Final Year Individual Project 2019

Original works conceived and performed by ITI’s graduands.

The Final year theatre making individual project is a critical and integral aspect of Intercultural Theatre Institute’s actor training programme. This is a project that the student begins thinking about, preparing and planning from the moment they start training at ITI. Combining the objectives of a performance with the exploratory intentions of a creative platform, FYiP is each student’s search for their own voice in performance.

GROUP A (16 - 18 May)

The Party
By Jin Chen

Surrounded by massive amounts of information, do we really know what’s happening in this world?
When we talk about global conflicts and crisis, we can’t help feeling anxious about the world we’re living in.
What kind of a world are we moving towards?
Are we getting more united through difficulties, or separated?
Let’s simply listen to what the leaders of the major powers say, as a start.
Let’s make it interesting to hear.
Let’s sing and dance!
Let’s join the party!

Twilight Melody
By Ted Nudgent Fernandez Tac-an

When was your darkest moment? What if you were told that it was coming — that your name was on the list? What if it was just outside your house and was about to knock on your door? What if your darkest moment would mean your life?

Twilight Melody is the carillon chimes of every human being’s nightmare — that they wish to wake up from and forget. It is inspired by Filipino stories about the war against drugs.

Performed mainly in English with some Filipino and Cebuano
Advisory: Mature themes and coarse language

The Unmasking
By Earnest Hope Tinambacan

Hello! It’s me - the voice inside your head. Yes, the voice that whispers things, the one that offers you different perspectives, possibilities, and a lot of “what ifs”. I know you’ve been looking for me. Everyone is looking for me. Everybody wants to see me, but when you reach me, you just run away and shut the door. If you don’t stop looking, you might find me one day and hear what I really have to say. Curious? Come up the hill. You might find me there.

Advisory: Mature themes and coarse language

UnBEEcoming
By Wendy Toh

Welcome to Tan Bee Bee’s clearance sale! Join her on a journey through time and space as she discovers how sentimental objects can give us strength and remind us of long-buried memories. Do objects define us, or do we define them? Follow Tan Bee Bee and find out.

回。returning
By Regina Toon

Is it just me, or is the Earth burning up in flames? We are floating around like angels in Heaven, unscathed. But really, the fire’s gone into my feet, my wings, my brain!

The wind on my cheeks is my mother’s embrace, calling me home to where it’s safe. But I can barely hear her; through the smoke, I can barely see her face.

Do you remember the way back from where we came?

GROUP B (23 - 25 May)

Agora of Crimes
By Nour el Houda Essafi (a.k.a. Yiseong)

The scene is set in ancient Greece, she thinks… At night in her atelier, a pathological schizophrenic, a patient with dissociative identity disorder and a delusional female serial killer decides to take a retrospective look at her life's self-proclaimed purpose while attending to her favourite activity.

Advisory: Mature themes

Exit
By Jalal Albaroudi

“Between the nostalgia of the past and the unpredictable future, in the present, where the only thing you can call home is a suitcase that contains your identity, you ask yourself: What is identity? What is home?”

Far from home, a man known as the suitcase man experiences a stream of memories irrigating what remains of his bare-roots. A song, a smell and scattered images lead him to share an ancient story from his childhood about Al-Domari, ‘The Lamplighter’, who had a special bond with the lamps. It is believed that there are seven empires buried underneath Damascus, and the lamplighter’s favourite lamp still stands out from one of these ancient empires...

Watermelon 我的美人
By Theresa Wee-Yenko

Watermelon 我的美人 is a series of scenes inspired by girlhood, wifehood and motherhood.

Scene 1: Someone’s Daughter
Scene 2: Good Wife, Bad Life
Scene 3: Watermelon 我的美人

nadia
By Tysha Khan

16-year-old Nadia is singing, dancing, and dreaming her way to her spotless future. But she’s also sitting on a secret, a secret her whole body is dying to tell. Will Nadia get through the day?

Advisory: Mature themes

BOX
By Vignesh Singh

We live as if we were immortal. We hardly allow ourselves to be mentally and spiritually close to death when we are physically not.

Facing his mortality, a man goes on a journey recounting and reliving his experiences with loss. Inspired by personal accounts and material from the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, this work is an investigation into loss and the loneliness that surrounds it.

