Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance First Public Symposium
Topic: “Singapore Chinese Language Theatre, Now”
Centre 42, 42 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187951
30 January 2016 (Saturday), 3pm – 5pm

Pure Talents emcee Danny Yeo hosted the first public symposium by newly-formed 新华剧体 Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance (SCLTA) as a theatre practitioner, friend and close associate of the local Chinese theatre community.

SCLTA is a collective of practitioners invested in the contemporary Chinese language theatre scene in Singapore. The public symposium, conducted in Mandarin, addressed the topic on “Singapore Chinese Language Theatre, Now”.  Representatives from Drama Box, Nine Years Theatre, Paper Monkey Theatre, The Finger Players, The Theatre Practice and Toy Factory were there to present their views and sentiments, along with Associate Professor Quah Sy Ren as the commentator who gave closing remarks.

An alliance between practitioners and companies from the Chinese theatre community was last forged in the ’80s. An informal alliance between all the Chinese theatre then, its members include veterans such as the late Kuo Pao Kun and Han Laoda. The alliance was responsible for numerous collaborations, such as the seminal work “The White Sailing Boat” and “Wu La World” amongst others. This alliance between the companies however died off gradually when some groups went dormant and its members went their separate ways. Today, there are 6 full-time professional theatre companies that actively stage theatre productions delivered in Mandarin (with other languages such as dialect) as part of their regular season in Singapore.

There are many more independent Chinese artists and practitioners working alongside these companies. They too have contributed to the development of contemporary Chinese language theatre scene in Singapore. There is a community of practitioners who has a personal stake in the development of Chinese language theatre scene, especially in contemporary theatre-making in Singapore.

More about the Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance:

We, the Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance, are an alliance that is represented by companies, artists and practitioners from the Chinese contemporary theatre scene in Singapore. (Annex: Background Information)

The Alliance hopes to represent independent practitioners as well as theatre organisations invested in contemporary Chinese language theatre scene in Singapore.

The Alliance is open to all full-time theatre practitioners who have a stake in the growth and development of the contemporary Chinese language theatre scene in Singapore.

The Alliance hopes to represent all of its members in the following:

  1. Raise and address issues and concerns pertaining to the practice of contemporary Chinese language theatre in Singapore.
  2. To map/chart/document the development of contemporary theatre that is delivered in Mandarin (with other Chinese languages) via forums and other similar channels.
  3. To facilitate as well as initiate dialogue and partnerships between its various stakeholders for the interest of developing the growth of contemporary Chinese language theatre scene in Singapore.
  4. Partner interested parties and members of the public to generate interest and awareness of activities by practitioners and companies invested in the development of contemporary theatre practice delivered in Mandarin (with other Chinese languages).
  5. Investigate and explore the unique character of contemporary theatre practice that is delivered in Mandarin (with other Chinese languages) in Singapore via collaborations and partnerships between its members.
  6. The Alliance aims to foster exchanges between partners in Singapore and other international partners pertaining to issues relating to contemporary Chinese language theatre practice in Singapore and other countries.

新华剧体，是由活跃于华语当代剧场界的新加坡团体、艺术家和艺术工作者所组成的新加坡华语剧场联盟。 联盟希望不仅能代表独立的艺术工作者,也能代表投身于当代华语剧场的各个新加坡剧团。联盟欢迎致力于当代华语剧场的成长与发展的新加坡全职剧场工作者加入。联盟希望在以下几个方面代表它的成员: 1、提出并解决当代华语剧场在新加坡实践中的问题与关注点。 2、通过论坛与其它类似渠道，引领、计划并记录当代华语(和其它华人语言)剧场的发展进程。 3、为了新加坡华语当代剧场界的发展，发起并促进各方之间的对话与合作。 4、对于致力于发展新加坡当代华语(和其它华人语言)剧场的相关活动,联盟将协同有意愿的社会团体和个人,引起公众对于此类活动的兴趣与关注。 5、通过建立成员之间的合作伙伴关系，研究与探讨新加坡当代华语(和其它华人语言)剧场的特质。 6、联盟希望能够促进新加坡与国际上的伙伴之间的交流，就新加坡和其它国家当代华语剧场的相关问题进行沟通。

由艺术工作者和剧团组成的华语剧场联盟，历史可以追溯到上个世纪 80 年代。当时，华语剧场界组成了一个非正式联盟，成员包括了许多剧场前辈，如郭宝崑和韩劳达等。联盟也促成了许多合作，包括具有开创意义的《小白船》和《乌拉世界》等等。 然而，随着一些团体的沉寂，一些成员各奔东西，这个联盟逐渐瓦解。 如今，活跃在新加坡的其中6个全职专业剧团，经年累月地在其节目当中，积极呈献以华语(和其它方言)为媒介的剧场作品。 它们是:
戏剧盒
九年剧场
猴纸剧坊
十指帮
实践剧场
Toy 肥料厂

以上这些剧团，也许是90年代以来的新加坡当代华语剧场的中坚力量。除此之外，还有很多独立的艺术家和艺术工作者，他们同样对新加坡当代华语剧场的发展做出了贡献。 一大批艺术工作者，正在身体力行地投身于华语剧场界，尤其是新加坡当代剧场的实践当中。