This September and October, Toy Factory will once again be throwing open the doors of their home in Chinatown as it becomes NOWplaying@17, becoming an incubation space for new and emerging work, and where members of the public will get to see two brand new lab projects presented on stage!
Headed by Toy Factory Artistic Directors Goh Boon Teck and Stanley Seah, Oedipus and Watching are two brand new lab projects that will showcase each director’s individual styles as they delve into contrasting genres and fully utilise the studio space to different degrees, breaking convention with their imagination and daring vision.
In September, Goh Boon Teck will direct Oedipus, a new play written by Zhu Xin Chen. Starring Stanley Ng, Chong Woon Yong, Lim Jun Jie Jey, Trissie Liew, Liew Jia Yi and Lim Ci Xuan, Oedipus takes its title from Sophocles’ classic Greek tragedy of Oedipus Rex, and takes the form of a murder mystery where a severely disabled man Wang Jia Hao has whipped his 50 year old mother to death.
None of this makes sense, and audiences follow an officer as he attempts to uncover the dark truth that lies at the heart of this incomprehensible act, recounting the incidents eventually leading to the deed and exploring each and every facet to Wang. ‘Pain demands to be felt’, could it be that Wang is simply attempting to relive his mother’s tortured soul? Find out as Toy Factory picks and stabs at the murky world of moral ethics with this exciting new play.
In October, Stanley Seah then takes on the role of both director and playwright, as he presents Watching. Starring Jon Cancio, Keith Lee and Tan Hui Er, Watching follows the hapless Tony as he waits to enlist for National Service. But unlike most boys his age earning money with part time work or picking up new skills, Tony simply chooses to stay at home and watch shows on the flat-screen TV bought by his over achieving, scholarship yielding older sister. But all that is about to change once the TV starts talking to him.
Join Toy Factory at their home on Smith Street as they return at last to their roots in creating brand new, original productions, and attempt to reach new heights of artistry as they take theatrical risks and play with unorthodox plots and space in these all new lab projects when they premiere in September and October.
Oedipus plays from 21st – 22nd September 2018 (7.00pm, 8.30pm, 9.30pm) and 28th-29th September 2018 (7.00pm, 8.30pm, 9.30pm), while Watching plays from 4-6 October 2018 (3pm, 7.30pm), both at NOWPlaying@17 (17A Smith Street S058931) Tickets available from Eventbrite for Oedipus and Watching.
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