Who’s There? | Insights from Directing a Digital Drama Production

As artists all over the world find new ways to share their artforms in times of social distancing, Mr. Alvin Tan, a graduate of NUS and the Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage, has directed a global online-theatre performance titled Who’s There?

The performance uses Zoom as its stage to explore themes of racial justice, colonialism, advocacy and cultural difference. We speak with him to explore more about his experience in conceptualising and directing the production of Who’s There online.

How did you come up with the concept of “Who’s There”?

YY [Ms. Sim Yan Ying], my co-director was approached by New Ohio Theatre after she submitted an application for the Ice Factory Festival 2020. YY then invited me to be co-director when she decided she wanted to work on an international collaboration. She and I then discussed on race issues as it was then catching fire on the global stage, this time in a more intersectional way than before. Social justice discourse prompted us to not shy away from making proposals in Who’s There? than to create yet another work that throws up more questions than answers.

What are some digital elements that are modulated for the Zoom performance?

In the Who’s There? Creation process, we discovered that we could invest in multimedia, microphones, room lighting gadgets and video and sound editing software. Costs saved from set, lighting, costume, theatre rental, flight fees, accommodation or per diem in a physical international stage production can be readily re-allocated to digital elements that can then be modulated for Zoom performances.

YY, my co-director for Who’s There? leads the Performance Ensemble jam sessions in collaboration with the multimedia and sound designers during Play With Zoom (PWZ) sessions. These are recorded and stored in Google Drive, which YY dips into to compose the final stylised and magic realism scenes. So, we are able to create and find imaginative ways to bring movement to a Zoom performance.

How is this experience different from a traditional production? How do you think it impacts the final outcome of the show?

The artistic, production, technical and administrative personnel are all in one Zoom space. It integrates anew what the professional practice of ‘live’ theatre atomises under the guise of capitalistic specialisation. Moreover, Zoom performances are not burdened by huge budgets usually set aside for set, lighting, costume or theatre rental. What Zoom makes possible for an international project such as Who’s There? is to relieve it of flight, accommodation costs and per diems. Yet the richness of cultural exchanges were enjoyed by all involved.

To have a Black American woman interact with a Bumiputra character from Malaysia and a Singaporean Indian civil servant complicated race issues, because American privilege meant conversations became awkward and difficult. Differences now arose from intersectional dynamics as opposed to the usual binaries encountered when tackled in our respective local contexts.

One challenge we might face is having to engage an audience who may already view Zoom performance as a poor cousin to ‘live’ theatre. Who’s There? opened up the opportunity for me to compose a work specifically on the Zoom platform, employing cyber devices whilst interrogating the form instead of using Zoom to platform tired realism. Conversely, it also means that a Zoom performance should not be adaptable for ‘live’ theatre. What was in my mind throughout this process was ‘what Zoom makes possible’. Zoom performance proponents have to sustain the courage and stamina to explore, fail and recover from numerous failed attempts to afford the expensive price tag of the new. A Zoom performance should not be a substitute for ‘live’ theatre.

What tools is your team using in coordinating schedules, communication and recording?

Who’s There?, sustained by a labyrinth of 27 chat groups, ranging from FB Messenger to iMessage, WhatsApp and email, spawned numerous teams to keep communication channels open. Operating across five time zones, on a rotation of sacrifices, we help each other stay awake, present and ready to process work together.

Detailed preparation was designed to keep Zoom fatigue at bay. What could be done offline was, making online time immensely precious, even more so than the venue rental cost factored in ‘live’ theatre rehearsals.

In the Zoom room, we send actors to breakout rooms: one pair improvises a brief and records it, a sound designer records a performer singing whilst another records her spoken word, and yet another is video recorded by the multimedia artist so the footage can be worked on after rehearsal. Then the co-directors watch the recordings, harvest fragments and migrate them to a preliminary draft for editing, compression and dramaturgical analysis. A core comprising 2 co-directors, one multimedia and one sound designer and 2 dramaturgs have organically formed this artistic clearing house.

The performers access the 77-page draft in the Google Drive and comment, edit, and change syntax to suit their characters. Then the dramaturgs have another round of compression and hand it over to the directors for a final read of the scenes before they are locked down.

Co-director YY and I hang out after rehearsals in the same Zoom room. Performers, multimedia and sound designers visit to chill or discuss potential gems from improvisations. Otherwise, we are engaged in an uninterrupted flow of artistic and production processes. In the Zoom room, we share screen, call up files from Google Drive, and share recorded rehearsal moments or research materials, enjoying hours of conceptual exploration. These intensive cross-disciplinary conversations cover artistic and technological concerns with efficient immediacy.

How did your time in NUS impact you as an artist and artistic director?

My love for English Literature saw me take it up as a major. My other major was Sociology. During my time (late 80s), there was no Theatre Studies yet at NUS. So, Literature and Sociology impacted on my theatre-making skills, in that my method of work involves research, field work, interviews, are usually socially-engaged and addresses intercultural themes.

Any advice you would like to share with NUS student artists?

To throw yourselves into the work. Always work from passion and don’t be afraid of hard work when you believe in the concept. Value process and research in all you do. Respect your collaborators and always be aware of the power dynamics in the socio-cultural dynamic of your creative, production and administrative teams.

Who’s There? aired on 5^th, 6^th and 8^th August in Singapore; details of the show are available at newohiotheatre.org/whos-there.htm

You can also read more about the performance at the links below:

The Making of Who’s There?: A Non-Stop Flight in Transit

Preview: Who’s There? by The Transit Ensemble