A message from Huzir Sulaiman
Checkpoint Theatre has turned both inward and outward this pandemic year. Our artists looked within themselves, putting the human condition under a compassionate but searching microscope, while the company broadened our artistic practice and reached out to global audiences. Two Songs and a Story continues our new focus as original Singapore storytellers across different genres, platforms and media. It is our first work devised specifically for digital broadcast.
I wanted to bring together collaborators who loved words and music equally, and who could perform them with integrity and passion. For six weeks I worked with the artists to flesh out their initial ideas; critique many successive drafts of their monologues, music and lyrics; and rehearse (by videoconference) their affecting performances, getting them to pare down to the heart of their creations.
Meanwhile, Joel Lim and I planned spare, vibrantly minimal shoots in which the camera would respond to each piece with a different visual language, with the invaluable help of 1st Assistant Director Isabella Goh. My collaboration with Joel has been joyful and stimulating. I am grateful for his genius as co-director, cinematographer and editor; and for the generosity and diligence of his colleagues at Calibre Pictures.
The shooting of the series took a week, with safe distancing protocols religiously observed, and with enormous commitment and truth from the performers, producing an electric atmosphere on set. Shah Tahir worked his customary magic in recording live and mixing the sound.
The editing took close to five weeks. Each time Joel had prepared his rough first assembly of a piece, he and I would go over it, through multiple rounds, for hours at a time, changing and refining the storytelling, tweaking the visual flow of the performance. It was a privilege and a joy to work at such a granular level, and I hope you enjoy the resulting works.
To my mind the real stars of Two Songs and a Story are my colleagues at Checkpoint Theatre – Claire Wong, Faith Ng, Izz Sumono, Lum E-Sean, Myle Yan Tay, and Nicole Wong – who have surmounted the disappointments and stresses of the early part of COVID-affected 2020 to lend tireless creative planning and support to this project, and to the new beginning that it signifies for the company. I am deeply thankful for their care and kindness.
This one is for them.
CREDITS
Written, Composed, and Performed by
ants chua, Inch Chua, Jo Tan, Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, and weish
Directed by Huzir Sulaiman and Joel Lim
Created and Dramaturged by Huzir Sulaiman
Produced by Huzir Sulaiman and Claire Wong
Directors of Photography: Joel Lim and Jimmy Fok
Sound Recording and Mixing Engineer: Shah Tahir
Edited by Joel Lim
Unit Production Manager: Izz Sumono
1st Assistant Director: Isabella Goh
Script Supervisor: Wong Kar Mun Nicole
Camera Operators: Sheryl Soh, Antonio Lam, and Ian Yeow
Anime Illustrations by Althea Duncombe
A production of Checkpoint Theatre with the support of Calibre Pictures
FOR CHECKPOINT THEATRE:
Engagement: Faith Ng and Myle Yan Tay
Marketing and Publicity: Lum E-Sean and Wong Kar Mun Nicole
Intern: Adeline Loh
FOR CALIBRE PICTURES:
Producer: Ken Zhang
Copyright ©2020 Checkpoint Theatre Limited
ABOUT THE CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM
Writer, Composer, Performer | at least I have words now
ants chua writes, directs, and performs. They most recently directed Beside Ourselves (2020) by .gif as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, and worked as an Assistant Director and Musician on Checkpoint Theatre's Displaced Persons' Welcome Dinner (2019) and Thick Beats for Good Girls (2018). ants also co-wrote, co-directed, and performed in Flamingos (2018), an original creative work which explored vulnerability and intimacy. They are interested in careful critique, disruptive play, and reimagining the social world.
Writer, Composer, Performer | Super Q
Inch Chua is an international recording and performing artist born in Singapore, educated in fine arts, and inducted into the music industry in Los Angeles. Her passion for the arts, wild places, and technology has led her to play at numerous festivals around the world and to experiment in a variety of art forms. An appreciator of good gin, random animal factoids, and dense film essays, Inch was a recipient of the National Youth Award in 2018 for her contributions in the arts and was recently awarded Best Sound at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2020 for her multisensory theatrical music production 'Til The End Of The World, We'll Meet In No Man's Land (2019). She is currently based in Singapore with her two cats and nursery of plants.
Writer, Composer, Performer | A Bit
Jo Tan is an actress, singer, and host who trained in Paris, and has performed internationally to audiences in New York, London, Beijing, and Yeosu. In Singapore, she won Best Actress at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2020 for her one-woman show Forked (2019), and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2018 for her performance in Checkpoint Theatre's FRAGO (2017). Additional television and film credits include Mediacorp Channel 5's 20 Days (2018), Scrum Tigers (2019), Channel 8’s Jalan Jalan (2018), Ho Tzu Nyen's Cannes official selection film, Here (2009), and Tiong Bahru Social Club (upcoming). Jo has also starred in various online productions including Daniel Yam's The Helper, and her self-penned King, featured in the T:>Works NOW Festival 2020.
