theatre

My exposure to theater was truly an eye-opening experience. An intensive 3-year full-time program at Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), Singapore, completely changed the way I looked at performing arts. It was a huge intercultural immersion for me in more ways than one. I was in a different country interacting with students and faculty from different nations, learning about theatre from around the globe. A veritable culture melting-pot. I consider myself fortunate to have had some of the biggest names from across the world teaching, guiding, directing, mentoring us all the way.

We performed Noh (Japanese) theatre, Beijing (Chinese) opera, Wayang wong (Indonesian) theatre, and Kudiyattam (a traditional Indian theatre form). Among our individual projects the most memorable ones comprised complete set design and a full-fledged production. We practised advanced yoga, martial arts like Tai Chi and Kalaripayattu, learned the intricacies of breathing and voice control, strengthened our muscle groups and went on stage to publicly perform three ticketed plays at Singapore — directed by three eminent professional directors: Aarne Neeme (Australia), Alberto Ruiz Lopez (Mexico), Kok Heng Leun (Singapore).