Communities can be a mystery to us. They can be hard to break into (or out of), hard to love, hard to fathom. In this triple bill, we examine the mystery surrounding communities. Whether it’s a group of people trapped on an unknown island, folks building a city together, or the voices that drive us, we ask “What implicit invitations do we extend?”
Featuring:
SecondHand Improv (Philippines)
Unrelated characters from disconnected places suddenly find themselves trapped on the same location (whose peculiarity is defined by an audience prompt). With their lives and their sanity at stake, they must find a way out. As they navigate through conflict, they also navigate their way around each other. There will be tension. There will be laughter. There might even be some singing. Community can come from anywhere: even strangers of unrelated backgrounds, brought together by random circumstances, can form connections and learn to rely on each other. SecondHand Improv is made up of seasoned alumni of Third World Improv, the premiere improv school in the Philippines.
The Rotten Grapes (Vietnam)
A city is automatically some sort of a community where people share a living place, interact with each other, pass each other on the street or just never have a chance to meet in their lifetimes. This show will explore different kinds of interpersonal dynamics in an unknown town/city, why some people stay, why some people leave, and why some have stronger connections with certain persons than others. Explore a city and what could possibly happen in that city, as we unravel its mysteries, piecing together the architecture of the city in collaboration with the audience. The Rotten Grapes is the pioneer and longest-running improv group in Vietnam. They bring their highly interactive show experience to the theatrical life of Hanoi.
Citizens of the World (International)
Inspired by a book, “What Makes Us Tick - The Ten Desires That Drive Us”, by social commentator, Hugh Mackay, this show explores the mystery of our minds and what cycles around in our stream of consciousness in our quiet moments, in particular while driving. Intercutting between the thoughts of the ‘drivers’ and the scenes from their lives, the audience is exposed to both the internal and external world of the ‘drivers’ at once, in this show that is sometimes dramatic and sometimes comedic, but always ruthlessly honest. Directed by Nick Byrne (Australia), who relentlessly travels to teach/direct/perform in 40 countries to date, the Citizens of the World gather together in Singapore to help us realise that understanding each other is as easy as choosing to do so. The show by Citizens of the World will feature workshop participants from Nick Byrne’s workshop ’Drivers’.