A new play is bringing real stories of Singaporean women into the spotlight as a part of the production of “Every Singaporean Daughter,” an ensemble performance centering around the stories of two main characters.
Though the play is a fiction, the organizers behind it asked for women to submit their uniquely female stories as a part of the creation process. The producer of the play was blown away with the submissions, part of which were handwritten on paper, or sent online. They revealed experiences the male producer had never before considered, including the struggles women living in Singapore face every single day. However, he knew that from the feedback the production received from the call for submissions meant that gender equality was a supposed to be a two-gender effort. Some notes detailed trying to balance the expectations of the family with a woman’s goals for herself. Others included discrimination in the workplace and how many women needed to go above and beyond her male counterparts in order to even be seen as their equals. Still another voice in the submissions was a woman who was abandoned by her father and left to be raised by her mother, who was not from Singapore.
While it would be difficult to incorporate all of these different experiences of social constraints and the gender gap into one stage production, the director distilled the stories he received into the play, focusing on two main characters amid a host of other voices. One of the characters is an athlete who loves sports but is facing pressure to settle for a more traditional female existence. The other main character is a woman who hopes to have a fulfilling career being limited by her family expecting her to be nothing more than a homemaker.
The director and producer admit that the play doesn’t contain answers to the difficult questions surrounding the female experience in Singapore, but they both hope those who see the show leave the theater more aware of what goes on. The play is meant to foster an honest discussion about everything Singaporean women experience and hopefully how everyone can do their part for a more equal society. Part of the ticket sales for “Every Singaporean Daughter” will be donated to a charity that focuses on teen pregnancies, still a very taboo subject in the nation.
Art is a wonderful way to explore everything from people’s different life experiences to controversial topics. Sign up for an art class to express your own creative opinions on everything via SGArtClass.com. This website is the best way to browse all of the art classes you could ever be interested in taking, from stage design to fashion drawing to mural painting and much more. Whether you have a specific interest or a broad desire to embrace art, expert teachers will be on hand to help you have the best creative experience possible.
To read more about the production, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/staging-stories-left-unsaid.