Frogman by curious directive (UK)

FROGMAN curious directive (UK)

21 - 26 May Tue – Wed, 8pm Thu, 8pm & 10.30pm Fri, 5pm & 8pm Sat, 2pm, 5pm & 8pm Sun, 1pm SOTA Studio Theatre 1h, no intermission

MESSAGE FROM THE FESTIVAL DIRECTOR When I was appointed as the new Festival Director for Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) last year, one of the central tenets of the curation process we put in place was to present work by game-changing artists.

From the outset of my three-year tenure, it was important to me that SIFA challenges audiences intellectually, emotionally and artistically, allowing them to experience works they would not normally have a chance to see in Singapore.

Last year, I found myself huddled amid the sand dunes and pine forests of Terschelling Island off the north coast of The Netherlands, to watch Bedtime Stories, a brilliant one-man show which we are bringing to SIFA this year.

It reminds us that powerful stories can be told with the simplest of tools - in this case, the actor’s voice. Or through elaborate work such as the cross-cultural, multi-faceted Dionysus

by Tadashi Suzuki. Game-changing artists and work exist everywhere – it is our mission to find them and bring them to you.

This season, SIFA 2019 is proud to present provocative and challenging works by artists from Singapore and abroad. Our local Festival commissions explore contemporary issues and daringly bring to the spotlight lesser-known facets of Asian history and culture. Toy Factory will realise its innovative re-interpretation of a beloved Ming play. Checkpoint Theatre delves into the realities of the humanitarian aid industry, while Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen investigates some of Southeast Asia’s most shadowy historical figures.

On the international front, SIFA is delighted to welcome to our shores works by worldrenowned theatre directors Tadashi Suzuki and Simon McBurney, legendary musicians Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bill Frisell, and groundbreaking choreographers Gisèle Vienne and Sasha Waltz.

SIFA 2019 audiences can also expect to see a greater range of multidisciplinary work that defies easy classification, from pushing boundaries between theatre and dance in ST/LL by Japanese artist Shiro Takatani, to the use of virtual reality and binaural sound in Frogman by UK company curious directive.

SIFA will also present Silo Theatre’s Peter and the Wolf for families, as well as free outdoor performances in non-traditional venues for audiences of all ages.

Festival House will be back this year, as the epicentre of SIFA 2019. Here, audiences and artistes can extend their engagement with the Festival beyond the performance, as well as engage with each other, through a range of talks, workshops and master-classes to delve deeper into the themes and perspectives of each show.

SIFA 2019 would not have been possible without the support of CEO Sarah Martin; our three extraordinary producers – Junmin, Rydwan and Sara; and the phenomenal team at Arts House Limited. I would like to thank each of them for their dedication and passion.

Finally, I would like to warmly welcome you, our audience, to SIFA 2019. We look forward to taking you on this exciting journey with us.

Gaurav Kripalani Festival Director

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO What does the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) mean to you? A doorway to the world’s performances out there? An escape from the routine of everyday life?

An opportunity to indulge your curiosity? Or something more?

It would not be unusual for each of you to take away something different from the Festival.

When I look back at my years attending the Festival, what stands out in my memory are thrilling moments of discovering a work or artist that slowly built my own love for festival making.

In everything we do, SIFA brings audiences and artists on a personal journey, creating a shared experience across different touch-points with a wider community of art lovers, international and local artists.

Every edition of the Festival is also unique and contributes to the development of Singapore’s cultural landscape. 2018 was an encouraging year, with SIFA seeing heartening growth in the number of new – and especially – younger audiences. I believe this is a testament to the success of Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani’s balanced curatorial approach, emphasising diverse works with multiple levels of accessibility.

In 2019, the 42nd Singapore International Festival of the Arts will continue to enrich the spectrum of audience experiences with a diversity of artistic genres and innovative platforms. Over 17 days, SIFA will showcase a spectrum of world-class performances by game-changing artists, alongside a range of distinctive multi-disciplinary works.

