When we think of women in theatre, often the ones we see under the spotlights come to mind. But if you’ve ever gone backstage at a performing arts venue, you’d find them in places you might have overlooked. While Singapore’s labour force comprises more women than men, in theatre and particularly the broader entertainment sector, technical roles are traditionally dominated by men, and the number of females in these positions is disproportionately low.

That’s not to say that companies are unwilling to hire women for these jobs. Over the years, gender diversity and inclusivity in the workplace has become a much talked about topic. At tertiary level, a wider range of theatre studies courses compared to two decades ago also means there are more opportunities to pursue one’s interests. So, a growing number of women have been diving into theatre’s technical arts.

From stage and production coordinators to sound, lighting and set designers, we celebrate all the heroines backstage this International Women’s Day. Three of them—Isis Koh, Emanorwatty Saleh and Guo Ningru—tell us what it’s like working behind the scenes.

‘Can’t live without my helmet and safety boots’

Isis Koh

Leads the Production Management department at Esplanade 

What is production management and how did you get into it?

Production management is under the umbrella of technical production, which also includes staging, sound, lighting and visual media. Our role is to liaise with artists or hirers and make sure all other departments in Technical Production are on point to help realise the vision of the show. You can say that my team acts as the middleman, in a way, and we also sort out the administration, planning and logistics to make sure the shows take place without a hitch. We need excellent communication skills and good team dynamics because we deal with a lot of people, and we need to manage expectations. We also need to be able to adapt quickly to the unexpected.

I have been involved in theatre in some way since my mother enrolled me for Mandarin speech and drama classes as part of the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Arts and Cultural Troupe when I was nine. Back then, all of us were exposed to different aspects of putting up a performance, whether it was scripting, directing or acting, even doubling up as stagehands. Some of us were still volunteering at drama companies by the time we were in our early 20s. I was spending all my free time volunteering, but it wasn’t until Haresh Sharma offered me a job at The Necessary Stage that I actually went full-time. Then I went to Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts to study theatre, and the rest was history. 

It sounds like there are quite a few girls in technical theatre.

There are quite a few girls in production and stage management, but not many in the other technical fields. However, the number is growing. I'd say the percentage is around 60 percent in my department. Interestingly, on the commercial side of showbiz, which are your profit-driven large-scale productions such as Jay Chou concerts, technical services and production are mostly filled with heterosexual males.

What were some challenges you’ve had as a female in this industry?

This doesn’t happen often, but I’ve had overseas hirers who didn’t even want to speak to me because of my gender. Of course, I’d try to be more assertive because I’ve got a job to do. I’ve also encountered people from the commercial sector and who were not used to working with women pass sexist remarks. Sometimes, even women do it. I feel that it is important to change this mindset. When someone passes such comments, even if it’s on a subconscious level, I’d try to make them aware of it. You just have to keep reminding them. I think we still have some ways to go, but the industry is definitely more gender diverse and accepting now. 

What is something people get wrong about your job?

When I tell people what I do, one of the common reactions I get would be the shock that I have to work weekends. It’s pretty amusing. They also seem to think that I get to rub shoulders with stars all the time. In some ways, we do get in close proximity with them because we’re working backstage, but it is important to maintain professionalism. At Esplanade, we have a policy of not engaging with our artists unnecessarily. That means we don’t ask for pictures, signatures or the like.  

What are your some highlights of your career?

Working with animals! I’ve had to bring in horses, fish, even a taxidermy bird for various performances, all of which required licenses. For the horses, we had pens built backstage which we filled with hay, and we had to lay out carpets so they don’t poop all over the floor. Did you know that they poop when they’re startled, and they easily are? They’re such delicate creatures. 

I’ve also had to bring in drift cars and motorbikes for a musical, Impak Maksima, that was part of Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts. We hired a car transporter that specifically moves racing cars to lift the drift cars through our loading dock because they were too low, as well as layered the stage with metallic sheets because there was actual drifting involved! 

One of my top highlights was building a traditional wayang stage for Moonfest. There were so many safety concerns seeing as that’s how they were built, and we had to consult a builder for that.  

What are two important tools you can’t live without in your line of work?

That would be my helmet and safety boots because it’s all about health and safety when working backstage.  

‘My neighbour thinks I fix lights for a living’

Emanorwatty Saleh

Full-time mother of three, freelances as a lighting designer

What does a lighting designer do and how did you get into it?

I am a freelance lighting designer for theatre who sometimes does production design, and I help execute the director’s vision through the use of design, installation and operation of lights that set the mood for the production. Back in the day, I was heavily involved with designing lights for major shows by Teater Kami. These days, I work mainly on black box productions. It’s funny though, I did my degree in sound design. 

