanCostume Design by Max Tan and Yuan Zhiying of MAX. TANMultimedia Design by He Shuming

The second installment of an ambitious three-part series by Toy Factory, A Dream Under the Southern Bough: Reverie follows its predecessor, The Beginning, from SIFA 2018 as Chun Yu Fen continues his fantastical journey into the Ant Kingdom.The dream world is an often-explored motif in the greatest works of Ming playwright Tang Xianzu, including A Dream Under the Southern Bough. Hailed as the Shakespeare of the East, Tang’s romantic view of love and dreams were a foil against the feudal conventions of his time.Bringing Tang’s lyrical play to the modern stage, Toy Factory presents the highly-anticipated second part of this tale in A Dream Under the Southern Bough: Reverie, as disgraced naval officer Chun Yu Fen falls asleep and is thrust into the Ant Kingdom.In the ensuing 22 chapters of this wondrous journey, Chun finds himself in a situation beyond his wildest dreams, now betrothed to the Kingdom’s princess and the newly appointed governor of the Southern Bough. It appears to be a time for revelry – but trouble is brewing and inching ever closer.From the vision of award-winning Goh Boon Teck, don’t miss this enchanting installment of Reverie, which meets its dramatic culmination in Existence, to be presented in SIFA 2020.

Once, a little girl made friends with an old tree. But it was going to be taken down to make way for new houses.So she asked the tree-cutters:Do you all know why plants bloom?Why do stones not cry?Why are tears not sweet? Why is the midnight sky blue?Why do stars grow on skies?Why do people hurt trees?In a world so ruthless, will we fight for Nature? What does it mean to truly love and protect all living things amongst us?The Silly Little Girl and The Funny Old Tree was written by theatre practitioner Kuo Pao Kun in 1987. Since then, the play has been taught in schools, and stands as a favourite amongst teachers, students and various drama groups in Singapore. Director Ang Gey Pin assumed the lead role in the 1987 premiere of the play. In this rendition, she will lead an ensemble from the Young People Performing Arts Ensemble, as well as a new generation of promising, and emerging actors to devise a highly-anticipated new staging of the iconic play.

改编自著名童话故事《小王子》。此书被誉为仅次于圣经的书。《小王子》原作者是安托万·德·圣埃克苏佩里（1900-1944）是法国著名的小说与童话作家，但是他的正职是飞行员。他经常将自己的飞行经历写进小说，为读者开启另一个陌生而充满好奇的世界。第二次世界大战期间，他被征召入伍，担任空军侦查员的任务，经常坠机负伤，随即又回到工作岗位上。不幸在1944年的一次侦查任务中坠机失踪，《小王子》便是他在逝世前几个月所写的童话这里故事。透过小王子天真烂漫、直率与无边无际的想象力，对照了成年人的虚妄、自私与想象力枯竭的悲哀，重新拾回人类生命中最宝贵的价值与意义。

This Wayang Peranakan gives insights as to the kind of lives the Peranakan led, post World War II. Most Peranakans lost their men as the Japanese were wary of them being spies for the British since many were English educated. The women were left to fend for themselves and became heads of their respective households.Bibik Besair, Bibik Tengah and Bibik Bongso are sisters, the latter being the child of the second wife.The three of them grew up in the same household, hence they are very close.The songs, incidents, decisions truly reflect the Peranakan way of life during the 50s to the 60s.Bibik Besair has only one son, Khoo Hock Seng, who is married to Helen Sim, a Teochew lady, who graduated from a University in London. Bibik Besair was widowed early and brought her son up all by herself. Hock Seng is a very filial son. When he married Helen, he is torn between his wife and his mother as Helen does not get along with her mother-in-law. Bibik Tengah also had only one son. Both her son and daughter-in-law died in an accident. The dead couple left behind their only son, Tan Poh Chye, who is dim-witted. As he is the only decendant of Bibik Tengah she dotes on him.Bibik Bongsu, is a widow. She is childless and is happy having inherited large sums from her dead husbands.The three of them face various problems daily, relying on each other for comfort and treating each other as soulmates. Ultimately they realised through their adversities that blood is thicker than water.

King, Eddie and John were three friends who love jamming in a band. They often busked along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, mainly singing songs that discourse social issues, and hoping to bring the music they love to the people through musical connections. In a fateful encounter at a music store, they met a bass player, Victor whom they invited to join their band and together, build their music career. Since Victor joined the band, the love songs that he wrote were so well received and popular that the once insignificant band started to have a taste of fame. Subsequently their notable popularity granted them the opportunity to travel to the mainland to participate in a music competition, ultimately propelling them to stardom. Upon their return to hongkong, they held their first concert and their popularity continue to accelerate. Just as their hard work started to pay off, King and Victor held opposing opinions in deciding the direction of the band, causing the band to dissolve. During the time of their disbandment, King and Victor continued to pursue their individual music career, composing numerous hit songs. However, their individual results fell short of those they reaped when working together. In the end, with the help of Eddie's mediation, Victor and King resolved their misunderstandings, put aside their opinions, reunite the band together again, bringing the group to great success.