As one of the cultural peaks of Singapore’s arts calendar, the Festival will allow audiences to engage with a fascinating range of contemporary issues and create avenues for critical dialogue. The Arts House will once again transform into our Festival House, a unique gathering point to share ideas and viewpoints and to engage with the artists on a more intimate level.

Working behind the scenes at SIFA are many passionate individuals who have been critical to the Festival’s success over the years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has played their part in shaping SIFA, and to Gaurav for leading the Festival to new artistic heights.

I hope you leave this year with a fresh perspective of what the Festival means to you, and with wonderful memories of your own personal discoveries.

Sarah Martin CEO, Arts House Limited

CREATOR’S MESSAGE FROGMAN began in 2014. I was three days into a solo long-haul holiday in Indonesia, trying to avoid work. After watching countless honeymoon couples enjoying their two-for-one cocktails, I accepted that I was pretty lonely. So I decided to try the PADI Open Water Scuba Diving course. Two days later, I was bobbing in the shallows off Nusa Lembognan ready to descend for the first time. My instructor was very patient, allowing me to enjoy the very special moment when you drop below the surface and descend 18 metres down.

Scuba-diving novices are asked to focus on their lungs (for controlling buoyancy), their depth (to remain safe) and the position of their body in space (to dive efficiently). I hadn’t been this aware of my own body since learning basic acrobatics a long time ago in Paris. In this new underwater artificial existence, I was acutely aware of the fragility of my own biology in this new weightless freedom. It was incredible.

Perhaps predictably, the moment when I first saw a coral reef in the wild was romantic. And rightly so. Through millions of shimmering sand particles, the sun provided a spotlight for the corals’ reds, oranges and yellows. These colours matched my expectation of what corals would look like. If you shut your eyes now and think about a coral reef, perhaps you too will also have a preconception of how they look? I thought of the postcards, BBC documentaries and the poster on the wall of my school science lab. Distracted by matching my expectations of what corals would look like to the reality of this vision of wonder, I soon fixated on the noise of the reef. A reef is a noisy place. They feel active, even when seemingly very still. But they are not a calm place, they have a kinetic energy and somehow feel ancient due to the thousands of years they take to form. I’m mentioning all of this because I realised, almost all at once, that a coral reef would be an incredible place to take a theatre audience. But in 2014, I didn’t really know how to do that.

As soon as I landed back in the UK, I started to think about a story, a journey which eventually, two years later, arrived at a fictional town in Queensland, Australia, during the 1990s, when the Great Barrier Reef was pristine. I explored a story about a missing girl, because I wanted to focus on the sudden disruption of normal life for a community. I wanted the coral reef to speak to the narrative, as well as being a major location. I started looking at different forms to tell a story set in/around a coral reef. I discovered VR and made the link between a dive mask and a VR headset as an object.

It’s important to acknowledge that between 2014 and 2017 I invested hundreds of hours applying for, and missing out on, funding to make FROGMAN happen. I don’t think I quite knew how to express what the show would be and how it would look. The prospect of making a piece of theatre using VR for a large audience just didn’t seem to capture the imagination of decision makers. Thankfully, Rowan Rutter at Hull Truck put the project under the nose of Henrietta Duckworth at Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and The Deep aquarium in Hull.

I had nearly given up all hope of finding a way to take that inital spark and make it into anything at all. After gathering the support of heroes such as James Turnbull at The Old Market, Arts Council England, the team at Brisbane Powerhouse, HOUSE and many more, our process for making FROGMAN started in 2017. The following pages are a few snapshots along our iterative journey of discovery.

I hope you enjoy reading about FROGMAN, and find something valuable in the story I had to tell and how I chose to tell it with my brilliant collaborators.

The learning process of FROGMAN was a steep climb.

For me, that’s the mark of a great adventure.

