Over the span of 3 months, I was a participant-performer in Moving In, a community theatre project with local and migrant worker youths. Working alongside the community was no easy feat. Yet, the laughter during sessions, the shared nervousness in the lead up to the performance and the pride on show day is testament of how, perhaps, we have more in common than what set us apart.
BACKGROUND
The project was supported by Noise Singapore, a youth arts platform backed by the National Arts Council. It was a collaboration between applied theatre collective, Shoes Theatre, and SDI Academy, an organization that aspires to empower migrant workers through up-skill, vocational courses. The group thus comprised of SDI Academy’s students and Singaporean volunteers.
Moving In culminated in a one-day showcase in a lecture theatre in Nanyang Technological University. The synopses of the 2 pieces are as follows:
Second Aid
Follow Reuben as he attempts to seek medical support after suffering a bad injury. Things get worse as his injury gets untreated adequately. Find out what is at stake when Reuben seeks further support. Do migrant workers in Singapore have access to proper healthcare?
Ability
When friends across different social classes plan an overseas trip together, their friendship is tested by secrets. Join them as they attempt to reach a common ground...
Moving In opened to a cohort of 80 students from the SDI Academy as well as some close friends. After the showcase, a Question-and-Answer (Q&A) was done. Memorable contributions included: a Manpower-Ministry-appointed, migrant worker ambassador wanting his role to be included into Second Aid narrative of workplace injury; as well as Tipu, the migrant youth from Ability explaining the plot - and its relevance - to the audience in his own native tongue. Needless to say, the evening was a rare bridge between Singaporeans and migrant youths.
The play-building process required us to navigate the dynamics of working alongside migrant workers who come from a different country, culture and background. While the collaboration and drama allowed me to live the lives of the migrant workers, it also confronted me with questions. How should we break the barriers of language? What were we were limiting by working in English? Should we inject theatricality into their reality? How so?
As a practitioner, experiencing the workshops got me thinking of how activities should be planned. Ice-breaker games such as “2 Truths, 1 Lie” had us sharing as much as working against the clock to being a vending machine together. In addition, we had to support members with no performance backgrounds – introducing performance skills and building confidence in tandem. For instance, while somewhat unconventional, ad-lib proved to be more useful for the team instead of writing and memorising a script. That was what we eventually went with.
A copy of my group's script, Second Aid, is available here.
Production shot from the showcase of Second Aid. Picture retrieved from Shoes Theatre's Facebook page.
Discussions in circle to unpack activities together.
Singaporean and migrant youths devising in small groups to get used with each other. Retrieved from Shoes Theatre Facebook page.
Rehearsals. Enacting a story shared by the migrant workers. Retrieved from: Shoes Theatre Facebook Page.
A short film documenting the process was made after the programme.
Made available with permission from Aisha Shaik of Shoes Theatre.
Made available with permission from Aisha Shaik of Shoes Theatre.
BACKGROUND
Moving In culminated in a one-day showcase in a lecture theatre in Nanyang Technological University. The synopses of the 2 pieces are as follows:Second Aid
Follow Reuben as he attempts to seek medical support after suffering a bad injury. Things get worse as his injury gets untreated adequately. Find out what is at stake when Reuben seeks further support. Do migrant workers in Singapore have access to proper healthcare?
Ability
When friends across different social classes plan an overseas trip together, their friendship is tested by secrets. Join them as they attempt to reach a common ground...
Moving In opened to a cohort of 80 students from the SDI Academy as well as some close friends. After the showcase, a Question-and-Answer (Q&A) was done. Memorable contributions included: a Manpower-Ministry-appointed, migrant worker ambassador wanting his role to be included into Second Aid narrative of workplace injury; as well as Tipu, the migrant youth from Ability explaining the plot - and its relevance - to the audience in his own native tongue. Needless to say, the evening was a rare bridge between Singaporeans and migrant youths.
LEARNING POINTS
The play-building process required us to navigate the dynamics of working alongside migrant workers who come from a different country, culture and background. While the collaboration and drama allowed me to live the lives of the migrant workers, it also confronted me with questions. How should we break the barriers of language? What were we were limiting by working in English? Should we inject theatricality into their reality? How so?
As a practitioner, experiencing the workshops got me thinking of how activities should be planned. Ice-breaker games such as “2 Truths, 1 Lie” had us sharing as much as working against the clock to being a vending machine together. In addition, we had to support members with no performance backgrounds – introducing performance skills and building confidence in tandem. For instance, while somewhat unconventional, ad-lib proved to be more useful for the team instead of writing and memorising a script. That was what we eventually went with.
APPENDIX