Humans are adaptable creatures, so is it really too much to ask Indians, homosexuals and Marxists to change? Thats the question at the heart of The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) restaging of their work ________ Can Change (pronounced ‘blank’ can change), which plays at the Esplanade Recital Studio this November.
Last staged in 2010 as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2010: Art & Law, the work comprises three short plays by Haresh Sharma, with the cheekily titled Homosexuals Can Change, Marxists Can Change, and Indians Can Change, the latter of which replaces 2010’s original Singles Can Change.
Director Alvin Tan shared that the inclusion of Indians Can Change “significantly updates the triple-bill, and re-frames its intention to reignite faith in the middle ground, to facilitate the disruption of the tired way issues often become so easily polarised when we allow life to be held ransom by ideology.”
The production comprises brand new cast members Karen Tan, Joshua Lim, Masturah Oli and Tan Guo Lian Sutton. A brand new design team will be taking over for this staging, with lighting design and set coordination by Liu Yong Huay Faith, multimedia design by Jevon Chandra, and costumes by MAX.TAN.
“The work may not be an easy play to take in because of its provocative nature,” shares TNS Resident Playwright Haresh Sharma, who recalls the robust reception to the 2010 staging. “In the original staging, some audience members were up in arms about the ‘stand’ the play was taking; a few even walked out.”
“Such responses are rare in the Singapore theatre scene. Maybe that’s why it’s good to restage this play every once in a while.”
– TNS Resident Playwright Haresh Sharma
________ Can Change plays from 10th to 14th November 2021 at the Esplanade Recital Studio. Tickets available from BookMyShow
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