Jack Lowe

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM Story

Jack Lowe Russell Woodhead

Direction and Cinematography

Jack Lowe

Design (VR World and Stage Design)

Camilla Clarke

Sound

Pete Malkin

Composition

Theo Whitworth

Stage Management

Caitlin O’Reilly

Technical Stage Management

Kieran Lucas

Software Development

German Munoz

Digital Development

Ed Greig

Associate Sound Designer

Dan Balfour

Sound Assistant

Ben Smith

Coral Reef Scientist

Jamie Craggs

Underwater Filming, 360° Film edit and Script Edit

Jack Lowe

3D Modelling and Animation

Jordan Albon

General Manager

Natalie Songer

Making-of Documentary

Villager Films (Matt Cooper)

Cast

Meera Clarke (Annabel Betts)

VR Cast

Young Meera Clarke (Ava Ryan) Lily McCullen (Indiah Morris) Shaun Jacobs (Sol Costanho) Ashleigh Richardson (Milla Webb)

Voice Work

DCI Fiona Webb (Sarah Woodward) Douglas Clarke (Johnny Flynn) Cathy Selbourne (Anna Procter) Jen Phillips (Kate Shenton) Ryan Willis (Russell Woodhead)

SYNOPSIS FROGMAN starts in the present day, with Meera, a coral reef scientist at work. A detective arrives and tells Meera her father has been charged with the murder of Ashleigh Richardson, a 13-year-old girl who went missing in 1995.

With your VR headsets on, the scene flashes back to 1995, in a small fictional town in Australia. The local bully Ashleigh Richardson was last seen on a stolen boat heading out to sea. Meera’s father is a police diver (a FROGMAN), and is in charge of leading a team to look for Ashleigh. With the annual coral bloom due, it is a race against time to find her.

FROGMAN follows three 11-year-old coral ‘reef builders’ Meera, Lily and Shaun in a bedroom. We follow their story over the course of three sleepovers, screaming along to Greenday, critiquing ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and playing on the SEGA Megadrive.

The three friends exchange live coral fragments, tropical fish and other items in the post from all over the world. During the sleepovers, we hear about ‘Crazy Witch Lady’ and other suspects. Who was the last person to see Ashleigh?

The three friends distract each other from the frightening thought that she might actually be dead.

The story is structured like a thriller with breadcrumbs of odd events, ideas and happenings scattered through the action. The story is also told through the eyes of ‘grown up’ Meera who is now 35.

The audience experiences scenes in the bedroom from various perspectives, as part of the search and rescue scuba dive and in a police station where young Meera is interrogated. The audience feel like they are actually inside these environments.

CREATIVE PROCESS January 2017 – Filming underwater in Raja Ampat, Indonesia Raja Ampat is right on the Western edge of the Pacific Ocean in the heart of the coral triangle. This isolated, pristine marine park was the site for the underwater sequences in FROGMAN. The diversity of life in Raja Ampat is what the Great Barrier Reef used to look like, before the extinction-level bleaching events currently overwhelming it.

June 2017 – Filming in Brisbane, Australia I went to Brisbane with an awesome team: Pete Malkin (Sound), Camilla Clarke (Design) and Rhys Thomas (Production Manager). We worked with Backbone Youth Arts to recruit four young people, all of whom came from local schools, to play our four young people. We developed their scenes collaboratively via discussion and improvisation. Developing the story with our young Australian collaborators (with the help of the brilliant team at Backbone) inside our specially-built 3600 film set was a highlight of the project.

Model box presentation of Meera’s bedroom by Camilia Clarke

July 2017 – Piecing together the show in the UK We returned to England and began the process of weaving the fragments of FROGMAN together in Hull, London and Norwich. I am desperately short of the right words to thank all those who dedicated their time, expertise and artistic expression to this show. From the friends who came round to watch early drafts to the strangers who asked what I was up to and patiently nodded, looking confused.

FROGMAN currently has an audience capacity of 60, up from 30 at its opening with The Traverse in Edinburgh. This audience capacity is a huge step towards a collective VR-theatre experience. We are very proud to have taken steps towards VR becoming part of the mainstream of theatre storytelling.

THE UNIQUE EXPERIENCE Audiences enter the theatre space and sit either side of seabed-style floor.

