THEATRE WORK — cheryl charli

ANAMNESIS

^{31st July – 3rd August 2021

Aliwal Arts Centre}

^{PLAYWRIGHT: CHERYL CHARLI | DIRECTOR: ISAIAH LEE | SET DESIGNER: ISAIAH LEE | SOUND DESIGNER: CHERYL CHARLI | SOUND OPERATOR: TAI NGEE CHIA | LIGHTING DEISGNER: SHAWN CHONG | STAGE MANAGER: AISYAH J. ISKANDAR | PRODUCERS: ISAIAH LEE & CHERYL CHARLI

IZZUL IRFAN AS BILLY BOB & EUGENE
CHERYL CHARLI AS JAMIE & ALICIA

ANAMNESIS derives its name from Roland Barthes’ ‘A Lover’s Discourse’ and bears the meaning “a recollection, especially of a supposed previous existence”.

The play explores the story of an estranged couple as they navigate different waves of loss in their family. Throughout the play, audiences will encounter the lived experiences of this couple and the afterlife of their children. By the end of the play, they must uncover the importance of holding onto each other in order to heal and progress from their traumatic history.

The original work was written by Cheryl Charli, and was performed by Izzul Irfan and Cheryl Charli. It was directed by Isaiah Lee, with sound design by Cheryl Charli, sound operation by Tai Ngee Chia, lighting design and operation by Shawn Chong, and produced by Isaiah Lee and Cheryl Charli. Publicity materials, the official poster, and programme booklet, were designed by Cheryl Charli. ANAMNESIS brought together various freelance artists in an independent production that foregrounds the challenge of navigating a new world in spite of past grievances. This production was supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore and the Arts Fund, and powered by the National Youth Council Young Change Makers.

SYNOPSIS

A theatrical homage to love and its resilience, ANAMNESIS explores love’s tenacity and its relation to the presence and absence of memory amidst circumstances of destabilising loss and psychological displacement. This play invites audiences into the lives of two Singaporean characters whose relationship is tested as they undergo various periods of change and transitions in their lives while holding onto each other and themselves. It interrogates the adversities of the human condition and the tenacity of individuals and families in times of psychological, mental and emotional disasters. ANAMNESIS is a response to forces of destabilisation, as well as a reflection of the importance and resilience of love against the undercurrents of transition and change as love succumbs to the aftermath of trauma, and the impermanence of things, and memory.

ADVISORY

Mature themes. Content Warning: Suicide, depression, mental illness, pregnancy and miscarriage, domestic issues, homophobia, death.

DURATION

Approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.}

> VIEW PROGRAMME BOOKLET

> LISTEN TO PRODUCTION SOUND DESIGN

C42 ARTIST RESIDENCY: THE VAULT LITE – REHEARSALS FOR (IM)PERMANANCE

^{4th July – 7th July 2019}

^{CHERYL CHARLI AS ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

Cheryl‘s personal reflection piece: > READ
Artist interview: > READ

In this artist residency, the play Rehearsals for (Im)permanence was a collaboration devised and written by Cheryl Charli with research by Isaiah Lee, based on local playwright Chong Tze Chien’s scripts ‘POOP!’ and ‘The Book of Living and Dying’. The proposed research title, ‘Reframing the Absurdism of Hell: Exonerating the Subaltern Syntax of Silence in Chong Tze Chien’s ‘POOP!’ (2009-10) for a Post-Pandemic Singapore’, poses the question ‘How does the relationship between absurdism and alienation, negotiated in Chong Tze Chien’s Poop!, reimagine an afterlife for trauma in post-pandemic Singapore?’.

Postmodern drama, which embodies an incredulity toward metanarratives and linear thought, confronts trauma through absurdism. In estranging realities from expectations, Chong’s work reconciles the rift between an initial position of trauma and a progression toward a future reality which must move on from that traumatic encounter. That is, Brecht’s alienation effect achieved in ‘POOP!’ reimagines ways of negotiating trauma in post-pandemic Singapore. Through a research process that looks specifically at voices of alterity and marginalised narratives in ‘POOP!’, we aim to devise a new work that responds to the negotiation of a new normal in a destabilised world after trauma.

