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Celebrate Music

DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre at Esplanade

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TRIP

Esplanade Presents

Theatre

I am trying to say something true

An Esplanade Commission
Directed by Renee Yeong
Written by Michelle Tan
(Singapore)

8 Apr 2023, Sat, 8pm

9 Apr 2023, Sun, 3pm & 8pm

1hr 15mins

(Intermission: None)

Esplanade Theatre Studio

This event is over.

Photo credit: Crispian Chan
Renee Yeong
Michelle Tan (Photo credit: Juliana Tan)
Sabrina Sng (Photo credit: Crispian Chan)
not cache
Synopsis Artist Information Date & Time Tickets & Prices
Synopsis

After smashing her work computer in the office pantry in an uncharacteristic fit of rage, Risa is now sat in a room with Dr Robert, her newly acquired therapist. She cannot go back to how she was living before. Risa must look back on her own life to look forward. What caused her to end up at this exact spot?

 

Was it her Catholic ah ma whose funeral she skipped, her ex-girlfriend whom she loved deeply but broke up with, or her tendency to feel too much? Or maybe... something else entirely?

 

This is a story about loss—except, there is no new way to write about loss. You can't speak or write about loss, until you realise you can't speak or write about loss. So instead, this is a story about distance: the spaces between people and places, the gaps between past and present; and about living in the gulf between what we know and what we feel.

 

First commissioned for the 2018 season of The Studios, Michelle Tan’s deeply intimate script explores the complexities of personal truth and emotional vulnerability.

 

A programme of TRIP—a platform to showcase work by early-career directors.

 

Director: Renee Yeong

Playwright: Michelle Tan

Performer: Sabrina Sng

Lighting Designer: Gabriel Chan

Sound Designer: Jing Ng

Set Designer: Petrina Dawn Tan

Production Manager: Lam Dan Fong (The Backstage Affair)

Stage Manager: Celestine Wong (The Backstage Affair)

Assistant Stage Manager: Chong Wee Nee (The Backstage Affair)

Advisory:

Some mature themes

 

Mask-wearing is optional. However, audiences are encouraged to continue to exercise responsibility and caution, such as wearing masks when in crowded places.

Admission Age:
6 and above
Language: English
Things to Note:
Accessibility: We provide services and facilities for patrons with access needs. Concessions for persons with disabilities (PWDs) are available for selected shows. Read our accessibility guide.
Ticketing: Prices exclude ticketing agent’s booking fees. Entry to performance venues is granted to patrons with tickets that have been purchased through authorised ticket agents only. Read about ticketing or check our FAQs.
For information about late seating, photography and more, please read our general advisory.
With the growing threat of online phishing scams, please remain vigilant. Use official ticketing channels such as Esplanade.com or Sistic.com.sg and check that you are on legitimate websites before logging in to book tickets.
I am trying to say something true - House Programme

pdf •7.36 MB
Artist Information

Renee Yeong (Director)

Website

Renee Yeong (she/they) is a Singaporean director interested in telling contemporary stories about women, the LGBTQ+ community, people of colour, and other marginalised groups in Singapore, America, and beyond.

 

Her recent directing credits include Lotus Root Support Group (Singapore), When We Were Young and Unafraid, Dry Land (Playwrights Horizons Downtown/NYU), Annie Aspen's Musical Space Spectacular! (Ars Nova’s ANT Fest), and I LOVE WHITE MEN (Dixon Place, Ars Nova’s ANT Fest, and Caveat NYC).

 

As an assistant director, she has worked with Tony award-winning director Rachel Chavkin on Bess Wohl’s world premiere play Continuity at Manhattan Theatre Club and Huzir Sulaiman on The Nuclear Family in 2020 for Checkpoint Theatre, up until its postponement.

 

Renee also works as a sound designer. Notable sound design credits include 9’O Clock Problem and All the Different Ways Commodore Matthew Perry Could Have Died… (Theatre in Quarantine), Romeo + Juliet (Hypokrit Theater Company), Our Options Have Changed (Flux Theatre Ensemble), among others.

 

Renee is a member of the 2019 Lincoln Center Director's Lab and an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union. She earned her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts at NYU in Directing in 2018.

Michelle Tan (Playwright)

Michelle is a writer and drama educator and has recently concluded a six-month residency at Centre 42 as their inaugural writer-in-residence. As a playwright, her work has been produced by several local companies, including Cake Theatrical Productions and Singapore Repertory Theatre. Michelle currently teaches in the theatre department at the School of the Arts.

Date & Time

8 Apr 2023, Sat

8pm

Esplanade Theatre Studio

9 Apr 2023, Sun

3pm

Esplanade Theatre Studio

8pm

Esplanade Theatre Studio
Tickets & Prices
Standard

Students, NSFs, Seniors & PWDs
(Limited)
Price $28 $23

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