• Finding oneself in Sarah Kane - Interview with ITI's 2020 graduating cohort (Part 1)

    10 Mar 2020

    'The graduating students of Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) are presenting 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane this year. Combining lyricism with dark humour, the play is an unvarnished look at the difficulty of questioning and communicating with the outside world through the lens of depression. ITI will be putting a fresh, multicultural spin on this modern classic. They will be directed by award-winning director and ITI alumnus Andy Ng Wai-shek.

    We spoke to the 2020 graduating cohort of ITI in two parts to find out their first impressions of Sarah Kane’s text and their experience working with director Andy Ng.'

    - Arts Republic

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  • Preview: 4.48 Psychosis by Intercultural Theatre Institute

    06 Mar 2020

    'Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) is back with a new set of graduating students with their very first production of the year. This March, watch as they perform Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, as directed by award-winning director and ITI alumnus Andy Ng Wai-shek.

    Combining lyricism with dark humour, 4.48 Psychosis is an unvarnished look at the difficulty of questioning and communicating with the outside world through the lens of depression. 20 years after its premiere at London’s Royal Court Theatre in June 2000, ITI presents a fresh, multicultural interpretation of this modern classic, also Kane’s last and best-known play.'

    - Bak Chor Mee Boy

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  • [Interview] 4.48 Psychosis is “already an intercultural work to me”, Director Andy Ng Wai-Shek

    01 Mar 2020

    'In slightly over a week, the graduating cohort of Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) will present the first ever multi-lingual adaptation of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis. I spoke to director Andy Ng Wai-Shek, an award-winning practitioner from Hong Kong and alumnus of ITI’s pioneering batch, to find out more about the production.'

    - Isaac Tan

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  • Intercultural Theatre Institute presents multicultural adaptation of 4.48 Psychosis this March

    26 Feb 2020

    'Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), an independent theatre school for contemporary artists, will be presenting a multicultural adaptation of 4.48 Psychosis from 12–14 March 2020 at Drama Centre Black Box.

    Written by renowned British playwright Sarah Kane, combining lyricism with dark humour, 4.48 Psychosis is an unvarnished look at the difficulty of questioning and communicating with the outside world through the lens of depression.'

    - The Online Citizen

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  • How Sankar Venkateswaran melds social conscience with experimental theatre

    07 Feb 2020

    'Recent years have seen the mellowing of director Sankar Venkateswaran into a theatre maker with a strong social conscience, whose commitment to offbeat experimentation remains unshaken. Last November, he was the recipient of the Bengaluru-based Ranga Shankara Theatre’s annual national prize—The Shankar Nag Theatre Award—given to a “theatre all-rounder below the age of 40”. Venkateswaran, 41 now, is a veritable veteran of the stage, an accomplishment he wears lightly even after two decades in the performing arts.

    ...“Even as a trained director, I could only work with those who had emerged from a training similar to mine,” he remembers. This conflict led him to the Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore in 2003, where he decided to undergo training as a performer. “I wanted to have a first-person perspective of the actor, which I felt was lacking in my craft,” he explains.'

    - Forbes India

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  • Help is sweet for arts groups

    04 Feb 2020

    'While in-kind donations may not add up to a large sum, they are invaluable to small arts groups who juggle a tight budget.

    The Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) has received in-kind donations ranging from wine for its gala receptions to paper for programmes.

    General manager Goh Su Lin says: "Because of the limited resources arts organisations like ITI have, their
    donations have opened doors that we would not otherwise have access to. It has enabled ITI to redirect our
    budget to focus on our mission to train actors."'

    - The Straits Times

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  • LIE WITH ME by Intercultural Theatre Institute

    26 Dec 2019

    'Lie with Me is presented by the graduating students of Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI). Written by Kaite O’Reilly and directed by Phillip Zarrilli, the piece explores the complex dynamics of modern-day relationships.

    ...One walks away from this production feeling overwhelmed, but strangely comforted by the fact that we are not alone in the struggles and trials of the complex world of relationships.'

    - Centre 42 Citizen Reviewer

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  • Chain reaction: Lie With Me by Intercultural Theatre Institute

    14 Dec 2019

    'ITI’s graduation production, Lie With Me is filled with broken characters, caught in capsules of emotional decrepitude. The work, written by Kaite O’Reilly is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde, repurposed to examine the fissures of contemporary relationships.

    ...While there were clear stand-out performances, all of the actors had equal opportunity to showcase their skills. O’Reilly describes the structure of Lie With Me as a ‘daisy chain’ and the ostensibly separate pieces come together into a fragile but viable whole. For the graduating class of the Intercultural Theatre Institute, Lie With Me is as good a coming out as there can be.'

    - Arts Equator

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  • 'The actor is just a tool in cinema,' says actor Saran Jith

    21 Nov 2019

    'Curtains are up. A playful Cupid makes his entry in the English play Chandala, Impure; the audience is struck by his impish grin. The god of love, dressed in flowers and armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows, cycles the lovers around stage. Romance has arrived; so has the actor, Saran Jith, on the modern Indian stage.

    Theatre lovers already know Saran as the playful Cupid and endearing maama, a well-wisher of the lovers, in the Puducherry-based Indianostrum’s play. Today, he has created a buzz in Kerala, his home state, with a role in Lal Jose’s latest, 41.

    ...The actor followed this up with a highly specialised three years’ training module at Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in Singapore.

    ITI training moulded Saran’s body and mind as an actor. “The place carves out unique artistes, and not brands. They train you in diverse art forms of Asia as well as contemporary acting methods. But, no one tells you what is right or wrong. It’s what we take away from each form, and, how we relate it with contemporary theatre.” The film had a Singapore release. And, Saran was overjoyed to watch a video of his teachers in ITI sharing their reactions after watching the movie. “I got the spirit of acting from home and the body of acting from ITI.”'

    - The Hindu

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  • Welcome boost for the arts

    17 Nov 2019

    'The Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) received $1 million from real estate company OUE's executive chairman Stephen Riady, which along with dollar-for-dollar matching from the Government's Cultural Matching Fund, means the performing arts school will have $2 million to fund its training programmes. Such donations are an encouraging sign of the broadening nature of arts appreciation in Singapore. Traditionally, the arts have been a poorer cousin in the donation stakes as patrons prefer more practical causes such as education, healthcare and the elderly.

    That donors are starting to give more generously to build software for the arts industry is a welcome development, especially as the resources are evidently much needed. Lasalle's McNally campus, for example, was meant for 1,850 students, but the school population currently numbers about 2,700. The ITI, a much more specialised institution, has trained 64 graduates from 17 countries since 2000, including Golden Horse-nominated actress Yeo Yann Yann.

    The growth of Lasalle's school population, and the demand for ITI's rigorous three-year course, is a reflection
    of the growing sophistication and dynamism of Singapore's arts scene. The healthy enrolment is a sign that
    home-grown students are more confident about pursuing a life in the arts. Students from the region, too, are
    attracted by the arts education and training opportunities here. Hopefully, the virtuous circle will continue to
    feed the scene. This is where the Ngee Ann Kongsi and Dr Riady have shown the way, as donors too are a
    crucial part of the arts ecosystem.'

    - The Straits Times

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