Synopsis

A woman comes home from work. She turns on the radio and performs all her everyday routines: preparing dinner, resuming her crochet project, completing her skincare routine and readying herself for bed.

Franz Xavier Kroetz’s modern classic explores a woman’s isolation and fatigue in a city that seems oblivious to her existence. The seeming banality of what occurs in the performance raises intriguing questions: Is anything ever banal when an audience is present? How can the ordinary, transplanted into a gallery setting, transform under a critical and collective gaze? And does a live diorama—evoking a “human zoo”—retain its exoticism when it appears disturbingly familiar?

Performed by veteran theatre actress Karen Tan and directed by Oliver Chong, with a new adaptation by Alfian Sa’at, this delicate and haunting work invites the audience to contemplate the actions we execute in our daily lives—from the mechanical and mundane, to the meaningful and momentous. Blurring the lines between theatre, performance art and a happening, it challenges the audience to reflect on their own complicity as witnesses to the slow violence that courses through contemporary urban life.

For more information about the play, download the house programme. This programme is presented in conjunction with Everyday Practices.

Artist Information

Oliver Chong is a multi-award-winning and published playwright, director, actor, puppeteer; and set and puppet designer. Some of his memorable works include Every Brilliant Thing, A Fiend’s Diary, Roots, I’m Just A Piano Teacher, Cat, Lost & Found, The Book of Living and Dying, Citizen Pig and Citizen Dog. His numerous wins and nominations at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards include Production of the Year, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble and Best Set Design.

To date, Chong's works have been presented at international arts festivals in Paris, Myanmar, Barcelona, Budapest, Ankara, Bangkok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia. He has conducted playwriting, directing and acting Masterclasses in Hong Kong and Singapore, and has been committed to helping practitioners fine-tune their crafts since 2014.

Chong was the Resident Director of THE FINGER PLAYERS (2004 – 2018) and is currently the Artistic Director of the company. He is also the founding member of A GROUP OF PEOPLE (2008 – 2012) and the founder of ODDCROP Productions (2019 – present). His published works include Roots, The Book of Living and Dying, I’m Just A Piano Teacher and Cat and Lost & Found. Roots was also read and staged in New Zealand by Proudly Asian Theatre in 2018.

Alfian Sa’at | Dramaturg

Alfian Sa’at is a Resident Playwright with Wild Rice. His published works include three collections of poetry, One Fierce Hour, A History of Amnesia and The Invisible Manuscript, a collection of short stories, Corridor, a collection of flash fiction, Malay Sketches, three collections of plays as well as the published play Cooling Off Day.

Alfian has won Best Original Script at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards four times: in 2004 for Landmarks, in 2010 for Nadirah, in 2013 for Kakak Kau Punya Laki (Your Sister's Husband) and in 2016 for Hotel (with Marcia Vanderstraaten).

In 2001, Alfian won the Golden Point Award for Poetry as well as the National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature. He has also been nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize three times, for Corridor (1999, Commendation Prize), A History of Amnesia (2004) and his translation of the novel The Widower (2016).

Karen Tan | Performer

Karen Tan is a Singapore theatre actor.