Celebrating theatre history

EFFORTS to commemorate Singapore's theatre history more than doubled this month with the opening of the exhibition Theatre Memories: 50 Years Of Singapore Theatre, as well as the launch of Centre 42's new online repository of theatre documents.

Now on at the Arts House, Theatre Memories is co-curated by Annie Jael Kwan and Jennifer Lim, and presented in partnership with The Arts House. The exhibition features a selection of scripts, programme booklets, photos, costumes and set pieces.

The best parts of the exhibition are the videos showing candid interviews with theatre stars such as Ivan Heng, Huzir Sulaiman, Janice Koh and T Sasitharan. While some are unequivocal in their pride of how far the scene has come, many spoke openly about their struggles under strict censorship regulations, which consistently undermine their practice and morale.

Dedicated theatre lovers should make time to visit the exhibition and watch the videos in full.

Meanwhile, the centre for theatre writing Centre 42 has launched a free online repository of theatre documents dating back to 1987. They include programme booklets and other publicity documents from theatre companies such as TheatreWorks and Wild Rice, with details that include the year, venue and director of the plays.

The website, repository.centre42.sg, allows visitors to scroll through more than 800 documents from several theatre companies. And that number is set to grow as more companies come on board to allow their documents to be scanned by the centre, says executive director Casey Lim.

Meanwhile, Centre 42 is also putting out its second open call for aspiring playwrights to participate in its Boiler Room programme. The intense year-long writing programme allows playwrights to have their work guided by the centre's resident dramaturg Dr Robin Loon and other theatre professionals.

Theatre Memories is on at the Arts House till April 12, noon - 8pm (Mon - Fri), 11am - 8pm (Sat & Sun) Admission: Free.

Centre 42's online repository website is now live at repository.centre42.sg. To apply for the playwriting programme, go to centre42.sg for details. The open call period ends on May 6, 2015