Each audience member has a chair, a VR headset and some headphones which they are asked to put on.

The audience are framed as being part of a Jury service.

Once the VR headsets are explained, the story begins.

FROGMAN is a world-first for theatre, combining three spellbinding story-telling techniques: Virtual Reality headsets with binaural sound.

Over an hour, audiences will, for the first time, experience a story told using techniques which plunge them into the heart of the environment.

VR headsets allow audience members to experience an entire 3600 environment, showing the coral reefs as the police divers search for the body of a girl.

BIOGRAPHIES JACK LOWE CEO/Artistic Director Jack Lowe is CEO/Artistic Director of curious directive, a Norwich-based theatre company exploring life through the lens of science. In 2018, curious directive gained the prestigious status of an Arts Council England National Portfolio Theatre Company, with support until 2022 to create and tour innovative new theatre from Norwich touring nationally. In 2018, curious directive has toured the UK extensively with its theatre/VR hybrid FROGMAN to London for 3 weeks, 8 venues across the South-East as well as a 6-week international tour to China, Australia and Indonesia. FROGMAN was part of Melbourne International Arts Festival, formed a major part of Brisbane International Film Festival and headlined the British Council/Indonesia arts festival in Jakarta.

Jack was a recent recipient of a UEA Enterprise ‘Grow It’ Fund with which he is currently launching a new affordable creative co-working space, The Nave in the centre of Norwich at St Simon and St Jude church.

Further theatre credits includes Your Last Breath (Fringe First Winner/UK/International Tour), Pioneer (Fringe First Winner/ UK tour) and The Kindness of Strangers (UK tour). As stewards of theatre innovation, curious directive was the first theatre company to use the ‘Periscope’ app for live streaming (2014), the first ‘Resident Theatre Company’ at a UK Science Festival (Cambridge, 2015) and have created VR cuing software for live theatre (2017). Critically acclaimed, with 15 prestigious artsscience nominations and awards, curious directive has been published six times with Bloomsbury/Methuen. They regularly partner Sheffield Theatres, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Shoreditch Town Hall with previous and commissions from LIFT and NNF. curious directive regularly work with world-leading science institutes (Wellcome Trust and CRUK).

PETE MALKIN Sound Designer Pete Malkin is a London Based Sound Designer for Theatre and Film. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has moved on to working as a Freelance Sound Designer.

Sound work includes, Death of a Salesman (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Unreturning (Frantic Assembly), Pity (Royal Court), Queens of the Coal Age (Manchester Royal Exchange), Schism (Park Theatre), The Kid Stays in the Picture (Complicité/Royal Court), The Tempest (Donmar Warehouse/ St Ann’s Warehouse), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (International Associate), Beware of Pity (Complicité), The Encounter (Complicité), Frogman (Curious Directive), Treasure, Home Chat (Finborough), Unearthed (Folio Theatre), Am I Dead Yet (Unlimited Theatre), War Correspondents (Helen Chadwick/Steven Hoggett, UK Tour), The Commission/Café Kafka (Aldeburgh, Linbury Studio, Opera North), SUN (National Art Service), The Magic Flute (ENO/Complicité), The Noise (Unlimited Theatre), Farragut North (Southwark Playhouse), Space Junk (Lyric/Gameshow), Lionboy (Complicité), Rock Pool (Inspector Sands), Opening Ceremony London 2012 Olympics (LOCOG, Assistant Soundscape Designer), The Master and Margarita (Additional Sound design, Complicite).

CAMILLA CLARKE Set / Costume Designer Camilla Clarke is a Set & Costume designer based in London, UK. She trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 2014 with First Class Honours in Theatre Design.

In 2015 she was a winner of the Linbury Prize for Stage Design.

Camilla was the recipient of the Prince of Wales Arts Scholarship 2013, The Paul Kimpton prize for innovation in Design and The Lord Williams memorial prize for Design in 2014.

