nights ago when I felt blue

28 & 29 January
7-10pm
The Substation

Night falls - and darkness, sorrow and loneliness come out of hiding into plain sight.

What can you do when they seem to stalk you, where can you hide? Perhaps, in a space of warmth, of kindness.

Sometimes, we can feel like we are running away from so many things, that we run so far without knowing where we have gone. In this sharing of a site-specific monologue, you are invited to share in a moment of vulnerability, sinking into memories and shades of the past, and ponder how they colour our present.

When we feel we have nowhere left to turn - what ought we hold on to? Come - lie down, and find out.

"Nights ago when I felt blue" is a work in development and is only open to registrants only.

About nights ago when I felt blue

nights ago when I felt blue is a piece inspired by and in response to the work of Fernando Rubio. It attempts to work at the intersection of actor, audience and space - experimenting with both a created and inherent atmosphere.

Theo Chen developed and performed this piece in Canada. He then presented an expanded version at P7:1SMA’s Permisi Open Stage last January. Bringing it across an ocean back home has allowed it to grow alongside himself, an interesting experiment for him to process and respond to the events and emotions which triggered the piece’s creation. Theo also grappled with new feelings that have arisen upon his return to Singapore.

About Theo Chen

Theo founded the Playwrights Commune, a collective focussed on developing new work for the stage. He had the privilege to act with T:>works, W!LDRICE and is part of the 2021 cohort of Young & W!LD!

As a writer, he explores the themes of intimacy, memory, control & dreaming.

Some of his works which will be produced as readings this year include:

Cyril and Michael—an encounter between two men in a hotel room
A Play about Control—ideological differences threaten to implode a family’s carefully constructed sense of love
Currently working on: 302A—a play about four NSFs who build a queer fantasy land in their army camp.

Follow @playwrightscommune on Instagram to stay in the loop!

“It is about sadness and why we sometimes surrender ourselves to it like a wave which engulfs us. It is also, then, about how we reckon with what is left after the water recedes. And, it is also an experiment of responding to the space of The Substation that we will find ourselves in.

I am performing this with the hopes of connecting with others on both a personal and artistic level - seeing what clicks, what lands, how people feel, hopefully getting to talk to them about the experience we have shared. Through this, I hope to be able to approach the piece as a living, breathing piece of theatre—adjusting or changing different things in real-time, and understanding more about my community in the process. For the future, I think it would be lovely to be able to continue developing this work and seeing how it grows. And, I’m interested to find out when I feel it is time to shelve this piece and move to something else.