I actually started out acting back in ’93 when I was 17. My first production was KOSOVO by Teater Kami, directed by Adlin Alin Mosbit. She was 19 then. In the early days, roles weren’t so specialised or clear-cut, unlike now. After a year of performing, I became a lighting operator because I told Atin Amat, artistic director of Teater Kami, that I wanted to learn the technical aspects of theatre, and I also did crew jobs at the old Drama Centre down by Fort Canning. Few shows later, she threw me into lighting design. I had no idea what I was doing, and everything was manual. I remember having a ruler with me, pushing the faders up and down but not having enough fingers to push 10 or more of them smoothly. 

It wasn’t until 2005 when I decided I needed to get a proper foundation in design that I enrolled in LASALLE to study technical theatre. But when the time came to put us into different specialisations, I somehow got drafted into sound design. I thought to myself, “Why not?”  I’m proud to say that I was one of the first people in Singapore to use Qlab (a sound interface).  

One of my highlights was programming it for a Cake Theatrical Productions’ work in Italy. The year I graduated, I found out that I was pregnant. 

Are there a lot of mothers in technical theatre? How do you juggle your time between work and life?

There aren’t many girls in this line of work, much less mothers. When I first started, it was pretty intimidating. There were only two others, Jian Hong (Kuo Pao Kun’s daughter, now artistic director of Theatre Practice) and Suven Chan who were in lighting design. Now there’s Petrina Dawn and Genevieve Peck, among others, who are really good at what they do. Personally, I stopped for 11 years to take care of my kids before I figured they were independent enough for me to dive back into it. When I did return, I was so excited to see the number of girls backstage. I see how they are being respected and the opportunities are greater.

It was Noor Effendy Ibrahim who called me back in 2018 to design for one of his plays at Esplanade. Since then, I’ve been working on smaller projects on and off. My husband is also in theatre, and we avoid working on the same projects so that we can take turns with the kids.

It can get pretty hectic when I’m involved in a show, and I usually plan meals a month ahead just so there’s one less thing to worry about. When things get busy, my kids sometimes change or eat in the car in between schedules, like we’re travelling in a caravan. I’d have to switch my brain from mom mode to work mode. I also sabotage myself sometimes with more work. In the case of this upcoming production I’m involved in, I will be making these clouds by hand with lights in them. I love visualising the scenes and seeing how lighting can set specific moods in line with the director’s vision. The most interesting part about this job is how every director has a different vision and style, and how I implement their vision while also bringing out my own. It gets crazy tiring sometimes, but I love the work.

Sounds like you are very organised.

You do need to be. I have a mild case of OCD when it comes to planning, although I can also be messy. I bring around notebooks to scribble on and draw out my lighting plans before plotting it out on the computer. Some venues require us to submit them. There was once when the plan I submitted was too similar to another production that was showing close to the date of mine, so I had to change it.  

From taking down cue points to mapping out each different scene, then programming or plotting each and every single light that I have visualised in my head for months before I see them being implemented, I have to be very organised because there are so many moving parts. Sometimes they don’t work according to plan, and that’s when I feel like banging my head against the wall. During shows, I have to manually input each of the cue sequences by their codes, and it’s time wasted if I get any wrong. I also can’t afford to miscalculate as that would affect the rest of the departments. Planning really is key. 

So what are some misconceptions people usually have about your line of work?

My neighbour thinks I fix lights for a living. Once, she asked me to help her change her light bulbs.  

What are two items that you can’t live without in your job?

That would have to be my scale ruler and hand lotion. My first (pictured below), which I bought in 1994, broke into two when I returned to theatre, like it was telling me to start afresh. Back then, everything had to be done manually. I drew my lighting plan to scale from scratch (something I still do because I’m so used to the old-school method), measuring every millimetre of the space, height and length, and incorporating my design with the set, from scene to scene. It has become very sentimental to me. Whenever I open my drawer of tools, they remind me of my free-spirited days. The hand lotion was a gift from the ever lovely and always calm stage manager, Vivi Agustina. I fell in love with the smell and it soothes my nerves and keeps me focused, especially during showtime. I can’t do without it. 

‘A great sound designer is an active listener’

Guo Ningru

Theatre sound designer

What does a sound designer do and how did you get into it?

I am primarily a theatre sound designer and this usually means creating content for live theatrical productions, programming them into suitable sequences for execution during performance, and seeing through the successful opening of shows.

It all started with being in the choir in secondary school; I was always involved with school musicals and performances. I loved how everything always magically came together with the music, whether it’s lights, choreography, scene changes etc. There was a magic when cue sequences were designed and executed perfectly to happen together and complement each other seamlessly. LASALLE was definitely my first step into formal technical theatre education, and it naturally progressed from there. 

