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Reading the Room: A Playwright's Devising Journey
Over the past three decades, award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma has written more than 120 plays, many of them created with the The Necessary Stage’s unique devising methodology.
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮: 𝘈 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 offers unprecedented access into the devising process, with keen insights and intimate reflections gleaned from Haresh’s artistic journey. This book describes Haresh’s devising process in meticulous detail, illustrated by production case studies and incorporating numerous archival artefacts, including photographs, early drafts of scripts and personal correspondences. It also features in-depth interviews with some of TNS’ most notable artist-collaborators.
The chapters highlight different aspects of devising such as:
Devising with Communities
Devising and Verbatim Theatre
Devising and International Collaboration
Devising and Interdisciplinary Theatre.
Written as an accessible how-to guide, 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮: 𝘈 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 promises to be an invaluable resource for playwrights, directors, students, teachers and collaborative artists, as well as anyone curious about Singapore theatre history.
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮: 𝘈 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 offers unprecedented access into the devising process, with keen insights and intimate reflections gleaned from Haresh’s artistic journey. This book describes Haresh’s devising process in meticulous detail, illustrated by production case studies and incorporating numerous archival artefacts, including photographs, early drafts of scripts and personal correspondences. It also features in-depth interviews with some of TNS’ most notable artist-collaborators.
The chapters highlight different aspects of devising such as:
Devising with Communities
Devising and Verbatim Theatre
Devising and International Collaboration
Devising and Interdisciplinary Theatre.
Written as an accessible how-to guide, 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮: 𝘈 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 promises to be an invaluable resource for playwrights, directors, students, teachers and collaborative artists, as well as anyone curious about Singapore theatre history.
479 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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About the author
Haresh Sharma
18 books16 followersHaresh is Resident Playwright of The Necessary Stage and co-Artistic Director of the annual M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. To date, he has written more than 100 plays. His play, Off Centre, was selected by the Ministry of Education as a Literature text for N and O Levels, and republished by The Necessary Stage in 2006. In 2008, Ethos Books published Interlogue: Studies in Singapore Literature, Vol. 6, written by Prof David Birch and edited by A/P Kirpal Singh, which presented an extensive investigation of Haresh's work over the past 20 years. A collection of Haresh’s plays have been translated into Mandarin and published by Global Publishing with the title '哈里斯·沙玛剧作选'.
Haresh was awarded Best Original Script for Fundamentally Happy, Good People and Gemuk Girls during the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Life! Theatre Awards respectively. In 2010, the abovementioned plays have also been published by The Necessary Stage in the collection entitled Trilogy. Most recently in 2011, 2 collections of short plays by Haresh entitled Shorts 1 and Shorts 2 have been published as well. Haresh was also the first non-American to be awarded the prestigious Goldberg Master Playwright by New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2011.
Haresh was awarded Best Original Script for Fundamentally Happy, Good People and Gemuk Girls during the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Life! Theatre Awards respectively. In 2010, the abovementioned plays have also been published by The Necessary Stage in the collection entitled Trilogy. Most recently in 2011, 2 collections of short plays by Haresh entitled Shorts 1 and Shorts 2 have been published as well. Haresh was also the first non-American to be awarded the prestigious Goldberg Master Playwright by New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2011.
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July 22, 2022
Review: (3.5★) A disclaimer: if you are looking for a guide on how to write plays, this isn't it. What this book is, however, is a detailed instruction manual that lays out the method of devising plays, which is a process of "creating a play with a group of people without a script". (Sounds a little abstract and confusing, but basically, it is a process-oriented, people-centred approach that makes use of research, interviews, improvisations and more to guide the process of writing a play.)
I greatly admire the work that Haresh Sharma and The Necessary Stage (TNS) has done, whether it is showcasing different languages beyond English (e.g. Chinese, Indian, Malay, Bahasa and more) on stage, or highlighting social issues that most are uncomfortable and reluctant to talk about (e.g. mental health, religion, drug use, sexuality etc), so when I saw this book, I immediately knew I had to read it. If you've read/watched Haresh Sharma's plays like Off Centre, Model Citizens etc, are a fan of TNS, or are interested in finding out more about one of the most important playwrights and theatre companies in Singapore's contemporary arts scene, then this book would be a delicious read for you. It's really like having open-access to the notebook of a playwright, generously filled to the brim with thoughts, annotations, scrawls and scribbles. While the method of devising is something I wouldn't personally employ myself, it was still a tremendously insightful read into the creative process of such an acclaimed and talented local playwright.
3 things I learned:
1. Embrace openness—open-mindedness and open-endedness.
2. Have a starting point.
3. Write what is meaningful to you and society.
Favourite quote: "We should [...] create complex characters and meaningful narratives, leaving room for the audience to discuss the issues, which are never as clear cut as good vs ad or positive vs negative. What makes our stories compelling are our imperfections."
I greatly admire the work that Haresh Sharma and The Necessary Stage (TNS) has done, whether it is showcasing different languages beyond English (e.g. Chinese, Indian, Malay, Bahasa and more) on stage, or highlighting social issues that most are uncomfortable and reluctant to talk about (e.g. mental health, religion, drug use, sexuality etc), so when I saw this book, I immediately knew I had to read it. If you've read/watched Haresh Sharma's plays like Off Centre, Model Citizens etc, are a fan of TNS, or are interested in finding out more about one of the most important playwrights and theatre companies in Singapore's contemporary arts scene, then this book would be a delicious read for you. It's really like having open-access to the notebook of a playwright, generously filled to the brim with thoughts, annotations, scrawls and scribbles. While the method of devising is something I wouldn't personally employ myself, it was still a tremendously insightful read into the creative process of such an acclaimed and talented local playwright.
3 things I learned:
1. Embrace openness—open-mindedness and open-endedness.
2. Have a starting point.
3. Write what is meaningful to you and society.
Favourite quote: "We should [...] create complex characters and meaningful narratives, leaving room for the audience to discuss the issues, which are never as clear cut as good vs ad or positive vs negative. What makes our stories compelling are our imperfections."
Displaying 1 of 1 review