By Wong Kah Wei
Theatrecraft was formed by a group of NUS staff and students who were interested in “anything related to theatre” (Singapore Undergrad, 1981). Launched on 7 August 1981, the group was started by Dr David Ian Birch of the NUS English Language and Literature Department (Birch, 1981/82). Theatrecraft was not a registered student society or club but was considered “an appendix” of the English Language and Literature Department. There were no membership fees nor auditions. The only requirement was enthusiasm. Theatrecraft was all about “accepting people as they are”, offering them “a channel for expressing their talents” (Singapore Undergrad, 1981).
In a memo to all Heads of NUS departments, societies and units, Birch welcomed interested NUS staff, students and interested people associated with NUS to join Theatrecraft. Birch stated that Theatrecraft aimed to “bring theatre to every corner of the campus; at frequent intervals” (Birch, 1981/82). Each performance was either a full-length play or a fifteen-minute mime held in a lecture theatre or outdoors. The play could be a medieval mystery or avant-garde improvisation. The memo was accompanied by a poster listing areas in which students or staff could participate in, such as local or non-local plays, stories, poems, experimental theatre, dance, song or even stage management, direction, costumes, make-up, lighting or sound.
The initial two meetings of Theatrecraft were held in SR 115 at the English Language and Literature Department. According to Birch’s report on Theatrecraft’s first year of activities (1981/1982), about 130 students and staff attended the two meetings. It was at these meetings that the programme for the academic year of 1981/1982 was established. There were nine plays performed from September to December of 1981. Rehearsals for the first play – “Virginia and the Dirty Old Man” and four Medieval Miracle Plays took off in August and September 1981. Theatre workshops were held weekly (and then later to fortnightly) at Birch’s house every Friday evening. During these workshops, students had acting exercises, rehearsal warm-up exercises and so on. These workshops continued for three months and were intended “to gauge how to organise the workshops in future years”. The workshops also attracted non-university people.
Referring to Birch’s report on Theatrecraft’s first year of activities, here is a list of plays which were performed by Theatrecraft. Almost all the scripts are held in NUS Libraries collection. Through preserving these playscripts, we hope interested theatre enthusiasts in our community would have fun staging and performing these plays as Birch and the folks of Theatrecraft did.
Virginia and the Dirty Old Man
Performed on 30 September and 1 October 1981 at 1:15pm
Moot Court, Faculty of Law
A dramatization by Anthea Gupta of Goh Sin Tub’s short story of the same title, the play was the first of Theatrecraft’s lunch-time performance on campus. Both Goh’s short story which is published in a compilation entitled Singapore Short Stories (1978) and the playscript are in NUS Libraries’ collection. The play tells of Virginia Goh, a young secretary, who was fired from her job. She turns to Augustus Wong, a civil servant, for help to address her wrongful dismissal, accusing her ex-employer, Mr Thambiah, of being a “dirty old man”. Augustus summons Mr Thambiah to demand one month’s salary in lieu of notice for Virginia. The actors include Francis Pavri, Yong Chong Hee, Cheong Kum Ying, Helena Tang and Charan Singh. The play was directed by Sally Seah Yak Am and, produced by David Birch.
A Series of Four Medieval Miracle Plays
Performed from 13-16 October 1981 at 1:15pm
Canteen at Library Forum
Although NUS Libraries does not hold the playscripts of the four Medieval Miracle plays which Birch had translated and adapted, the press provided reviews of the four plays.
The four plays were adapted from the book of Genesis in the Bible—“The Creation”, “The Fall of Man”, “Noah’s Flood” and ‘The Judgement”. Each play started with a procession through the university’s grounds winding to the Library’s Forum (Straits Times, 20 August 1981, page 5). The 20-30 students and staff who paraded “in the brightest and gaudiest costumes to strains of medieval music” was indeed a strange and “most colourful and exciting” sight to behold (Birch, 1981/82).
The plays were performed at the open air canteen at Library Forum (yes, there was a canteen at the Forum in 1981) during lunch time for 30 minutes. In the play “The Creation”, Theatrecraft used the Forum’s tiered steps to show the players descending from Heaven, Earth, the Garden of Eden and Hell. A review of the plays was reported in New Nation, 15 October 1981 on Page 22 giving a description of the costumes, props and the music. Another review in The Straits Times, 15 October 1981, Page 4 wrote about the reactions from the lunch time crowd.
