120: A NEW PRODUCTION BY THEATREWORKS / ONG KENG SEN
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE
13 Oct, 8pm and 14 Oct 2007, 3pm and 8pm.
Tickets are priced at S$28.

120: A NEW PRODUCTION BY THEATREWORKS / ONG KENG SEN
PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE

So you think history should remain where it belongs – in the past. Perhaps your fondest memory of studying history in school is a classroom full of giggling students each time the teacher said “William Farquhar”. You might even think history is dull and museums are repositories of sleep-inducing relics.

On October 12, all of the above will be proven wrong as the National Museum of Singapore celebrates the day it opened to public 120 years ago. To commemorate this event, an equally momentous production by TheatreWorks, with a cast of close to 40 actors and the entire Museum as its stage, will premiere to guest-of-honour Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and invited guests.

Entitled 120, the production – conceived and directed by TheatreWorks’ Creative Director Ong Keng Sen – takes the format of a dramatised guided tour with some of Singapore’s best loved actors like Hossan Leong, Lim Kay Siu, Irene Ang and Kumar who will play tour guides and even characters from Singapore’s history.

“When we first met Keng Sen to discuss 120, it seemed like such a grand idea that we wondered if we could really take it from paper to stage,” said Museum Director Ms Lee Chor Lin. “We sowed the seeds of an idea, and a few months and much effort later, TheatreWorks created a production that artfully captures the spirit of the Museum and Singapore’s history.”

120 takes the visitor on a tour less travelled by exploring obscure spaces of the sprawling 18,000- square-metre Museum. The actors will take on the roles of curator, guide, historical figure and even Museum Director at various points along the way, with tongue firmly in cheek. But do not expect to come away learning nothing about history. In preparation for 120, each actor researched on various events in Singapore’s past to understand how it affected the lives of a people and the course of a country. To weave it all together into a rich tapestry, Ong had the immense task of researching the entire history of Singapore as represented in the Museum’s Singapore History Gallery.

The production will be made even more spectacular with flamboyant costumes designed by acclaimed Japanese designer Koji Hamai.