Download annex 4 - National Arts Council

ANNEX 4
WONG KAR WAI DREAMS
History of The Finger Players
The Founding Years (1996- 1998)
The Finger Players first started out as children division specializing in traditional Chinese
hand puppetry under the Theatre Practice. The late drama doyen, Kuo Pao Kun, enrolled the
key original members comprising of Tan Beng Tian and Ong Kian Sin to spearhead and
promote the art of puppetry amongst the young. The division actively performed in schools
and community tours. Production highlights during this burgeoning period include Battle of
Redhill (a collaboration with The Theatre Practice under the direction of well-known
Taiwanese director Calvin Teng), which was performed at the Festival of Asian Performing
Arts 1997 and Treasures from the Dragon Palace, which was performed at the Thian Hock
Keng temple under the direction of China’s renowned puppet Master Li Bo Fen. Although the
repertoire during that time consisted mainly of traditional hand puppetry, the members begin
to experiment with other puppetry forms to expand their theatrical language and vocabulary.
The Beginning Years as an independent company (1999 - 2003)
In 1999, The Finger Players left the Theatre Practice to establish itself as a separate entity.
The company’s mission then was to create a puppet theatre that promotes the legends and
myths from the Asia Pacific. By then, the company’s style has evolved and included many
other puppets styles from both the east and west. The company grew from strength to
strength and won numerous invitations from overseas puppetry festivals during this period.
These festivals in turn gave the company’s full time artists many opportunities to exchange
and share their craft and expertise with many international artists and puppet masters from
all around the world. The years of experimentation with different puppet styles and
international exposure culminated in The Finger Players’ first full-length production (Nezha)
in 2001 and 2002 respectively. Not only was the seminal production hailed as “stunning” and
“nothing less than spectacular” by the press, it bore many aesthetics that is now trademarks
of The Finger Players: dazzling array of different puppet styles; “exposed” puppeteers who
double up as actors; interaction between actors and puppets. The production established
many puppet-making techniques that are still being used today. At the same time, the artists
continued to evolve and develop their craft through more international invites and workshops.
By the tail end of this period, the company had carved a niche in the international puppetry
circuit, having toured to 10 over European and Asian cities around the world, making it one of
Singapore’s most international prolific touring companies.
At the same time, the company moved to its Cairnhill premises under the National Arts
Council’s Arts Housing scheme. With additional support from NAC’s SEED grant, the
company became fully operational with administration and production support.
By the end of 2003, The Finger Players became Singapore’s first professional puppet theatre
company actively touring its productions to local schools and community theatres/shopping
malls over and above its international showings.
Expansion and Rejuvenation (2004 - present)
With the belief that puppetry is a universal art form that all ages could and should appreciate,
in 2004, the company underwent an artistic overhaul: over and above children productions
that it produces annually, the company expands its repertoire by staging productions that
cater to adults specifically. The first of this effort was Furthest North, Deepest South, which
was staged (in collaboration with Mime Unlimited) at the end of 2004. The 12 member
ensemble acted, mimed and manipulated puppets in what was considered by many a ground
breaking performance that left audiences awed and floored by its originality and theatricality.
Hitherto the audiences had never seen such seamless fusion of disciplines - theatre,
puppetry and mime - in one production
In 2005, Furthest North, Deepest South entered the 5th Straits times Life! Theatre Awards
ceremony as an underdog and emerged with the biggest prizes of the night - Best Production
of the Year and Best Ensemble. The night of honours was followed swiftly by the successes
of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Twisted staged in the same year. With
these two productions, the company won most of the coveted awards at the following year’s
Life! Theatre Awards including Best Director and Best Actress. The appeal these productions
have gone beyond ours shores with Furthest North, Deepest South being invited to perform
in Europe’s biggest performing arts festival (Sziget) in Budapest, Hungary after it had
enjoyed a successful second staging at the Esplanade in 2006, while Twisted is invited to
perform in Barcelona and Madrid this coming September. The company continues its winning
streak in the Life! Theatre Awards with I’m just a Piano Teacher: this dark brooding tale of a
born loser which ended the company’s season 2006 was nominated for Best Production of
the Year, as well as Best Director to name a few. Together with another of its productionFirst Family, the company scored a total of 7 nominations at the 2007 awards.
To streamline operations, the company expands to three branches (Reach Out!; Main
Season and International) to better execute the various goals and objectives:
The Reach Out! branch focuses on cultivating new audiences and arts appreciation via its
arts education programme such as workshops, consultancy services and school/community
tours.
The Main Season branch stages productions that cater to adult audiences. It is committed
to an artistic vision that is multidisciplinary, one that fuses theatre, human actors and
puppetry. Its mission is to create a theatre of imagination.
The International Season branch promotes and stages Main Season productions in the
international theatre scene. The company wins invitations from at least 2 international
festivals per year. To date, the branch has participated in 16 festivals in 13 cities around the
world.
Touted as the "hottest local theatre group” and "the company to watch" by the press and
media, The Finger Players is one of Singapore’s leading theatre companies today.
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