2008年3月16日

SENIORS TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE

SENIORS TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE
LIFE!
The Straits Times
Thursday, March 13, 2008

If you're a 50-something, The Necessary Stage believes you have what it takes to be a star

Adeline Chia
ARTS REPORTER

SEVERAL theatre companies here have set up youth wings to groom a new
generation of actors but The Necessary Stage (TNS) is doing something
different: It is setting up a seniors wing.

The 21-year-old company is recruiting people over 50 for the group,
which is expected to become an independent entity after three years.
Interviews start at the end of the month.

The seniors group is partly funded by the Go! Fund administered by the
Council for Third Age, an independent body which champions active
ageing. The fund is administered on behalf of the Ministry of Community
Development, Youth and Sports.

The council will fund 80 per cent of the new group's expenditure for
the first year, 70 per cent for the second and 60 per cent for the
third.

Alvin Tan, 45, TNS' artistic director, says he wanted to set up the
group to "tap into the elderly's cultural capital".

"People in their 50s have a lot of stories to tell and rich life
experiences to bring to the stage," he says. "They have a lot to share,
but they don't have listeners."

He adds that the new group will also be a creative outlet for the
elderly, who have a limited range of recreational activities after
retirement.

"How many one-day trips to the otak factory can they make?" he says.
"It's very sad that the elderly are seen as unproductive and relegated
to one side."

Those who have the singing or acting bug can apply and so can people
who can write, do arts management or backstage work.

"We're looking for people with passion, who can come into a social
setting and share. It doesn't matter what ethnicity you are or what
language you speak."

If all goes according to plan, this will be the first professional
theatre group for the elderly in Singapore.

Currently, there is only an amateur group called Glowers. It comprises
30 members aged 50 or older, and puts on sketches for free outreach
programmes by government organisations.

It is housed under the Centre For Seniors, a voluntary welfare group
which promotes positive attitudes towards ageing.

Tan has big plans for his group.

He has roped in established theatre practitioners Julius Foo and Jean
Ng to run the workshops.

For a fee of $30 a month, the elderly participants will learn about
acting, directing, playwriting, arts administration, technical and
production-related skills.

Based on their capabilities and talents, they will then specialise as
actors, singers, managers or backstage crew.

After six months of workshops, some of the participants will shadow the
administrative team in TNS for practical training to have hands-on
experience in mastering the ropes of running a theatre company.

The seniors' first production is slated for March or April next year.

After three years, the drama group should register itself as a society
of company, and break free from its parent company.

"Hopefully, by then, we'll have a pool of older talent in theatre. We
can't always wait for our few young actors to grow old before we cast
them for older roles," says Tan.

> chiahta@sph.com.sg

> Interviews for the theatre group for elders will take place at The
Necessary Stage Black Box, Marine Parade Community Building, on March
30, 11am to 7pm, and March 31, 7 to 10pm. For more details, call Chok
Shin Ni on 6440-8115 or email outreach@necessary.org

"PEOPLE IN THEIR 50S HAVE A LOT OF STORIES TO TELL AND
RICH LIFE EXPERIENCES TO BRING TO THE STAGE"
Artistic director Alvin Tan

艺树人 ARTivate  

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关于艺树人

艺树人是本地剧场戏剧盒旗下的青年部，由12位充满热忱的年轻人组成的团体。我们希望能通过戏剧对各阶层的民众有更深入的了解和联系。

艺树人的创立是为了提供青年一个多方面训练的平台。通过三年的培训，艺树人希望能培育处一群拥有文化和社会意识的本地戏剧实践者。

我们使用一个名为O-A-O-R （ Orientation – Artistic – Organisation – Regeneration/ 定向 – 艺术性 – 组织 – 再生 ）的模式，让青年们得到的不仅是艺术方面的训练，也学习组织群体和制作管理的技能。除此之外，他们会接触到各种类的戏剧，例如论坛剧场、新闻剧场等等。他们同时还会接受其他艺术形体的培训，如音乐和多媒体。

除了提高社会问题的认识和讨论，艺树人希望能质问及挑战人们的思维，并改变大众对低下层或边缘族群的一些刻板观念，让单方向的独白转化成双方都能参与的对话。

2012 年将会是第一届艺树人青年的最后一年。我们将会在毕业前呈现一部作品，而灵感来至于高行健的《车站》。这作品会是艺树人培训三年来的精髓，也是我们对于原作和现今社会的反思。

About ARTivate

ARTivate - the youth wing of local theatre company Drama Box - is made up of a group of 12 passionate youths who aims to reach out to the community through the arts.

ARTivate was first established with the aim to provide a platform for youths who want to explore and gain all-rounded insight into theatre. Through a three-year program, ARTivate hopes to nurture a group of youths into cultured and socially aware theatre-practitioners in Singapore.

Using an O-A-O-R (Orientation-Artistic-Organization-Regeneration) model, these youths are trained not only artistically but also in organizational skills and production management. They will be exposed to different forms of theatre such as Forum Theatre and Newspaper Theatre. They will also be trained in other art forms such as music and multimedia.

Besides bringing awareness to the themes explored, ARTivators hopes to question, probe or even challenge minds. They want to engage audiences in discussion – to turn monologues into dialogues.

As 2012 will the last year of the pioneer batch of ARTivate youths, they will be putting up a piece of performance, Bus Stop, inspired by “Bus Stop” written by renowned playwright, Gao Xing Jian. This performance will be a collation of the trainings the youths had undergone for the past 3 years, as well as a critical perspective and evaluation of the script, in reference to the current society the youths are in.