Ovid’s account of Philomela’s rape and her severed tongue is the starting point for the exploration. How can she speak of the experience of being silenced, when her language is severed from her body? The field of public address is an important symbolic arena where social norms are contested, reshaped and upheld, but mostly where we harbour gendered norms about speech. What we call “eloquence” in public speech is, essentially, a code for values associated with masculinity. The women on stage in this performance will function as a multilingual choir that deconstructs the sounds and stories of their voices, weaving their personal experiences of silencing and transformation with that of Philomela and her sister Procne. Working half way between concert and play, music and theatre, sound and meaning, the piece will continue Manuela Infante’s collaboration with musician Diego Noguera and actress Marcela Salinas, who were last seen in Singapore with Vegetative State at the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2017. Together with artists from Singapore, they will explore electronic live processing and layering of voices to produce theatrical soundscapes and dispersed narratives about voices.
Manuela Infante (Director)
Manuela Infante is a Chilean playwright, director, writer and musician. She is one of the most prolific and interesting voices in contemporary theatre in Chile and Latin America. Having earned a BA in Theatre Studies and an MA in Cultural Analysis, Manuela is well known for offering scenic articulations of complex theoretical issues. She understands theatre not (only) as a place for telling stories, but as a laboratory for a sort of embodied philosophy making.
Diego Noguera (Composer)
Diego Noguera is a Berlin based composer, music producer, actor and theatre director, born in Santiago, Chile (1982). He studied musical composition and esthetics at Universidad Católica de Chile and theatre at the Fernando González theatre club. He has composed for over 40 pieces in theatre, film and dance, becoming one of the most important names in the local experimental scene. In August 2015 he premieres his first piece for electronic and orchestra in the Teatro Municipal de Santiago. This work was written for a José Vidal choreography. In 2018 he premieres “Idomenéo”, a theatre/dance play, directed by Manuela Infante. In 2019 he signs with Pirotecnia records for his first solo EP “Soñe que iba a dormer bien” (“I dreamt I was going to sleep well”).. He recently premiered “Emergnece” with José Vidal in Kampnagel, Hamburg.
Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai
Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai is an actor, singer and voiceover artist. Recent selected theatre credits include her solo show Building A Character at the 2018 W!ld Rice Singapore Theatre Festival, Discord of Discourse at The Faversham Fringe (UK), Modest Travels by Tan Kheng Hua, the Esplanade Studio’s Miss British, Theatreworks’ Three Fat Virgins, and W!ld Rice’s MERDEKA. Sangeetha also debuted her solo jazz concert Sangeetha Sings Sinatra – live at the Esplanade in early 2019. She is elated to be a part of Eloquence and is grateful to work with Theatreworks and such a talented team.
Marcela Salinas Tapia
Marcela Salinas Tapia, was born in the city of Santiago de Chile in March 1979. In 2003 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Theatre Performance) at the University of Chile. As an actress she has participated in more than 55 theatre productions in Chile and abroad. Her professional work has provided her with teaching opportunities with professionals in theatre and communication in courses such as vocal techniques and the studying of word on stage. She also participated as a vocalists for the band Los Fetuchinni (2010 – 2013) and the group Learimas, Celos y Dudas (2007-2017) which developed creative materials on a variety platforms and mediums.
Pat Toh (Actor)
Pat Toh is performance maker whose work centers working on, with and about the body. She has presented at Substation, M1 Fringe Festival and Indonesia Dance Festival. A Shell-NAC Arts scholar, she graduated with a BA (Acting) from National Institute of Dramatic Arts (Australia) and attained an MA in Drama Education from National Institute of Education (Singapore). Pat is an associate member at Dance Nucleus, where she is developing a practice in breath and corporeality.
Details of the evening are as follows:
Choose either 7 or 8 November 2019, Thursday or Friday
7.30pm: Registration
8pm: Performance
9pm: Post-Performance Discussion
Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 239007
Register with ticket requests by 4 November.
For details, please email Shue-er Peralta at shueer.theatreworks@gmail.com or call 67377213.
The T:>Works Blog 