Credits include: A Small Place (Gate Theatre, Notting Hill), Beginners (Unicorn Theatre), Bad Roads (Royal Court), Elephant (Birmingham REP theatre), Human Animals (Royal Court Theatre) and The Day After (ENO).

curious directive Since 2008, curious directive has explored life through the lens of science. We work from a Grade 1 listed, 15th century church in the heart of Norwich.

We forge sustained relationships between science communities, theatregoers & technology partners pursuing layered, emotionally charged science-led theatre. curious directive is core funded by Arts Council England and internationally supported by British Council Theatre and Dance. curiousdirective.com @c_directive

“For the great barrier reef, once visible from space.

For all the childhood friendships which came and went, and for those that remain.

For childhood summer holidays, where time seemed to stand still.�

TICKET HOLDER PRIVILEGES

FLASH YOUR SIFA 2019 TICKET

TO ENJOY SPECIAL DEALS AT OUR PARTNER OUTLETS Empress

Kuro Izakaya

1 Empress Place, #01-03, Asian Cilivilisation Museum, S179555

3 Temasek Boulevard, #01-604/605, Suntec City Tower 3, S038983

10% off dine-in ala carte food and drinks purchased at EMPRESS.

Enjoy 15% off total food bill.

Esplanade Mall

OTC Café

Esplanade – Theatre on the Bay, 8 Raffles Avenue, S039802 Beware of Pity, ST/LL, Körper and Ryuichi Sakamoto ticket holders are entitled up to 15% savings on dining and shopping at Esplanade Mall on the day of performance. Visit www. esplanade.com for details.

House Pour @ Festival House

The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane, S179429 Chill out and soak in the festival buzz at House Pour. Enjoy a glass of signature Housepour cocktail or a serving of ancho chicken tacos at only $4.20nett and all other items at 15% off.

In addition, complimentary premium ice cream in assorted flavours will be given out daily.

(Limited to the first 30 guests each day)

JW Marriott Singapore South Beach 30 Beach Road, S189763

Enjoy 25% off at Beach Road Kitchen and 15% at Akira Back.

100 Victoria Street, #03-01 National Library Building S188064 15% off food and beverages.

Privé ACM

1 Empress Place, #01-02 S179555 10% off dine-in ala carte food and drinks purchased at Privé ACM.

The Naturally Better Company

9 Raffles Boulevard, #02-46, Millania Walk, S039596 5%* storewide discount and 20%* discount for 2nd pair of MELISSA shoes. *Discount not applicable on selected nett-priced brands and promotional items.

The NCO Club

32 Beach Road, S189764 Enjoy 15% off dine-in ala carte food and beverage (Cool Cats, Madame Fan, Stags Room & Fish Pool)

Kith Café

Bras Basah: 51 Bras Basah Rd, #01-03A Manulife Centre, S189554 Marina Square: 6 Raffles Blvd, #02-49 S039594 Enjoy 10% off dine-in ala carte items purchased at KITH CAFÉ (Bras Basah, Marina Square).

Capital Zouk

3C River Valley Road The Cannery, #02-02, S179022 Enjoy free entry into Capital Zouk before midnight.

For more Festival deals, visit sifa.sg.

Unless otherwise stated, all promotions are valid till 2 June, Sunday. Not applicable with other promotions, discounts, vouchers and offers by credit or privilege cards. Ticket stubs presented must be in its original condition and e-tickets must be shown via electronic devices clearly. Management reserves the right to amend any promotional terms and conditions without prior notice. Merchants’ terms and conditions apply.

ABOUT SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS As Singapore’s annual pinnacle arts festival, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) presents captivating and diverse works across theatre, music, dance, film and visual arts. First launched as the Singapore Festival of Arts in 1977, the festival has gone through several evolutions and inspired generations of arts lovers and practitioners.

Today, the highly-anticipated festival is a high-point on Singapore’s arts and cultural calendar.

Under the helm of Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani from 2018–2020, SIFA continues its festival mission to champion the creation and presentation of Singaporean and international works.

