I’m really excited to be directing another show for the NUS Arts Festival. This time, it’s a work by Penny Penniston called Now Then Again. Mary from the NUS Centre for the Arts wrote to me sometime in June 2015 asking if I would consider directing this…in Mandarin.
Haha (nervous laughter)
That was my first reaction, oh but the chance to direct a play at the UCC Theatre AND for the Arts Festival (again) was such a solid opportunity. It was also a really compelling play, which really spoke to my heart when I read it, when I read it [sic].
” I have been looking for you, Ginny. That’s what we do isn’t it? We look. There are millions of collisions a second, billions a day, and we look hoping to find the one that’s unique, exotic. And it does happen, we exhaust every possibility and we find the ones that give us a glimpse into the nature of the universe.”
Needless to say, I really wanted to direct the play in English. When we finally met in August, Mary bought my persuasion to keep it in English. I think she was more interested in growing me as an artist, not necessarily because of my brilliant persuasive skill. I digress.
Long story short. Here we are January 2016, and I start workshops at the end of the month, before rehearsals kick in proper after CNY. So here is my attempt to collect, document, think, reflect…as I usually do.
Tan Shou Chen 