Writer, Composer, Performer | And Then I Am Light
Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai is an actor, singer, and voiceover artist. Recent selected theatre credits include her critically acclaimed solo show, Building A Character (Wild Rice’s Singapore Theatre Festival 2018), Discord of Discourse (UK, 2018), The Art of Strangers’ Miss British (Esplanade’s The Studios 2019), Eloquence (in collaboration with Santiago, Chile, 2019), and Three Fat Virgins Unassembled (T:>Works, 2019), for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2020. Sangeetha has also written songs for the stage - in early 2019, she debuted her solo jazz concert Sangeetha Sings Sinatra: Live at the Esplanade. Her next concert, Sangeetha & Simone, is slated for 2020/21. Follow her quirky dogs and music @ms.dorai or msdorai.com.
Writer, Composer, Performer | Be Here, With Me
weish is a versatile artist whose work spans genres and disciplines. Her compositions have taken her around the globe –– from the Sundance Film Festival (US) to the Golden Melody Awards (Taiwan) –– and she has toured across Europe, Australia, and Asia as part of electronic duo .gif and experimental group sub:shaman. Other international collaborations include her construction of sound art installations in London and her work with DJs in Tokyo. As a theatre-maker, weish was the Musical Director for Checkpoint Theatre’s Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner (2019) and writer-performer in Beside Ourselves (2020), a form-bending production presented by .gif for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. In Two Songs and a Story, weish presents her most difficult work to date, laying bare a part of herself she never thought she could show anyone. More about her at wweishh.com.
Creator, Dramaturg, Co-Director, and Co-Producer
Huzir Sulaiman is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre. A critically acclaimed and award winning playwright, his Collected Plays 1998-2012 was published in 2013. His most recent play, Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner, was a commission of the 2019 Singapore International Festival of Arts. Recent directing credits include Thick Beats for Good Girls (2018), FRAGO (2017), The Good, the Bad and the Sholay (2015). Currently an Adjunct Associate Professor with the National University of Singapore’s University Scholars Programme, Huzir has taught playwriting at many other institutions. Huzir was educated at Princeton University, where he won the Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize, and is a Yale World Fellow.
Co-Director, Co-Director of Photography, and Editor
Joel Lim is a fashion and celebrity photographer who has been translating his eye from one frame to many, dedicating his time and passion for unique compositions to the moving image. Photographing stills for the past decade and directing commercial advertising for the past three years, his latest project with Checkpoint Theatre allows him to capture his love of performance for the screen.
1st Assistant Director
Isabella Goh is a filmmaker and theatre production coordinator who is interested in creating work that is immersive, poignant, and thought-provoking. She recently graduated from the University of Reading, UK with a BA in Film and Theatre.
Her most recent project with Checkpoint Theatre involved the planned filming of Lucas Ho’s play, The Heart Comes to Mind (2020). She was also the Assistant Production Coordinator for Eat Duck (2019) and FRAGO (2017). Isabella has worked on multiple short films in the UK. She directed, produced and co-wrote Chasing Clementine (2020) and ALTER (2019). The former received considerable notice and was shortlisted by Stardust Fantasy Film Festival.
She would like to thank Claire and Huzir for the trust and opportunities they've given to her over the years.
Sound Designer
Shah Tahir is a Sound Designer and Engineer who has been involved in various aspects of the audio and music industry for over 20 years. He has also arranged and composed for Mediacorp Channel 8 television series. Shah currently serves as the Audio Consultant and Sound Designer for the National Day Parade (2009-2020), corporate events and ‘live’ television broadcasts. His passion has led him to work on numerous theatrical productions with theatre companies such as Checkpoint Theatre, Dream Academy, Toy Factory, and Wild Rice.
Unit Production Manager
Izz Sumono is the Production (Senior Executive) at Checkpoint Theatre. She started out in the industry as a dresser, which later sparked her passion in the performing arts, leading to a role in production. Izz has worked on various stage productions and major events. She enjoys engaging in productions of different art forms and being part of the collaborative creative process.
Co-Producer
Claire Wong is the co-founder, Joint Artistic Director, and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre. She is trained in both Asian and Western performing arts, obtaining her Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University.
As a theatre director, Claire recently directed Lucas Ho's The Heart Comes to Mind (2020), Zenda Tan’s Eat Duck (2019), Huzir Sulaiman’s Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner (2019), commissioned by the Singapore International Festival of Arts, and Dana Lam’s Still Life (2019). As an actress, she has performed in landmark Singapore productions and in international arts festivals. She co-wrote and performed Recalling Mother (2009, 2016, 2017), which played in Singapore, New York, Brisbane and Adelaide.
ABOUT CHECKPOINT THEATRE
Checkpoint Theatre is a company of multi-disciplinary storytellers. We focus on creating and presenting original Singapore content with strong writing, performance and direction, across different media, disciplines and platforms.
With honesty and humour, head and heart, we produce and develop vibrant and important contemporary Asian stories that connect with, challenge, and inspire both local and international audiences. We are the home of new Singapore playwriting and we nurture the next generation of Singapore theatre-makers and creatives.
STAY IN TOUCH
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