ARTS HOUSE LIMITED BOARD Chairperson Christine Ong Members Chong Yuan Chien Deborah Ho Eduardo Ramos-Gómez Kelvin Ang Kenneth Kwok Lynette Pang Madeleine Lee Maniza Jumabhoy Mok Wei Wei Ong Chao Choon Ong Choon Fah Sarah Martin (Ex-Officio)

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS MANAGEMENT

Chief Executive Officer Sarah Martin Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani Chief Financial Officer Ng Soon Lee Head, Production Cindy Yeong Head, Marketing Jasmine Gan Assistant Head, Event Services Management Emma Izzabella Tagoe

PROGRAMMING Producers Sara Joan Fang Rydwan Anwar Ye Junmin Senior Manager Lisa Lip Manager Shridar Mani Assistant Manager Alicia Chong Festival Assistant Chong Xinyi

PRODUCTION

Production Manager Chan Silei Yo Shao Ann Production Co-ordinators Celestine Wong Melissa Chin Technical Co-ordinators Huang Xiangbin Ian Tan

Assistant Technical Co-ordinator Muhammed Muzzamier Bin Abu Bakar Production Assistants Chong Wee Nee Alexis Ho

MARKETING & TICKETING Senior Managers Elizabeth Wong Winnie Chan Managers Allison Lai Fiona Chua Senior Designers Hakim bin Rahim Md Firdaus bin Wari Executives Juliana Tan Shariffah Natasha Dinah Eriqah Azman Intern Chew Ying Ying

COMMUNICATIONS Manager Khairi Johann Jasmin Intern Jamie Buitelaar

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Manager Norita Senin Executive Tan Yanru

EVENT SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Managers, Artist Logistics Carine Lee Syafiq Zulkepli Managers, Front-of-House Nura Osman Germaine Leow Manager, Back-of-House Hospitality Esther Goh Manager, Event Services Johnson Kee Manager, Special Projects and Operations Zalikha Mis’ari Executive, Front-of-House Kitty Kwan

FINANCE

Managers Vivian Gan Executives Aileen Ong Izyan Nooraini Bte Ramlee

HUMAN RESOURCE Manager Noraliza Ramli Senior Executive Elaine Neo

ADMINISTRATION

Centre Manager Lucas Chiew Executive Nor Limah Binte Ja’ffa

DON’T MISS

THESE OTHER PRODUCTIONS IN THE FESTIVAL SINGULAR SCREENS

Curated by Asian Film Archive 18 May - 2 Jun Screening Room, Festival House & Oldham Theatre

KÖRPER

by Sasha Waltz & Hans Peter Kuhn (Germany) 31 May & 1 Jun, Fri & Sat Esplanade Theatre

BILL FRISELL TRIO

featuring Rudy Royston & Thomas Morgan (USA) 29 May, Wed Victoria Theatre

Photo by Bernd Uhlig

Photo by Monica Frisell

CROWD

IMPULSE

by Gisèle Vienne (France)

Varsha (Singapore)

1 & 2 Jun, Sat & Sun Victoria Theatre

1 & 2 Jun, Sat & Sun Play Den, Festival House

Photo by Barbara Braun/MuTphoto

A DREAM UNDER THE SOUTHERN BOUGH: REVERIE

ST/LL

南柯一梦 之 如梦

by Shiro Takatani, Dumb Type (Japan)

by Toy Factory Productions Ltd (Singapore)

24 & 25 May, Fri & Sat Esplanade Theatre

31 May - 2 Jun, Fri - Sun Drama Centre Theatre Performed in Mandarin with English and Chinese surtitles.

Photo by Yoshikazu Inoue

FREE PROGRAMMES AND MORE FESTIVAL CLOSING CONCERT

DE RELAXERETTE

Arjan Kruidhof and Explore-the-North (The Netherlands)

with Singapore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Tan

12 – 20 May & 22 May – 2 Jun, Daily, Various timings The Plaza, National Library Building

2 Jun, Sun, 6pm The Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage

FOR FULL FESTIVAL LINE-UP, VISIT SIFA.SG Organised By

Commissioned By

Supported By

Held In

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