Advisory: Coarse language

About the 2019 cohort

Earnest Hope Tinambacan

Earnest Hope Tinambacan is a theatre actor, director, playwright and singer-songwriter based in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines. He started his theatre journey at the age of 12 as a member of the LIYAB cultural group in Misamis Occidental. As a student at Silliman University, he performed in university musical productions such as The King and I and Man of La Mancha. He is also a senior member and former president of Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts (YATTA), with whom he has acted in plays all around the Philippines, including Aaah Bakus!, performed at PETA Theater in Quezon City. He has also written plays for YATTA, including Isla Tawak, performed at the Asian Youth Theatre Festival 2018 in Singapore. 

Hope has performed in devised play ArmMUT in Stuttgart, Germany, award-winning play In My Father’s House directed by acclaimed Filipino director Amiel Leonardia, and Heaven As The Sea (An Ulahingan Story) directed by ITI alumna Denise Aguilar. He has directed several plays, including the musical Scharon Mani, The Vagina Monologues and The VManologues. In 2018, Hope was a collaborator-actor in Kolab Mindanao and Kolab2 Theatre Devising Workshop and Performance organised by La Salle University, Ozamiz City, in partnership with ITI.

Hope is a recipient of the U.S.-ASEAN Scholarship and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund, which provides loans for actor-students.

Jalal Albaroudi 

Jalal Albaroudi is an actor and theatremaker from Damascus. He started his journey in 2009 with an experimental theatre group, and went on to train in the Stanislavsky method for two years, but was unable to finish the programme due to the situation in his home country. In 2012, Jalal started his journey as an independent artist creating his own work. He later joined Tajroubah theatre collective and performed in several shows, most recently Dreams in 2016 in Damascus. He has collaborated on devised works with dancers, musicians and artists from different disciplines. 

Jalal has also worked in film and TV across Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, and has taught drama in youth drama schools and refugee camps. He is part of White Flux short film company, and has performed in several films, including One Day Calendar, which won Best Foreign Language Movie at Sciacca Film Festival in Italy. 

In 2016, Jalal moved to Kuala Lumpur, where he was involved in workshops and theatre laboratories until he found his way to ITI.

Jalal is currently researching artists in exile, and has an upcoming project with other exiled artists.

Jalal is a recipient of a scholarship sponsored by a private philanthropist, and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund.

Jin Chen

Jin is a theatre director and actor. She initially studied e-commerce at South China University of Technology while also participating in theatre workshops and performing in local productions, such as site-specific work Body Space in Yangjiang by Li Ning, and physical theatre piece The Wind by Jiangnan Liguo at Beijing Fringe Festival. She also co-founded Yooxi-Yooxi Arts Festival in her hometown, Yangjiang. 

Jin holds an MA in Creative Practice and Direction from Guildford School of Acting (GSA), University of Surrey, UK, where she directed I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark on Sundays by Tennessee Williams, under the guidance of her mentor Terrie Fender, the former head of GSA. There, she combined her interest in physical theatre and contemporary dance with an exploration of text.

After returning to China’s theatre scene, Jin realised her experience in Europe had largely shaped her view of theatre, while she knew less about Asian theatre. She therefore decided to join ITI to explore communication, understanding and creation in theatre in a time of interculturalism.

Jin is a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund.

Regina Toon 

Regina is a Singaporean performer who has been performing since she was a child. She acts, dances, sings, writes and plays multiple musical instruments. Prior to her training in ITI, she trained at East 15 Acting School (UK), Natanakairali (India), Shanghai Theatre Academy (China) and the International Noh Institute (Japan). Regina also trained in classical ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance and in singing at the Lee Wei Song School of Music. She has published a book of poetry, Coordinates.

Regina’s travels have shaped her and her perspective on theatre, art and most importantly, on living. She is grateful that she is able to constantly rediscover herself and the world, through theatre.

Regina is a recipient of the ITI-William Teo Scholarship, the Tan Chay Bing Education Fund Scholarship and the ITI Scholarship, and is a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund.

Ted Nudgent Fernandez Tac-an 

Ted is the Culture and Arts Director of La Salle University (LSU), Ozamiz City. While working as a high school Mathematics teacher, Ted was asked to teach performing arts at LSU’s Senior High School, leading him to pursue practice-based theatre training at ITI.

As Associate Director of LSU Teatro Guindegan, Ted’s roles include actor, choreographer, stage manager, production designer and director.  His recent works include Damgo: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Adaptation, PATCHED (at Ashirwad International Theatre Festival, India), Istoryahe Lang Ko, Hugis (performed in Indonesia), Awane, Ang Alamat ng Lamok, Antigone and NOLI.

