The Studios - Fifty - 50 Plays. 5 Weeks. A Celebration.

What’s the story we want to convey with 50 plays? That was the question that we set out to answer when we embarked on this project that celebrates five decades of Singapore English Theatre. We subjected ourselves to months of discussions and debates before finally arriving at these plays chosen from a wide and diverse range of works in five decades of Singapore theatre history. Admittedly, there’s always that inevitable subjectivity in any selection. We do not purport that the 50 plays are the most representative works in the Singapore English Theatre canon. We only hope to present the story of Singapore Theatre by marking its perennial concerns and themes that have shaped the scene, shifts in practices and artistic trajectories either through a playwright’s oeuvre or in the scene in general, and cover the range of style that has characterised dramatic writing in Singapore. If we have indeed seen more with each succeeding generation of writers, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. With this special season of The Studios, we honour and celebrate all practitioners, past and present, for making what is Singapore English Theatre today. We would also like to thank all the directors, actors and designers involved in fifty, for lending their fresh interpretations and insights to these 50 plays. We hope the plays will continue to inspire a new generation of audiences and practitioners alike, and contribute to our collective memories.   

– Co-curator Chong Tze Chien and The Studios team

This special season of The Studios is presented by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Project managed by The Finger Players
Researched by Pearlyn Cai and Gracie Teo