Septfest 2020 Fringe presents nine immersive and sensorial workshop experiences that lead participants through a participatory process of intervention. These workshops hope to generate conversations and knowledge building around issues faced by various marginalised and displaced groups.
As various scenarios unfold through movement, spoken word and digital projections, you are invited to take on multiple roles (the thinker, the protagonist, the instigator). As the boundaries between past and present; imagination and reality; public and private; desire and needs blurs, what centres and informs your decision? How does your personal story influence your choice?
Week 1 / 3, 4, 5 September
Movement
This Is M.A.T.C.H
7.30pm - 7.50pm / 7.55pm - 8.15pm
(20min per session) / Substation Theatre
A flickering light. A face in the dark.
This Is M.A.T.C.H is a changing, evolving and dynamic performance that captures the fleeting moments when attention is drawn to the marginalised, and fades back into darkness. Exploring and examining the human body with a basal element of fire, the piece invites you into a space of silent contemplation through the effects of chiaroscuro, where time slows down, where perception heightens, where properties of matter changes.
Led by performance artist Jason Lim, this piece is devised together with Farizi Noorfauzi, Nicole Phua, Kara Inez, Veronyka Lau.
Music
Regret in DADGAD
8.45pm - 9.30pm (45min) / Substation Theatre
From the first throes of urbanisation in the 1950s to the removal of historically and culturally significant landmarks in the name of progress, Singapore has gone through several waves of displacement. Sold as a tonic to its affliction of land scarcity, the psycho-geography of Singapore has been irreparably scarred by this enforced displacement.
In this immersive experience, dive into the facets of urban melancholy and the Singaporean experience with Singaporean doom folk musician Hell Low. Featuring songs from Hell Low’s latest mixtape "Regret in DADGAD”, together with ambient synth player otochthon (Eswandy Sarip) and digital artist and vocalist Anise (Suhui Hee), transcend into the space of displaced people, places, spaces and memories. There will be a discussion following the live demonstration.
Week 2 / 10, 11, 12 September
Performance Lecture
Brown Is Haram: Reconstructing The Brown Narrative
7pm - 8pm (1hr) / Substation Theatre
An ongoing, collaborative project by Mysara Aljaru and Kristian-Marc James Paul, this performance-lecture explores Brown narratives in Singapore, specifically Brown social mobility and masculinity. It is based on Mysara and Kristian’s workshops (conducted in conjunction with The Substation's Concerned Citizens Programme), research, and lived experiences.
This performance is part of their final showcase for the Concerned Citizens Programme 2019.
Performance Lecture
Masc Malli
8.15pm - 9pm (45min) / Substation Theatre
Masc Malli acknowledges the pluralities, spaces, and differences among men and masculinities. To speak about gender relations and unpack direct lived experiences, this performance-lecture led by Priyageetha Dia sets from the perspective of the feminine gaze.
Looking beyond the prescribed set of ideas that have surrounded traditional and heteronormative masculinity in perpetuum, and to celebrate the beauty of masculinities in all its expansive glory, Masc Malli takes on the narrative of reclaiming and reimagining brown masculinities within the Tamil community ina broader, contemporary geographical discourse.
Performance Lecture
Men With Pens
9.15pm - 10.15pm (1hr) / Substation Theatre
Learn more about the lived experiences of young men from the ages of 15-19 living in the Whampoa rental flat community with Men with Pens (with the support of Beyond Social Services), as they share anecdotal accounts from their aspirations in life to encounters with the police, connections to place, and stories of growing up.
The session will culminate with a discussion with the boys, as they share some hopes and changes they would like to see in the systems affecting their community.
Week 3 / 17, 18, 19 September
Theatre
What Is Thy Bidding
8pm - 9pm (1hr) / Substation Theatre
“You can see us but we cannot see you.
You can tell us what to do.
We will do it.
Sing her a birthday song.
Kick his balls. Eat shit.
We will do it.”
After losing their jobs as stage actors, and failing to ride the digitisation wave, Man and Woman design a modern peep show. Audiences gather in a dark room and anonymously type in perverse requests, which the couple must perform on screen.
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Partial nudity, strong language and violence may occur.
Digital Projection, Music & Spoken Word
Harmful Space
9.10pm - 10pm (50min) / Substation Theatre
In confronting the conflict between strengths and weaknesses, the strain between imagination and limitations, hurt from desires and realisation, disappointment from what is perceived versus reality, Aya Sekine discovers a 'harmful space (gap)' in how she is seen (by others and herself) with what she feels. Her exploration of this 'space' manifests as a performance; artwork projections, drawings in motion, improvised music and utterance.
This showcase marks Sekine’s triumph, as she transmutes solitude, pain, trauma, frustration, dilemma, angst, disappointment and sorrow into art. By revealing her personal story, she hopes to kindle emotions of those who may resonate with her present situation and find ways to open up, express and encourage others who may face similar conditions.
Week 4 / 24, 25, 26 September
Movement
Where You Move Me Most
8pm - 8.45pm (45min) / Substation Theatre
Exploring the routes queer bodies take in enacting freedom, and the freedom to desire, this immersive workshop sees the coexistence of two characters who explore a myriad of sexual and gender identities within themselves as well as each other. They navigate spaces, from the nightclub to the bedroom, their gestures a reflection of surveillance and safety.
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Sexual content and references may occur.
Theatre
parthenogenesis:
9pm - 9.45pm (45min) / Substation Theatre
parthenos + genesis = of asexual origin
Since the late 1800s,
the medical profession has diagnosed people
who expressed little interest in sex
with ‘sexual coldness’, or ‘sexual anaesthesia’.
parthenogenesis: is one woman’s quest for an orgasm—despite not wanting one. It is her self-seduction, with love letters addressed to you from the perspective of those like her, writing in invisible ink; their thoughts only revealed through acid and flame. To many, she is merely an attention-seeking millennial with an ‘internet orientation’. If she really wanted to, she could always self-medicate with the ‘right person’, injected deep inside her.
She isn’t healthy. She isn’t well. She isn’t right. That's what we all say.
“Because who would invest time and effort into a relationship that isn't going to get them any sex?”
Contrary to popular belief, she isn’t alone.
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Sexual content and references may occur.