In the Press

Preview: a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be by Intercultural Theatre Institute

'Following their devised production The Peculiar Tra La back in March, the newest graduating cohort of the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) are back this September with yet another brand new play for their second production of the year.

Created by Australian playwright Andrew Sutherland, a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be plays at the Drama Centre Black Box from 5th to 7th September, and is set to explore the ever growing issue of climate change, as it excavates human relationships with other humans, animals and nature. As the weather changes, fishes die, beaches disappear and palm trees fall, a mother searches for a lost son, humans look for otters, and a merlion keeps track of change. Is it an inevitable timeline we’re following through, or a deadline of doom that we’re inching ever closer towards – a line that could be crossed…or one we already have.'

- Bak Chor Mee Boy

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Interview with Koh Wan Ching, Director of a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be

'In the latest public showcase by the graduating cohort of Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), they will be presenting a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be, a new play by Australian playwright, Andrew Sutherland.

According to him, the play “attempts to untangle difficult concepts of futurity and futurelessness against the imminent existential threat of climate futures. From the natural to the interpersonal, the play contends with the deep exhaustions and ambivalences of witness and memory.”

To find out more about the play, I spoke to the director of the production, Koh Wan Ching.'

- Isaac Tan

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Breathing life into actors

'Venu had made the initial attempt to draft an actor training programme based on Indian acting traditions in 2005 following the suggestion of [T. Sasitharan], Director of TTRP (Theatre Training and Research Programme) in Singapore, which later became the Intercultural Theatre Institute - ITI. From 2012, ‘Navarasa Sadhana’ has been incorporated into their training.'

- The Hindu

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Review: The Peculiar Tra La by Intercultural Theatre Institute

'This act of reflection, of cultural exchange and interactivity is perhaps the cornerstone of ITI itself as these seemingly disparate people come together and create a single cohesive performance together.'

- Bak Chor Mee Boy

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Un-sian Weekends: Mar 15 - 17

'At ITI, students are awarded a Professional Diploma in Intercultural Theatre (Acting) after a three-year program. Scrolling through their alumni page is testament to the level of talent entering the thriving local theatre scene.

The Peculiar Tra La is a student production from the graduating class of the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI). It is an original production that weaves together legends, riddles and the actors’ individual stories with ITI’s unique intercultural training. I can only imagine the amount of work put into writing a cohesive script incorporating each actor’s background, then having to pull it all together to stage a full production.'

- Junk Asia

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Preview: The Peculiar Tra La by Intercultural Theatre Institute

'As the new year begins, so comes another batch of Intercultural Theatre Institute students into their graduating year, as they begin their final year of training with a brand new devised work.

Under the guidance of veteran director Ang Gey Pin, the new graduating cohort of actor-students from ITI have devised The Peculiar Tra La, an imaginary liminal zone of the familiar yet unfamiliar, the in-between space where legends, riddles and personal anecdote come together in a single, whimsical journey into the imagination and beyond.'

- Bak Chor Mee Boy

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The story so far

'The most enchanting play of the international segment of this festival was Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken. It was presented by the artists of Jangama, a collective of five artists trained at the Intercultural Theatre Institute, Singapore. Mostly a speechless production, it depends on the breath, gaze, movement, etc. of the actors, ignoring the dialogues of the script almost totally! Directed by young directors Sankar Venkateswaran, even the music was used very sparingly in it.

Sankar said, “Human beings spend only around 20% of their time speaking; the rest of the time is in the sphere of silence. Our theatres do not represent that silent aspect of existence enough. They are mostly caught up with language, rhetoric, and text. Also, as a country, as much as the languages offer windows, they also create walls and barriers. So, the language of silence can work across different cultures – I like to explore of the vulnerability of that realm of existence on stage. We should resist loudness in theatre, and concentrate more on small actions, breath, gaze, movement, etc. We should learn to understand the loudness of silence!”

His ‘frames’ in the play were sculpture-like, while “inspiration for the movement was taken from the slow-motion theatre styles of Noh from Japan and Wayang from Indonesia,” said Lakshmana, who played Rubek in this play.'

- The Hindu

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ITI’s “Extremities”: Routes for Escape and Redemption

'In this staging of William Mastrosimone’s Extremities, directed by Aarne Neeme and performed by the Intercultural Theatre Institute’s graduating class of 2018, the assertion of power, control and violence that is at the heart of sexual assault plays out swiftly and fully in front of us, leaving us with little option but to bear witness, with our eyes and our ears, unless we choose to leave the theatre. Once the initial shock of the thwarted rape attempt eases a little, we are confronted with the play’s central dilemma — there’s no evidence, just her word against his. Now what?'

- Arts Equator

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Theatre Review: ITI’s Extremities Challenges Misconceptions About Sexual Assault

'This might be a graduation performance, but it is no less powerful than one performed by veterans... Extremities is not something I’m likely to forget anytime soon.'

- City Nomads

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Preview: Extremities by Intercultural Theatre Institute

'It’s been a long time coming, but the time has finally come for the latest batch of Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) students to graduate. For students Caroline Chin, Hau Guei Sze (a.k.a. Zizi), Lakshmana KP and Pooja Mohanraj, this will come in the form of their final production of the year, Extremities.'

- Bak Chor Mee Boy

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