Ted was one of 12 theatre practitioners selected to devise Likha-Lakbayan for Tanghal National University and College Theater Festival, touring to five major cities in the Philippines. As a recipient of the Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship, he spent three months learning the arts and culture of Jogjakarta, Indonesia.

In Singapore, he has performed at the Singapore Writers Festival, Malay CultureFest and Neon Lights Festival.

In the future, Ted hopes to continue collaborating with various practitioners alongside his teaching job. He also wants to develop artistic advocacy works for children, youth and the environment.

Ted is a recipient of the Tan Chay Bing Education Fund Scholarship and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund. 

Theresa Wee-Yenko

Theresa is a member of Emergency Shelter in Singapore. She is currently working on Off Stage 2.0 (Emergency Shelter) and Encounters of Dance and Music in Instant Composition (Dance Nucleus).

Stage credits include Off Stage (Emergency Shelter, 2018), Uproot (The Theatre Practice Lab, 2016), Let's Get Back Together (Red Pill Productions, 2014) and Romeo and Juliet (Toy Factory, 2014).

Theresa was previously part of The Theatre Practice Lab, Creative Edge (a division of I Theatre), and Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Young Company.

Theresa is a recipient of the ITI Scholarship and the Tan Chay Bing Education Fund Scholarship.

Tysha Khan

Tysha is a Singapore-based actor and writer. She has worked in productions by companies such as Teater Kami and UNSAID, often on topics that mean a lot to her, such as race relations or LGBT rights. Her most recent performance was in Anak Melayu (Teater Kami). Besides performing on stage, Tysha acts on screen, hosts, and has her own YouTube channel called Go Jerr. She is also a published poet, and has translated films and interviews.

Tysha’s training at ITI has opened up new vistas in acting and performance: vocally, physically, and in the way she thinks about – and writes – theatre. She possesses a strong interest in voice work and aims to teach it one day. 

As the first Malay-Muslim woman to graduate from ITI, Tysha hopes to create theatre that effectively captures the culture of her community. She also aims to keep making and performing work that explores different facets of identity and delves into societal issues.

Tysha is a recipient of the ITI Scholarship and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund. She is also a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award, a scholarship that is given to Malay/Muslim youths with the potential to be role models for the community.

Vignesh Singh

Vignesh is a Singaporean actor, director and educator who has performed in Singapore and Malaysia.

His affair with the stage began in 2008 when he performed in Rainbow’s Ending by Noel Grieg, produced by We Colour People Theatre & Company. Since then, Vignesh has worked with Toy Factory Productions, Teater Ekamatra, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Buds Theatre Company, Dark Matter Theatrics, Our Company and GroundZ-0.

Fascinated by theatre in unconventional spaces, Vignesh has performed in and directed shows in fields, by the sea and in trains. Inspired by his mentors, Vignesh is determined to continue seeking out and investigating alternative beliefs and logics in art and life.

Presently, Vignesh is a drama teacher to students at the Global Indian International School.

Vignesh is a recipient of the ITI Scholarship and a grant recipient of the Trailblazer General Fund.

Wendy Toh

Wendy Toh is a Singapore-based performer whose numerous acting credits span both screen and theatre.

She has acted in award-winning films and regional television dramas such as HBO Asia's Serangoon Road. She is also a core member of Tapestry Playback Theatre, and has trained and worked with Jinen Butoh School under Atsushi Takenouchi.

Wendy also practises a wide range of fine art, creating abstract canvasses and thought-provoking mixed media installations.

After graduation, Wendy hopes to deepen her Butoh practice and further explore physical theatre.

Wendy is a recipient of the ITI Scholarship and the Tan Chay Bing Education Fund Scholarship, and a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund.

Nour el Houda Essafi (a.k.a. Yiseong)

At a young age, Nour el Houda a.k.a. Yiseong was selected into a specialised performing arts school in Paris, where she trained in classical ballet, violin and piano, performing onstage in an orchestra and a ballet ensemble (performances included An American in Paris, a ballet adaptation by His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and Madame Haïm). She later trained in performing art forms such as Cambodian Khmer dance, as well as Indian Kathak under Mrs Sharmila Sharma Guruji, and learned to play Taiko drums with Paris Taiko Ensemble.

Coming to ITI has been a life-changing decision that has enabled Yiseong to rediscover herself, her roots, and the definition of what an artist should be.

Yiseong is a beneficiary of the Möbius Fund.