A bold exploration of an acclaimed German classic, retold in a contemporary setting.A journey that transforms her life from the ordinary to the extraordinary, getting everything she has always wanted. Well, almost everything…A brilliant but frustrated academic, Faust has achieved all that she can with her knowledge. Dissatisfied with what she has, she yearns for more in her life. One day she is visited by an unexpected visitor, Mephistopheles, who is full of surprises. Mephistopheles makes a deal with her; spend the rest of her life with him, as he shows her a lifetime of everything she desires, in exchange for her soul in the beyond. Driven by the freedom that awaits her outside of her dusty study, she agrees to the deal and is whisked away into a supernatural life of magic, thrill and adventure. After journeying through a lifetime chasing after ambition, love and desire, will she ever find what she is looking for?The first time a Nine Years Theatre’s production is helmed by a next-generation director. Introducing Cherilyn Woo, our Associate Director, who re-imagines a female Faust in this famous classic tale.To know more about the production, please visit http://www.nineyearstheatre.com/en/faustus.php 

Focusing on a man caught up in a tangled love affair, Florian Zeller’s The Truth is a hard-hitting examination of friendship, suspicion and deceit. In a new version by Christopher Hampton (Les Liaisons Dangereuses), who also delivered new versions of The Father and The Mother, The Truth is a biting new play that discovers what happens when the truth is finally uncovered. Alice and Michel are having an affair. Michel’s wife, Laurence has been asking him difficult questions. Alice’s husband, Paul, is Michel’s best friend. As deceits intertwine, the two couples find themselves lost in a maze of who-told-who-what, where each loving lie seems more necessary and each confession more indiscreet. A brilliantly cruel comedy of the hypocrisies which hold society together, Florian Zeller’s The Truth, premiered at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, in 2016, in association with Theatre Royal Bath Productions. The Truth is “a devious must-see” (The Guardian) you do not want to miss."Unbelievably good" - The Times"Dazzling" - The Observer

WonderlandDevised and performed by: Anderson Secondary SchoolDirected by: Renee Chua Nadine is an outcast in school. She cannot pay for things. Her classmate, Charmaine, realises how Nadine’s world is totally different from hers. She goes down the rabbit hole with Nadine and discovers the secret machinery keeping generations of Nadine’s family financially strapped and "low-class".The GroundDevised and performed by: Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)Directed by: Iris Chia-KhanashatA single father is stuck in a strange place. A boy is about to take his PSLE exams. They meet at an intersection, a utopia where time and space suspends... or is this an amusement park with a hidden penalty? Is Hope a seed embedded in our hearts, or is it something we seek and unearth from the ground?

Devised and performed by: The Community Theatre, Beyond Social ServicesDirected by: Rizman PutraAsst Director: Izzaty IshakWhat makes a party happening?Do we need food, music, people and space?What if we don’t have any of them?Can we still party?The Block Party is a docu-performance that unravels issues often blindsided and mis- represented. Assemble with the tribe and embrace the discomfort as we celebrate small joys among our struggles. Ready to party?

Starring top Hong Kong stars and celebrities performing in breakthrough roles like never before!The stage play 《Secret》 features leading stars including Ha Yu, Louise Lee, Michelle Yim and Louis Yuen – all of which formed the main cast of the popular Hong Kong TV series, Heart of Greed. This dynamic team of actors together with other two excellent actors Elena Kong and Lau Shek Yin united will bring this appeal to the 《Secret》 stage, allowing the audience to feel the tension in a close-up performance. A hilarious, captivating story told from the perspective of mankind , full of plot twists and captivating moments and full of mysteries to be uncovered, yet bound to incite laughter.  Performing in breakthrough roles like never before!Mysterious tycoon Ren Renzhong (Ha Yu夏雨) left a large inheritance after his death.Before he died, he secretly sent letters to the people who are related to him, telling them about his large inheritance. The recipients of these letters were entitled to inherit a portion of his assets, seven days after his death.While his son Ren Tianxiang (Louis Yuen阮兆祥) is unaware of who received these letters, he hopes to his father's death a secret, so that he may keep all of the inheritance to himself.Unexpectedly, within seven days of Renzhong’s death, destitute uncle Ren Renbing (Ha Yu夏雨); Renzheng’s mean first wife Yue Ruyu (Elena Kong江美仪); his mistress, She Xiaoxiao (Michelle Yim米雪); the mistress’s husband Wu Shunchao (Lau Shek Yin刘锡贤); and aunt Zhou Huijuan (Louise Lee李司棋), who likes to play dumb, shows up in front of Ren Tianxiang.Who among them is the owner of a secret letter? Which of them are bluffing?And so, the family battle over inheritance breaks out…

From critically-acclaimed theatre company Checkpoint Theatre comes Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner, a powerful new play about humanitarian workers caught in the crosshairs of a crisis.A crisis tests the resolve of the international staff of a refugee camp. Can they stay sane, stay alive, and stay strong when their minds, bodies, and spirits are called upon to do the impossible?In a multidisciplinary theatrical work set against the backdrop of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner, commissioned by SIFA 2019, investigates the realities of the aid industry. With sensitivity and nuance, playwright Huzir Sulaiman delves beneath media portrayals to discover a world where good people struggle with treacherous politics and flawed institutions.Directed by Claire Wong, this unflinching examination of the idealism and heroism of humanitarian workers raises vital questions about our world – from the nature of conflict, the toxic nature of institutions, and the challenges we face when confronted with powers larger than ourselves.As the home of new Singapore playwriting, Checkpoint Theatre has produced some of the most vibrant contemporary Asian plays in recent Singapore history, exploring complex issues in deeply personal ways, with richly layered texts and refined aesthetics.