What’s a typical work day for you?

It really depends on the type of production I’m working on, and in which phase of production we are in. Usually in the conceptualisation phase, this can mean meetings with the director, designers, technical managers and the venues to brainstorm artistic goals, how to achieve the design concepts, and working out technical details together. The rehearsal phase usually means attending rehearsals to understand how the director and performers are putting the production together, providing audio content, and adapting them accordingly as the rehearsal process matures. This also includes coming up with all paperwork like sound cue sheets, loudspeaker predictions and plots, as well as line diagrams and console assignments. This is also when we can be working with an assistant to help them learn the show.

When we get into the bump-in phase, these are the most intense days or weeks. We have technical rehearsals where we combine all our design work together onstage, with the performers, in real time, working out cue sequences and solidifying them for performance. Once the show opens and it is in the good hands of the stage manager and production team, we can still do periodic drop-ins to check on the integrity of the show and our design, while moving on to the next project. The cycle repeats.  

Are there many women in your line of work?

In recent years, I’m glad to see more and more female representation in the field. It used to be very male-centric, especially in the technical aspects of theatre-making. However, as technology progresses, and as more and more of these technical processes are being programmed using computers and software, there is less need for the brute muscle strength that has kept women out of the field.  

What are some misconceptions people usually have about your job?

I guess especially in the earlier years, it was easy for people to confuse my role with that of a sound engineer or composer. A sound designer is really a mixture of both the technical and artistic. We need to know system design well to be able to predict loudspeaker behaviour in a given venue. We also create the content (soundscapes or musical composition) for the production as well as programme the console and audio cue sequences while working with the creative team. 

Lastly, depending on the scale of the show, we might also lead the sound department to make sure the entire process goes smoothly. A lot of the background work of system design prior to bumping in is actually not seen by anyone else, but we take immense pride in making sure you end up focusing on the performers and story without the distraction of misaligned or badly equalised loudspeakers.  

It’s also a common misconception that sound design is the “last” thing on their minds in terms of design. We are usually visually-driven when we start talking about design, hence set design and lighting design traditionally have dominated preliminary design conversations, or are central to what the general public thinks about in terms of design. However, if you think about how our emotions are actually most affected by sound and music, we can see sound design in a different light in how we want to design the entire storytelling to move people, or to evoke an emotional reaction to certain themes—in ways that a visual cue may be too obvious to execute.

Another interesting thing, when it comes to mixing musicals especially, is that most people might think it’s just switching on and off the actors’ mics in a timely manner. The truth is, when an actor is saying their lines or singing through a musical number, the sound operator (or mixer) is always 100% breathing and silently singing along with them. We’re constantly adjusting levels on the fly as a performer is going through their soft and loud moments. If we know the performer is going to be way louder on that one high note, and much softer on the note right after it, we are helping and compensating for this difference note by note. Imagine this multiplied by the number of performers in a show, and throughout the entire duration of the performance. It’s actually a really incredible job to mix musicals.

We do it because we absolutely love it, and we don’t really talk about it. If you don’t notice our work, we have done a great job. 

What are some highlights of your career?

To have the honour to be part of the Sound Design MFA Programme in University of California Irvine (UCI). It was a very tough three years of moulding and nurturing, and I had learnt the most and matured as a sound designer in ways I could never have done if I had not been in that environment. I was on an National Arts Council Arts Scholarship, which took a huge bulk of the financial burden of studying overseas off my shoulders. It was great to be recognised, and to know that I had the support of my industry veterans and peers.

In my final year at UCI, while writing my thesis and prepping the design for the big musical of the year as part of my final year project, I had reached out to several big companies in the industry to ask for assistance and guidance. They responded and had allowed me to visit their facilities as well as taught me how to use their equipment and software that I was writing about. One of them even loaned us a piece of equipment which was paramount to my exploration of immersive audio at that time.

The amount of help and support I got during this time was overwhelmingly impactful. Until now, I am still finding ways to give back and pass it on to the next generation of sound designers and theatre-makers.

What are two important tools you can’t live without in your line of work.

That would be my trusty headphones and laptop. These are the tools I do have to work with every day, but the headphones represent another layer of meaning. Our ears not just help us with the technical and compositional part of sound design, they also carry the most important function of listening. When we are discussing with the directors and designers, the most important part of the conversation might be what they’re not saying as much, or perhaps said in a way to actually emphasise on other issues. To be a great sound designer, or even an artist-at-large, we need to understand what our collaborators are really saying. We hear them but are we really listening?