In the Press

$150m culture fund top-up could draw new donors: Groups

'Intercultural Theatre Institute general manager Goh Su Lin said the fund "has not just attracted but deepened donors' commitment" to the school.

The school uses contributions by individuals like lawyer Philip Jeyaretnam and corporates such as EFG Bank Singapore, together with money from the fund, to create student scholarships, and increase and improve its studios and training rooms. 

... Said the Intercultural Theatre Institute's Ms Goh: "We hope that the Cultural Matching Fund will not just be a short-term initiative, but will also become an integral part of the cultural philanthropy landscape in Singapore."'

- The Straits Times

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'Writers should be free to draw from other cultures'

'How an artist draws from the cultures of others is important, says Mr T. Sasitharan, director of the Intercultural Theatre Institute.

"This freedom of the artist to use an aspect of some culture other than his own carries with it a serious and profound responsibility to understand and be sensitive to its context, history and politics," he adds.

"In the final analysis, it comes down to artistic empathy, creativity and craft. The way in which diverse cultural elements hang together in a work and how they are received is precisely the line which separates the artists from the pretenders, the artists from the appropriators."'

- The Straits Times

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Poems inspire works in other media

'Theatre student Henrik Cheng, who is at the Intercultural Theatre Institute, will transform Rasiah Halil's Warkah Untuk Ibu (An Epistle for Mother).'

- The Straits Times

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Spike in arts attendance last year

'Of the proposed change, Ms Goh Su Lin, general manager of the Intercultural Theatre Institute, a Major Grant recipient, said: "It is encouraging that different types of artistic work and contribution, and their different challenges and needs, are being acknowledged."'

- The Straits Times

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More Singaporeans supported the arts last year: Survey

'Mr Kenneth Kwok, NAC’s director for strategic planning and arts and youth, explained: “The arts scene has evolved and we don’t think a single framework can accommodate everyone.

“We do feel that there are arts groups that want to focus more on bridging work like audience development and audience outreach, targeting specific communities like the disabled and seniors.

“There are also art groups like the Intercultural Theatre Institute that do intermediary work, really helping the industry to grow.

“We are hoping that by having these customised tracks, we can encourage more people to say this is what they want to specialise in, this is what they want to do, and get NAC to help them to do it well,” he added.'

- TODAY

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Review: Plaything of the Gods by Intercultural Theatre Institute

'Have you ever wondered just how in control of your life you are? Plaything of the Gods is literally about that – hypothesising that human beings are simply puppets, providing entertainment value for higher beings.

Written and directed by Bambang ‘Besur’ Suryono, ITI’s full-time faculty member, Plaything of the Gods is a theatrical production based on the traditional Indonesian dance Wayang Wong and is set in contemporary times. Wayang Wong traditionally uses human actors to take on the what would usually be puppets’ roles, depicting stories from the Hindu Ramayana and Mahabharata. Performances like this contemporary version use a combination of dance, music, drama, art and mask work to create a completed piece of theatrical movement. This piece in particular plays on the meta-theatrical role actors take as puppets, and uses the performers to question who really is the puppet and the puppet master.'

- Bak Chor Mee Boy

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Shadow-play and tribal calls mesmerise

'Graduating students of the Intercultural Theatre Institute revisit their roots and play with traditions of throat-singing and Javanese theatrical dance in their second production this year.

Plaything Of The Gods runs at the Malay Heritage Centre from Thursday to Saturday. Loosely based on characters and stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the work is directed by Indonesian director and dancer Bambang Besur Suryono and devised by seven students from Brazil, Hong Kong, India and Singapore.

With cast and director bringing elements of their heritage to the production, Plaything Of The Gods unites Indian poetry, Indonesian wayang wong (traditional theatre), as well as shadow-play. There is also Besur's mesmerising speciality: tribal, animalistic calls that resonate from within the entire body - not just the throat.'

- The Straits Times

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Profile: T Sasitharan

'Art is a passion for many, but few know that passions can exact a price. Just ask Thirunalan Sasitharan.

Cultural Medallion recipient Sasitharan (or Sasi as he is better known) has been involved with theatre since the ’70s, but he always had an alternative mainstay — first as a student, next as lecturer of Philosophy, followed by arts editor for The Straits Times Life! Then in 1995, his friend and mentor, the late Kuo Pao Kun, a fellow Cultural Medallion recipient, asked him to take over as The Substation’s artistic director.

... It was partly Sasi’s own feelings of unpreparedness that made him accept Kuo’s next challenge just five years later: to co-start Singapore’s first school for theatre actors, the Theatre Training & Research Programme, now renamed Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI).'

- The A-List

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Boiler Room welcomes bigger batch

Alumnus Al-Matin Yatim will join Centre 42's Boiler Room programme this year, along with Zee Wong, Isaac Lim, Timothy Nga and Christian W. Huber.

'Al-Matin's play investigates existence through a character who grapples with the spiritual reasons for his existence. It is an expansion of a monologue he wrote last year for his final term at the Intercultural Theatre Institute and had hoped to develop into a play.

His lack of experience in scriptwriting - Al-Matin is more used to acting - had him shying away from it for a while. But now that he is part of the Boiler Room, "I am sure I'll be receiving a lot of useful advice for the script to bloom", he says.'

- The Straits Times

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M1 Chinese Theatre Festival moves to Theatre Practice’s new Waterloo home

Alumna Melissa Leung is the co-creator of Fleet, which opens this year's M1 Chinese Theatre Festival.

'For theatre practitioners Janice Sze and Melissa Leung, it was the pain of losing a loved one recently that raised questions about life and death and led them to co-create Fleet.

Hong Konger Leung, 39, education director at The Theatre Practice, approached Chinese director Liu Xiaoyi, who is known for his experimental, non-linear approach to theatre, to work on the piece. Liu directed The Struggle: Years Later, a re-adaptation of late theatre pioneer Kuo Pao Kun's 1969 play The Struggle, at last year's festival.'

- The Straits Times

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