The large cast of actors included Kenneth Chiew, Wang Ah Yoke, Anne Kang, Jamal Abdul Jalil, Karen de Conceicao, Norman Yap, Christine Loh, Evelyn Chew, Marion Fernandez, Emma Ammehaya Osman, Gillian Khoo, Fong Weng Keong, Anthea Gupta, Alex Tay, Ann Ratna Manickam, Eleanor Wong, Hope Wee, David Bloom, Tan See Kam, Julie Tay and Linda de Mello. The master of ceremonies, clown and parade leaders was Sim Ngee Mong.
The Gloaming, Oh My Darling and Have You Met Our Rabbit?
Performed on 28 and 29 November 1981 at 7:30pm
Marine Parade Library Auditorium
As part of NUS Literary Society’s “Stop At Two” programme, both were one-act plays. The Gloaming, Oh Darling was written by Megan Terry while “Have You Met Our Rabbit?” was by by Michael Stevens. The actors included Linda de Mello, Cheong Kim Ying, Freddy Medina, Rahil Ismail, Wong Chee Sing, Julie Tay, Wong Swee Moi, Karen de Conceicao, Norman Yap and Emma Ammehaya Osman. The directors included David Birch, Wee Bee Lim and Linda de Mello.
Koyak Lah!
Performed on Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Faculty Day, 3 December 1981 at 12 noon
Library Forum
This was a satire on campus life written by David Bloom. The working playscript is in NUS Libraries’ collection. The play starts with Dr Victor Ramsbottom entering a lecture theatre. He then proceeds to chat with his students while holding a banana to his ear. Two administrators who are enamored by Dr Ramsbottom’s “lecture” persuade him to be a judge in a “Keep Your Shoes Clean” Skit Competition. The play ends with with the slogan “Clean shoes! Clean minds! And a Better Tomorrow!”. The cast include David Bloom as Dr Victor Ramsbottom, Yong Chong Hee, Julie Tay, Christina Loh, Gillian Khoo, Francis Pavri, David Birch, Anthea Gupta, Eric Lee, Jamal Abdul Jalil and so on.
Sing a Song of Mankind
Performed on 15 December 1981 at 7:30pm
Fort Canning
Presented as part of the NUS Literary Society’s Poetry and Music Evenings, the dramatic presentation was accompanied with slides of Lee Tzu Pheng’s satirical nursery rhymes of the same title which were adapted by David Birch, Julie Tay, Francis Pavri and Anthea Gupta. The cast included Anthea Gupta, Francis Pavri, Fok Jun Ee and Julie Tay. The NUS Library’s Reprographic Services was acknowledged, presumably, because the department was involved in the slide production.
Conduct Unbecoming
Performed in July 1982
This is a working script written by David Birch for the Courtesy Campaign in 1982. The play starts with four actors seated in a semi-circle with presumably, the tape recording of President Devan Nair’s Courtesy Campaign opening speech playing in the backrgound.
The actors relate stories on social conventions, quote quotations from renown writers, recite poetry, allude to news stories and so on. The play ended with a tape recording of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s speech at the NTUC Courtesy Campaign in 1981.
One Degree Under
Performed in July 2 1982
National Theatre
This play was written by David Birch and staged as part of the NUSSU Welcome Convention. The actors cited an example of a young librarian who was upset that “his library was endlessly being disturbed by people coming in and taking books away,” and who proposes new library regulations. These include chaining both books and readers to the desks when consulting books and the recommendation of an automated page-turner to discourage “the indiscriminate turning of pages”. The episode concludes by revealing that the regulations were not enforced and the young librarian ended up pushing a library trolley around the wards of a “well-known but not often talked about ‘hospital’”. The play moves on to a parody of a researcher so preoccupied with methodology that he fails to ask any meaningful questions in his research questionnaire. It concluded with a conversation between Confucious and Socrates on the best course of action. Birch acknowledges the book Library humor : a bibliothecal miscellany to 1970 by Norman D. Stevens, presumably as a source of inspiration for his play.
References
Theatrecraft IN Singapore Undergrad, Vol. 15 (1981)
About David Birch: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19810820-1.2.103.8.1
Doggs Hamlet by Tom Stoppard
New Nation, 24 August 1982, Page 31
New Nation, 19 September 1982, Page 27
The Straits Times, 13 September 1982, Page 7
Poor Man’s Theatre
New Nation, 1 December 1981, Page 27
NUS Poetry Evening – Dramatisation of Filipino Folktale – Princess Alitatap
The Straits Times, 19 October 1982, Page 23
It All Started with 100 Phone Calls
Singapore Monitor, 23 August 1983, Page 21
