COMMUNITY
EXPERIENCING SINGAPORE'S PAST ONSTAGE
22 Jun 2007
Learning Singapore's history from textbooks is one thing; living it onstage as a character from the past is another matter altogether.
That is what Nick Tanusaputra is finding out for himself as he and his team mates from Hougang Secondary School prepare for the Drama of History Competition, organised by the National Museum of Singapore.
The 14-year-old belongs to one of the 20 teams taking part in the semi-finals on 6 Jul, with lower and upper secondary school groups competing in two separate categories.
For this nationwide contest, presented this year by the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation, students must research, write and stage their own 10-minute plays based on a topic or character in Singapore's history, after viewing the museum's mixed-media exhibits.
The top three plays in each category, to be determined in the finals on 20 Jul, will be restaged for the public on 9 Aug at the museum's Gallery Theatre.
Local theatre director Natalie Hennedige; actor and lecturer Nora Samosir; and Sim Wan Hui, a curator at the museum, will be judging the finals.
Aimed at getting students to engage critically with the country's history and culture, the competition used to be held by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for secondary two students in the Gifted Education Programme (GEP).
"As 2004 was the last year that MOE had organised it due to falling GEP enrolment, we decided to develop a larger-scaled competition that will be open to all secondary schools," said Rosedini Abdul Rahim, an assistant programming manager at the museum.
Hennedige was among those tasked with choosing 10 semi-finalists for each category from a pool of 62 entries.
She was also busy putting the participants through a three-hour intensive workshop on performance and staging, which includes activities covering aspects of spatial awareness, characterisation and physicality.
"I wanted to make it clear that this is not mathematics or science, where you use a formula to get the right answer," noted the 32-year-old, who set up Cake Theatrical Productions in 2005.
"They have to keep exploring. I also gave them ideas about how they can explore and how they can unpack their scripts to make it more dynamic on the floor."
She sees "tremendous potential" and "a keen sense of fun and enthusiasm" in the students, and feels that her participation in the competition keeps her "in touch with young Singaporeans and their perspectives on how things have developed over time in Singapore".
Hougang Secondary School student Ng Xiao Hui is one young Singaporean who has found the competition an "educational and interesting" experience so far.
"It helps us broaden our knowledge of Singapore's history, how people felt at the time, and the environment they were living in," said the 14-year-old prefect.
As for Tanusaputra, who has lived in Singapore since 1998, being able to win the contest would be "a big thing" for him.
"Being in the play makes me feel like I'm in the shoes of someone who has experienced the real thing, not just something I've read in books," said the Indonesian national.
That is what Nick Tanusaputra is finding out for himself as he and his team mates from Hougang Secondary School prepare for the Drama of History Competition, organised by the National Museum of Singapore.
The 14-year-old belongs to one of the 20 teams taking part in the semi-finals on 6 Jul, with lower and upper secondary school groups competing in two separate categories.
For this nationwide contest, presented this year by the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation, students must research, write and stage their own 10-minute plays based on a topic or character in Singapore's history, after viewing the museum's mixed-media exhibits.
The top three plays in each category, to be determined in the finals on 20 Jul, will be restaged for the public on 9 Aug at the museum's Gallery Theatre.
Local theatre director Natalie Hennedige; actor and lecturer Nora Samosir; and Sim Wan Hui, a curator at the museum, will be judging the finals.
Aimed at getting students to engage critically with the country's history and culture, the competition used to be held by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for secondary two students in the Gifted Education Programme (GEP).
"As 2004 was the last year that MOE had organised it due to falling GEP enrolment, we decided to develop a larger-scaled competition that will be open to all secondary schools," said Rosedini Abdul Rahim, an assistant programming manager at the museum.
Hennedige was among those tasked with choosing 10 semi-finalists for each category from a pool of 62 entries.
She was also busy putting the participants through a three-hour intensive workshop on performance and staging, which includes activities covering aspects of spatial awareness, characterisation and physicality.
"I wanted to make it clear that this is not mathematics or science, where you use a formula to get the right answer," noted the 32-year-old, who set up Cake Theatrical Productions in 2005.
"They have to keep exploring. I also gave them ideas about how they can explore and how they can unpack their scripts to make it more dynamic on the floor."
She sees "tremendous potential" and "a keen sense of fun and enthusiasm" in the students, and feels that her participation in the competition keeps her "in touch with young Singaporeans and their perspectives on how things have developed over time in Singapore".
Hougang Secondary School student Ng Xiao Hui is one young Singaporean who has found the competition an "educational and interesting" experience so far.
"It helps us broaden our knowledge of Singapore's history, how people felt at the time, and the environment they were living in," said the 14-year-old prefect.
As for Tanusaputra, who has lived in Singapore since 1998, being able to win the contest would be "a big thing" for him.
"Being in the play makes me feel like I'm in the shoes of someone who has experienced the real thing, not just something I've read in books," said the Indonesian national.
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