OUR VISION

We are creating an international podium in Singapore to showcase the talent of Singaporeans and international artists, bringing together people of multiple backgrounds and artistic disciplines.

Our vision at the 88 Productions is to create an international artistic podium where artists (Singaporean and internationals) and audiences alike, can use a common language to express themselves. We wish to offer a creative environment for artists to find their voice. In addition, we wish to profile Singaporean artists and productions internationally.

Our vision is to demonstrate the universality of theatre and its ability to bring people from different backgrounds closer together. This is why we work with Singaporean and international artists. It binds not only the artists but also the audience, which comes from different multicultural backgrounds as well.

We believe that theatre is therapeutic and, as stated by Aristotle in Poetics, its aim is to bring about a “catharsis” for the spectators. We strongly believe that theatre can arouse sensations in the audience and purge them of emotions, so that they leave the theatre feeling cleansed and uplifted, with a heightened understanding of themselves and society.

Our audiences are Singaporeans and internationals who wish to understand and appreciate the classics. We consider our audience to be our most valued and valuable partner. What we create is for them.

Our CORE OBJECTIVES

➢ To explore every year an important social matter for Singapore and raise awareness about it through various artistic channels;
➢ To complement the performances with parallel programming throughout the year with symposiums, staged readings, “New Artists” productions, and master classes;
➢ To contribute to the goal of the state of Singapore, which wishes to promote the country on an international level through an increase of cultural offerings in English;

➢ To profile Singaporean artists and productions internationally, by having performances in English that can tour globally;

➢ To educate artists living in Singapore through an American-born process called The Los Angeles Method;

It all started when…

my daughter Ilektra asked me why I was English and I am not Singaporean like her.

I am not English and Ilektra is not Singaporean. I am Greek, so is my husband. Our 6 year old daughter Ilektra was born in Amsterdam and when she was almost three we moved to Singapore. She goes to a French school. I speak to her in English and French and my husband speaks to her in Greek and English.

I started researching what I could say to my daughter about our life of “gypsies”, traveling around the world. That is when I was introduced to the term TCK; Third Culture Kids.

Third Culture Kids are kids raised in cultures different from their parents’ passports. Ilektra lives in Singapore, but she is not really experiencing the Singaporean culture and she does not really experience the Greek one, it is something in between.

I started talking to friends and realised there were others like me, who had no idea about the 250 million TCKs around the world.

The need to bring awareness and gather the stories arose and therefore the creation of the TCK Documentary.

In the TCK documentary we explore the ideas and notions of

• Identity

• Belonging. Is Culture what gives us roots?

• Globalisation has made TCKs more common; and with the rates of globalisation growth, TCKs will become more and more in the years to come.

• Mobility

• Language

• Expanded World View. Because TCK’s have been exposed to more than one country, they have a global perspective. In some ways they may seem more mature and worldly wise than their peers in their passport country. They haven’t just seen countries and people on TV or in a geography book, they’ve actually been there and experienced things first-hand. They’re probably much more interested in travel and the rest of the world than most monocultural kids are.

• Cross-Cultural Skills. TCK’s have a natural ability to act like chameleons because they have grown up knowing that one changes their behaviour, language, or customs to suit the situation. No one sat down to teach them that, it was something they learned “by osmosis”. As a result, they grew up more culturally sensitive, more aware, more interested in people from other countries and cultures and generally with cross-culturally skills that many adults never acquire who have not traveled overseas until they are adults.

ACT 1

We interview Singaporeans who were raised TCKs and expats who are raising their TCK children in Singapore.

• How did they “enter” the life of a TCK? What “pushed” them to leaving their country and looking for something else elsewhere?

ACT 2

• What are the benefits of being a TCK?

• What are the disadvantages?

• Personal Stories

• How do they define identity? How do they experience culture?

• In this part, we add the voices of experts; psychiatrists, psychologists and coaches explain to us the notion of Identity, Belonging, Loss and Grief.

ACT 3

• How do they see the future?

• What do they think the host country is doing well and what could they do better?

• What advice can they give new TCKs, through their experience?

• What is more important, the journey or the destination?

Are you a TCK or are you raising TCKs?

If you are a TCK or is raising one and would like to share you story with us to educate and inspire, please contact us by clicking the button below:

THE INGENIOUS MIND

The Ingenious Mind

Ayn Rand’s last moments.

An artist’s last try to avoid death and keep on creating.

What is the birthing process?

What is the price a woman has to pay to create something so original and ground- breaking?

“The Ingenious Mind” is inspired by “The Fountainhead”,

a Toneelgroep Amsterdam production, after the novel by Ayn Rand.

It will be presented at the Stadsschouwburg in the context of 5xTF,

as part of the TGA program “Perform in the set of The Fountainhead”.

Cast:

Liesbeth Rood, Gerben Tuin, Caroline Bech, Amelie Onzon, Simona Beltrami, Tiziana Benguerbi, Cristina Bolis, Matthew Carney, Bryone Cole, Samhita DasGupta-Doblie, Brian Pagan, Alyssa Wagner.

Created & Directed by Theodora Voutsa

ANTIGONE

Under the patronage of the Greek Embassy in the Netherlands, The Dept. of Modern Greek Studies, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Greek National Tourism Organisation. Premium Sponsors: Bylandt Stichting Greek Food Tales Silver Sponsors: Coster Diamonds, Stama Coaching Beauty, BalansLab, The Los Angeles Method, Noordewind, University of Amsterdam Media Sponsors: IAMEXPAT.com, Presented by Theodora Voutsa and The International Theatre in English. The performance is the artistic result of The Los Angeles Method Workshop.

OEDIPUS REX

The sold-out production of Oedipus Rex in Amsterdam addressed the power of the individual to control his/her own destiny.

The play counted all sold-out performances on the UvA stage in Amsterdam. The cast of 30 Dutch and international artists performed in English with additional short dialogues in other languages, including Greek, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish. There were 10 nationalities among the cast, therefore emulating today‟s multicultural society in the Netherlands. The story of Oedipus Rex was a reflection of our times. As Europe recovers from a painful credit crisis (perhaps a modern plague), the lessons of this classic tragedy echoed as a reminder that it is up to people to control their destiny, and that fate should not be blamed for what are the consequences of free will.

Adaptation and Direction

by Theodora Voutsa