Provocation: Any scene or moment from The Cherry Orchard. Explore the possibilities of Space. Revelation. Transformation. The Theatricality of Space. Create magic beyond the ephemerality of the moment.
Statement: Space, Time, Breath. In building this work, I observed that space and time were near impossible to divorce – is theatre absolutely subject to the laws of physics then? I think in the Digital Space, that might change. Space acquires meaning with Time, and your time spent with this video, your gaze, your attention, you as the audience determines if this is theatre.
I offer three ways for you to enter this work:
1) Spend 10 minutes at the start of the video and 10 minutes from the end of the video. If you choose this, please do so in chronological sequence.
2) Spend 1 hour and 3 minutes with this work. That’s how long I spent in that Space.
3) Scrub through the work.
In this digital space, the laws of Time do not apply to you. At least on screen.
Process:
I sat in the same spot at Pasir Ris Beach Park on the 24th of February 2021 for an hour, and observed that Space is the intersection between multiple Timelines – the unseen teenagers talking about their future and their lives, the passing couples, the woman who loves him more, one family replaced by another family. Sit in the same spot long enough and you will find that Time repeats itself. Trofimov’s monologue in Act Two emerged from these moments in Space. He speaks of frustration, thinking and only speaking of change, so unreflective and unnerved, blowing in and out like the breeze. Tom Stoppard and Paul Schmidt’s translations were used.
Space constantly changes, because Time changes.
Sketched for the Theatre of Others Composition Workshop 2021 (conducted via Zoom).
Tan Shou Chen 