From the hands of visionary director Tadashi Suzuki comes a masterful, cross-cultural adaptation of Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, featuring an impressive cast of Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese actors.Written near the end of his life, The Bacchae has been hailed as one of Athenian playwright Euripides’ greatest dramas. Dionysus – the God of wine – unleashes his plot to punish Pentheus, King of Thebes, for denying Dionysus’s divinity. Madness ensues as Dionysus lures Pentheus to his death, torn to pieces by feverish worshippers, including his own mother, Agave.One of the most revered voices in theatre today, Suzuki is an eloquent interpreter of Greek tragedy for the contemporary stage. In a unique collaboration with art production house Purnati Indonesia, Suzuki continues to break new ground as he re-envisions this ancient conflict of madness and reason through an intriguing Pan-Asian lens.Dionysus will showcase costumes by Indonesian designer Auguste Soesastro and Suzuki himself, along with a musical score featuring Indonesian instruments composed by Takada Midori. Following several years of intense training in Suzuki’s world-renowned acting method, Dionysus’ impressive cast of Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese actors is set to dominate the stage with their potent presence.Performed in various regional Indonesia languages, Japanese and Mandarin with English surtitles.    

In The Mysterious Lai Teck, acclaimed Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen leads you into the labyrinthine underworld of spies, in this portrait of one of Southeast Asia’s most shadowy historical figures. Who is Lai Teck? History remembers him as the leader of the Malayan Communist Party from 1939 to 1947, and a triple agent for the French, British and Japanese secret police. Yet the real man is an enigma. Rumoured to have over 30 pseudonyms, his story is full of gaps and contradictions culled from the accounts of fellow spies and traitors, and various authors of histories.Blending fact and fictional speculation, Singapore-born visual artist Ho recreates the charged atmosphere of Lai Teck’s times in an inventive staging, featuring an animatronic puppet, visual projections and theatrical drapes.Offering a window into an embattled period of Southeast Asian history, The Mysterious Lai Teck is an extended reflection emerging from Ho’s long-term project, The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia.Blending fiction and espionage, agency and treachery, The Mysterious Lai Teck is a thrilling snapshot of the shifting face of Southeast Asia in the Age of Treason, and of a man caught between the ruthless forces of history.Performed in Mandarin with English surtitles    

"Hysterically brazen: Meenah and Cheenah says everything we're too shy to say... a play so funny it'll leave you in stitches for weeks."- Popspoken, May 20, 2016 "It was comic relief of the highest order and proof that those who can laugh at themselves together, have the last laugh."- Cheong Suk-Wai, The Straits Times, May 16, 2016"Siti Khalijah and Judee Tan are completely in their element here, playing a spectrum of local character archetypes with aplomb, moving the audience to a rousing laughter."- Bakchormeeboy, May 18, 2016Singapore's new favourite duo is back by popular demand! After a successful debut with rave reviews, sold-out shows, and a Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards Best Actress nomination for Judee Tan as Cheenah, Meenah and Cheenah are back to make you laugh so hard your dentures may fly out (True story!); Judee teams up with the irrepressible two-time Life! Theatre Awards Best Actress winner Siti Khalijah Zainal once again to tickle audiences in this highly anticipated rerun!A celebration of Singapore's multicultural landscape and unique sense of chapalang humour, join Meenah and Cheenah for a night of bellyaching laughter as they take you on a journey of relatable milestones and answer the burning questions you have always been too shy to ask: what to wear for Racial Harmony Day, Ramadan etiquette, and even the difference between Malay and Chinese spirits!

Checkpoint Theatre presents Still LifeA new play by Dana LamDirected and dramaturged by Claire WongPerformed by Dana Lam and Jean NgPresented in collaboration with TheatreWorks--What happens when an artist picks up her paintbrush after a long hiatus? Does the body still remember what has been lived? Or are the senses dulled by time, the joints fused with experience?Still Life is an affecting look at life and art-making. In this deeply personal performance, Dana Lam rediscovers and reclaims her journey from the 1950s to the present, through her twin first loves: writing and painting. From journalist to activist, from daughter to grandmother, she confronts the choices and tensions that keep a life in balance. The result is an evocative portrait woven of lyrical prose and the unflinching gaze of an artist coming to terms with her own nakedness.Directed and dramaturged with verve and sensitivity by Claire Wong, Still Life focuses on how we look at the world, at the past, and at ourselves. How do we see what we see? And how do we look at a life that’s never still in order to make meaning?