In the process of writing this script, inspiration was taken from Buddhist philosophy and cosmology. In particular, the concept of death and the afterlife drew inspiration from ‘The Tibetian Book of Living and Dying’.}

^{ABOUT THE CENTRE42 ARTIST RESIDENCY

‘The Vault: Lite’ was an eight-week residency aimed at the creation of contemporary responses to Singapore Theatre classics. The pilot edition of The Vault: Lite saw five projects selected from an open call, each responding to a play of their choice.

Since January 2021, the artists-in-residence of The Vault: Lite — Cheryl Tan and Isaiah Lee, Ke Weiliang, Lim Si Hui, Lim Shien Hian and Ruzaini Mazani — have been exploring and experimenting with local plays along the theme “A Whole New World?”, inspired by monumental changes to human lives brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic since 2019.

At the end of the residency, the artists shared their ideas and interpretations of the plays through reimagined contexts, mediums and genres.}

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN,
SOMETHING MUST HAPPEN

^{4th July – 7th July 2019

Aliwal Arts Centre}

^{PLAYWRIGHTS: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND EDITH PODESTA | DIRECTOR: EDITH PODESTA | SET DESIGNER: EDITH PODESTA | SOUND DESIGNER: BANI HAYKAL | LIGHTING DEISGNER: TAI ZI FENG | COSTUME COORDINATOR: THERESA CHAN | PRODUCTION MANAGER: MELISSA TEOH | STAGE MANAGER: MIRABEL NEO | PRODUCER: TONY TRICKETT

CHERYL CHARLI AS MALCOLM & ENSEMBLE

SYNOPSIS

“I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.” – The Empty Space, Peter Brook

An empty space. 19 actors. An audience.

Is that all it takes for a theatrical event to happen? What is theatre? And can it exist without an audience?

In the brand-new Studio @ WILD RICE, a hitherto empty space, Young & W!LD invites you to enter a world of theatrical ideas and possibilities. Through a constellation of words and images, the company unpacks how theatre is made and how it helps us make sense of the world in which we live.

Written by acclaimed theatre-maker Edith Podesta in collaboration with Young & W!LD, Anything Can Happen/Something Must Happen is playful, inventive and experimental – a thrilling experience that asks you to suspend your disbelief as you help us transform an empty space into a theatre.}

WITHOUT REASON

^{2 Aug — 4 Aug 2017

Drama Centre Blackbox}

^{PLAYWRIGHT: SIM YAN YING | DIRECTOR: ADIB KOSNAN | PRODUCERS: KE WEILIANG WITH ARTSWOK COLLECTIVE | STAGE MANAGER: NATASHA MAY AND NATASHA LAU | PERFORMED BY: CHERYL CHARLI AND HAFIDZ ABDUL RAHMAN

CHERYL CHARLI AS WEI YI

SYNOPSIS

A classic boy-meets-girl story in modern day Singapore. Or is it? Without Reason explores the challenges of an inter-racial relationship where a Chinese girl and a Malay boy struggle to overcome cultural differences, reconcile religious beliefs, and manage the expectations of friends and family. This coming-of-age story takes you on an unforgettable quest for love and the search for identity.

M1 Peer Pleasure Youth Theatre Festival 2017 presented by ArtsWok Collaborative, in collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Originally written and devised under the mentorship of Buds Youth Theatre programme 2014, and received further developmental support from Centre42.}

THEATRE

ANAMNESIS

C42 ARTIST RESIDENCY: THE VAULT LITE – REHEARSALS FOR (IM)PERMANANCE

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, SOMETHING MUST HAPPEN

THE MOON IS LESS BRIGHT

WITHOUT REASON

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN,
SOMETHING MUST HAPPEN