{"id":4672,"date":"2018-08-30T12:37:21","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T04:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tembusu.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/?p=4672"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:54:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:54:32","slug":"slates-search-for-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/2018\/08\/slates-search-for-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Slate\u2019s Search for Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slate, the Tembusu College\u2019s theatre collective, staged a production of Tan Tarn How\u2019s \u201cThe Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate \u2018S\u2019 Machine\u201d last semester. Erica Lim looks into the production team\u2019s creative process.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In April of this year, Tembusu\u2019s Slate staged a production of Tan Tarn How\u2019s The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate \u2018S\u2019 Machine<\/i>. The play is still seen as provocative, even 26 years after its initial release. <\/span><\/p>\n

The play follows the travails of Derek, a beleaguered civil servant who still has dreams of bettering the system from within. He embarks on a quest to find the \u201csoul\u201d of the unnamed setting, only to be met with committees upon sub-committees and outlandish proposals. For instance, one of the participants proposes a cultural centre within a brothel, more crudely put as \u201can art-house within [a] tart-house\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, Derek fails to find the soul of the city, and is crushed by the learned helplessness engendered by the system and its bureaucracy. The play was a sobering look at how political change is often non-linear and not guaranteed, despite the well-intentioned efforts of people in a society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch a video recording of Slate’s performance at this link<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(<\/u><\/span><\/i>Credit: Jarratt Ong )<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Shirin Keshvani, one of the directors of the production, shares, \u201cI honestly didn\u2019t know if it was going to translate, if the audience was going to get it.\u201d Political plays, she says, are not her favourites, personally preferring slice-of-life stories with a more human element.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Initially, Slate had decided on staging Haresh Sharma\u2019s Those Who Can\u2019t, Teach<\/i>, which focuses on the harrowing lives of teachers and students in a Singaporean secondary school. Slate could not obtain the performance rights to the play, however, so they eventually settled on The Lady of Soul <\/i><\/span>and Her Ultimate \u2018S\u2019 Machine<\/span><\/i>. One of the members had a collection of Tan Tarn How\u2019s plays, and it seemed like a natural fit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe previously did this for a dramatised reading during Arts Week,\u201d stage manager Wong Jean says. Shirin adds, \u201cI think as we were rehearsing, we realised that it\u2019s a very political play, and that [element] would engage Tembusians the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

View a photo gallery of the full dress rehearsal here<\/a><\/span>. (<\/em>Credit: Jarratt Ong)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Besides being pushed out of her comfort zone artistically, Shirin also challenged herself by directing for the first time. Understandably, this elicited something of a panic. \u201cBefore this, I was very, very like… Uh, afraid of directing. I’m an actor, not a director!\u201d she exclaims. It was also difficult, she adds, having to direct while acting in the play herself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ella Wee, the other director of the play, chimes in, saying, \u201cYeah, I’m actually a physical theatre kind of person, who like, crawls on stage and does weird stuff. And I don’t like directing.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, while both of them felt out of their depth in the making of the production, they found solace in teamwork. \u201cIt just really helps when you remember that it’s a collaborative environment, and that people are forgiving. I think I prefer building with them, rather than coming in with my own [vision],\u201d Shirin says.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Slate, the name of the game is trying out new things, no experience necessary. \u201cSome of [the cast] have never acted before, but all of them are pretty talented. Very hard-working,\u201d Ella says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they started memorising lines, I was like, guys, thank you so much for memorising\u2026\u201d Shirin adds. \u201cThere was this consensus that like, you know, we’re all going to do what’s best to make this play a good play.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Cheryl Lim, one of the founders of Slate, also found herself exploring new roles during the production. \u201cThis was my first time working as a set designer, and I stepped in to fill an acting role when one of our original cast members dropped out a couple of weeks before the production date.\u201d Yet, despite the busy schedule and tension that comes with being an Architecture student, Cheryl affirms, \u201cTime after time, the sense of closure on show day makes up for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The production also leveraged on the different skills of the talent. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in Slate has to act \u2013 or wants to act! <\/span><\/p>\n

Jean says, \u201cI\u2019m not that comfortable with acting, so I just want to see what area I can help out with. I\u2019m just excited to see the direction that Slate goes in, especially since it\u2019s such a young interest group.\u201d Jean was the person making it work behind the scenes, co-ordinating the lighting, the stage managing, the blocking and the sets. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Yet, despite the doubts that the cast and crew had about their own abilities, the production was warmly received. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span>Screenshot from the college’s Facebook group featuring praise for Slate\u2019s production of \u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u201cThe Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate \u2018S\u2019 Machine\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This marked Slate\u2019s second successful production. Their previous effort Left <\/i>was a thought experiment about being left-handed in a world where everyone else was right-handed. Written by Tembusu alumni, Pavan Mano, it was a treatise on how stifling expectations could be, even if they were well-meaning. <\/span><\/p>\n

While The Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate \u2018S\u2019 Machine\u00a0<\/i>was more overtly political, it still followed Slate\u2019s penchant of supporting local plays that are accessible for audiences of different backgrounds. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe kick-started Slate back when I was in Year 1, with hopes of making theatre accessible and relatable to people who were interested in it. Having heard about how \u2018niche\u2019 and \u2018exclusive\u2019 the stage was, we wanted to remove these labels and open up a window,\u201d Cheryl, now a fourth-year student, clarifies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving laid the foundations prior, I think we\u2019re starting to get a lot more adventurous in the ways we\u2019re hoping to explore theatre!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well-said. Here\u2019s hoping that Slate can be the answer to Tembusu\u2019s own search for soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

About the author<\/em><\/p>\n

Erica enjoys animated films, comedies and podcasts about humanism. In her spare time, she can be found listening to Zayn Malik\u2019s music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slate, the Tembusu College\u2019s theatre collective, staged a production of Tan Tarn How\u2019s \u201cThe Lady of Soul and Her Ultimate \u2018S\u2019 Machine\u201d last semester. Erica Lim looks into the production team\u2019s creative process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":4677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","publication_type-op-ed","theme-arts","theme-college-affairs","scope-tembusu","flavour-inspiring"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4672"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4679,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions\/4679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tembusu3.nus.edu.sg\/treehouse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}