Recent studies on youth mental health conducted in Singapore have shone a spotlight on how symptoms related to depression and anxiety are affecting young people here. The Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, has taken a harsh toll on the young. The safe-distancing measures of recent years have drastically limited their access to in-person programmes that hone relationship- and community-building skills. As such, more organisations are creating systems of engagement and support for them, including local arts company Drama Box, who believe that the arts have unique strengths when it comes to fostering connection and communication among youths.

Working with young people has been an important part of their 30-over-year history, from education arm NeNeMas, to youth wing ARTivate. Now striding into their fourth decade, they continue to innovate and co-create new spaces for expression and reflection for youths.

Slated for November this year, Camp-O is being produced as part of Drama Box’s youth development programme, where the team is creating a five-day experience for youths aged 15 to 20 years old. Helmed by Drama Box co-Artistic Directors Koh Hui Ling and Han Xuemei, as well as theatre veteran Jalyn Han, the name Camp-O is inspired by the comprehensive diversity implied by the word “omni”, and the fresh slate and boundless possibilities of the number 0. Participants will take part in music, drama and movement explorations led by arts practitioners, including Jalyn Han, dance choreographer Chen Jiexiao, local dance group P7:1SMA, actor Julius Foo, and singer Leslie Tay.

As these artists lead the camp as instructors, they will be supported by emerging theatre practitioners who will act as facilitators. Besides assisting in the workshop instruction, these facilitators will also provide mentorship and guidance for the camp participants. While featuring different arts disciplines, youths do not need to have any background in the arts to qualify for the camp. Rather, “our focus is to use the performing arts to equip young people with a different language to express themselves. We want to preserve spaces and create opportunities for human creativity to flourish”, says Xuemei.

We hope the participants will be able to form new friendships, and gain new insights into themselves and into life,” says Hui Ling. The in-person nature of the camp is important, Jalyn adds, “as real-life interactions are necessary to open up our senses, in order to understand and appreciate the differences between one another”.

Drama Box hopes to attract youths from different backgrounds for this inaugural camp. They also want to work with older youths, because they are at a stage where they are more able to reflect on and articulate the issues and concerns they have in their lives, while also likely to be increasingly deprived of opportunities to play and be creative, in the hopes that such diversity will spark fruitful new connections for everyone involved.

The team is now fundraising for this camp, which they hope will be the first iteration of an ongoing programme for youths. Donations will help to offset part of the costs of organising the camp, and will also enable them to invite youths from disadvantaged backgrounds to join this experience. All donations will be doubled thanks to the Cultural Matching Fund.

In 2022, , Drama Box premiered Assembly, a play with a roving format that used the setting of supernatural happenings in a school to explore themes of peer pressure, self-harm, and bullying. Directed by Han Xuemei and written by Adib Kosnan, this was presented under Esplanade’s Feed Your Imagination (F.Y.I) series for students.

Audience members could choose which scenes and conversations they wanted to observe, and through the experience, encouraged audiences to develop a sense of empathy, ownership and empowerment. In July this year, Drama Box will be staging Re: Assembly, an update to the previous show. This time, the play will feature signature elements from last year’s staging of Assembly, but with a different story and a new cast of characters.

Co-directed by Xuemei and Timothy Wan, and co-written by Adib, Xuemei and Timothy, Re: Assembly is once again part of the F.Y.I series, and will intertwine stories of fear and psychological violence faced by students. In a time when youths are learning to manage their emotions in an increasingly complex world, this performance creates a safe space through theatre and fiction for students to delve into the complexities and effects of visible and invisible ways in which fear is manifested within the school compound.

Drama Box hopes the experience will help youths develop understanding and empathy towards people from different circumstances, and critically reflect on issues that may negatively impact interpersonal relationships and the social environment in school. While there are sessions reserved for school bookings, there are also two stagings on 15th July that are open to all members of the public.

Camp-O will take place from 27th November to 1st December 2023, for youths aged 15 to 20 years old. Registration begins 12th July 2023. Help fund Drama Box’s Camp-O here

Re: Assembly runs from 12th to 21st July 2023 (for schools) and 15th July 2023 for the public, at the Esplanade Annexe Studio. School booking link here, public show booking link here