Q&A with Krys Yuan

Krys Yuan (she/her) is a theatre artist, actor and playwright from Singapore. Her artistic journey started in an all-girls drama club and led her to graduate from School of the Arts (SOTA), majoring in theatre. She holds a BA in Anthropology through which she explored her curiosity about culture and societies. She lives and plays in liminal spaces, embracing themes of environmentalism, speculative fantasies and human fallibility.

After ITI, she hopes to continue writing, performing and creating meaningful work in Singapore and internationally, rooted in the principles of intercultural theatre.

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

What is it like to train here at ITI? Share something you’ve learned from working with your classmates from various countries.

I have learnt that our shared humanity is really simple: we all need food, rest, to love and to be loved. Our shared humanity is also so richly diverse; our personalities, styles and strengths are so different yet we complement each other that way, because at the end of the day, theatre is about interdependence. We are more different as unique individuals, than as people of our cultures.

Think back to your first day here: what were some of your thoughts and emotions then?

Trepidation? Excitement? I think I was mostly thinking that, “this is my new home now”, and I want to make the most of it, to explore it. Home in the sense of artistic home, but also in terms of the community that I had been seeking. I remember all of us lined up according to our batches, mopping the floor in a straight line yelling “GOOD MORNING!” in our own languages. Watching the third and second years do it so smoothly and easily, and when it came to our turn, I was literally falling flat on my face several times before even reaching the other wall. That moment, I knew how far I had to reach (goal), and I know I had come to the right place to reach it.

Tell us how you came to know about ITI. What made you choose to come here?

I found out about ITI almost a decade ago, through learning about Kuo Pao Kun’s role in Singapore’s theatre history, then learning that he had set up a school with Sasi called ITI, teaching ‘intercultural theatre methodologies’ (not an exact quote). And I remember watching Yazid perform in The Malay Man and his Chinese Father and being so moved by his presence as a performer, that I thought, “if I were to train as an actor, that would be where I would go.”

What were you doing before coming to ITI?

I was working part-time in an afterschool care and summer camp division of a youth non-profit in Canada, freelance acting, writing, assistant producing… basically anything theatre-related that I could get involved with. I witnessed the tenacityof artists to devise, write, produce and perform their own stories, to make art, and as inspired as I was, I felt hindered by my own lack of confidence and training. Moreover, I didn’t understand my own artistic identity – I knew I wanted to make “Asian” theatre, but what did that even mean? So I knew that before I could start telling my stories, I wanted more craft. And I came to ITI searching for it.

What's one of the most memorable experiences you’ve had at ITI?

Crying in Guillermo’s classes. It sounds bad but it really was transformational for me (and, dare I say, my class). In his class I found the permission to cry, and with that came the gumption to fail, get up, and fail again. To really sit in the process and embrace it for all its chaos and ugliness.

What has it been like learning from and working with the teachers at ITI?

What a blessing it is for so many people with such experience, wisdom and patience to give a crap about you. To share their process, their artistic sensibilities, to demand more from you because they see that possibility in you. One of the biggest lessons for me is definitely experiencing what it means to “hold on tightly, let go lightly” (as Wan Ching says, quoting Anne Bogart).

How has what you’ve learnt here shaped or changed you as an actor?

I’ve learnt how to build my own process as a performer - from learning lines to movement to taking notes to devising a scene, an act, a story. I’ve learned to listen better, to my co-actors, to space, and to listen with my whole body (and still learning). I’ve grown my confidence as a storyteller, especially through the FYiP process. I’ve also been thinking about what makes “Asian” art, and it’s becoming clearer to me how yin/yang is practised throughout all traditional forms, and how a deep, embodied understanding of that can permeate and enrich contemporary practice. (to go left, you must go right/ softness and hardness)

Describe your biggest takeaway from the ITI experience.

Resilience. Learning to accept your own strengths and flaws, and that of others too. Handling criticism and feedback, whether constructive or unwarranted. To laugh at yourself and each other, to cry and get up and try again. Discovering how you work best. I felt like we were given the space and actively encouraged to discover our own process that works with our bodies, neural pathways, instincts, and sensibilities.

What are your plans after graduation?

Teaching drama, writing, and auditioning to keep performing. My blue skies vision is to devise new works with other alumni across borders, develop my script from Jean Tay’s workshop, Finding Mama, into a full-length piece for young adults, and explore children’s theatre and the possibilities that come with speaking to people at different stages of childhood.

What would you say to a new student or someone thinking of joining ITI?

If you are ready to transform yourself and your life, do it. There is nowhere more accepting, challenging and rewarding as the program and people here.

Any special thanks or parting words?

I am forever indebted to my teachers, for sharing their expertise and wisdom with us, for always being willing to extend their time and patience even beyond school hours to give guidance. Each of them are such remarkable artists and people in their own right, that definitely gives me something to aspire towards.

The training at ITI shapes you to think with your whole body, spirit, and heart. Within it, I have found freedom and confidence to pursue artistic choices that I would have never otherwise reached for…I'm immensely grateful to the Tan Chay Bing Fund for supporting my education at ITI. Without their support, I would not have the confidence to step out into the world as an artist, ready to bring the hope and optimism of intercultural theatre in the stories that I want to tell.