Film x Theatre

Explore new relationships between Film and Theatre with theatre practitioners Kalaiselvi Grace, Tan Yuyang Ellison and Yazid Jalil. They will each devise a rehearsed monologue reinterpreting a selection of Singaporean films and partake in an improvised group performance to a mystery film excerpt. Join us as we examine the conversations that arise in the interactions between the spontaneity of Theatre and the recorded performance of Film.

co:lab, the library@esplanade’s new Signature series co-organized with the Asian Film Archive, is an experimental platform where cross-disciplinary encounters between Film and Performing Arts can occur. Using the theme of “memories” as a focal point, artists from varying disciplines will be invited to create new live works in response to selected films. Experience new perspectives with the moving image through these new layers of artistic interpretations.

Admission is Free, but limited to 40 registered participants only.
Should the programme be fully booked, kindly email your name and contact number to eppl@library.nlb.gov.sg with the subject title ‘co:lab series’ if you wish to be placed on the waiting list.

About the Artists

Kalaiselvi Grace
Grace is a bilingual actress, storyteller and theatre educator. She graduated with a Professional Diploma in Theatre Acting from Intercultural Theatre Institute in 2014.
She is currently acting in MediaCorp’s long form TV drama Tanglin and also working on her own theatre projects and workshops for schools. She has worked as actor and administrator for Tamil theatre groups since 1998 and as storyteller for Roger Jenkins Pte Ltd for many festivals in Singapore. She has also done drama education in over 50 schools since 2006.

Grace recently created and staged a play titled Mother I – Amma Naan – Ibu Aku with a friend. Some of her other theatre and film credits include ‘Pericles’ (Aarne Neeme, 2014 ITI), ‘Cloud Messenger’ (Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan, 2014 ITI), ‘Invisibility’ (Kok Heng Luen, 2014 ITI), ‘Above Us Only Sky’ (Zizi Azah, 2008 M1 Fringe Festival), ‘Rhinoceros’ (Zizi Azah, Singapore Arts Festival 2008), ‘Sathai’’(Ganesh, RDG 2008), ‘An Inspector Calls’ in Tamil (Soundrarjan, RDG 2004), ‘Macbeth’ in Tamil (Vadivazhagan, RDG 2000 & 2001), and ‘My Magic’ – an Eric Khoo’s film featured in Cannes Film Festival (2008).

Tan Yuyang Ellison
Tan Yuyang Ellison is a Theatre Studies graduate from the National University of Singapore. Recent theatre credits include Café(The 20-something Theatre Festival), Drums(Shigeki Nakano and Esplanade’s Super Japan), Manifesto(The Necessary Stage and Drama Box), The Wind Came Home (Drama Box and ArtsWok), Off Centre(The Finger Players), HUAYI’s The Magic Ocean (MySuperFuture Theatrical Productions). Playwriting works include: Inheritance (The Finger Players) and The Eulogy Project I: Muah Chee Mei and Me(Potluck Productions). Ellison was an apprentice with The Finger Players from 2013 to 2015. She is now part of the Nine Years Theatre Ensemble Project.

Yazid Jalil
Yazid graduated from the Intercultural Theatre Institute (formerly known as the Theatre Training and Research Programme).

He also received theatre training in France at the École Philippe Gaulier courtesy of the Singapore National Arts Council Residency Programme.

Notable theatrical work includes Grandpa Cherry Blossom (2016, Esplanade PLAYtime), Lord of the Flies (2016, Sight Lines Productions), It Wont Be Too Long: The Cemetary (2015, Drama Box), The Malay Man and His Chinese Father (2015, M1 Singapore Fringe Festival/Ponggurl), The Blind Age (2014, Esplanade Kalaa Utsavam Festival / Chowk Productions) and Charged (2010, Teater Ekamatra).

Thus far, Yazid has received three nominations at the Singapore Life! Theatre Awards and one nomination at the Singapore Short Film Awards.