By JC LAM
alltherage@thestar.com.my

AS an actress and producer, Tan Kheng Hua has seen and done it all. She has won awards, produced box-office hits, received critical acclaim, and even managed to avoid being typecast as “that annoying lady from Phua Chu Kang” – not easy.

And now she’s on a mission to help unearth the best young playwrights in Penang and Singapore, and help make them even better.

The Islands and Cities project she is spearheading will see six chosen playwrights from Penang and Singapore learning the ropes from the equally distinguished Malaysian dramatist Huzir Sulaiman, in a five-day immersion workshop (June 5-10).

During an interview with R.AGE, Tan revealed that she specifically hand-picked Huzir to be the mentor of the six playwrights as she had “always wanted to work with him”.

“After I witnessed what Huzir did in a similar playwriting workshop at Singapore’s School of the Arts last year for a group of 15-year-olds, and then listening to Joe Sidek, Festival Director of The Georgetown Festival, telling me he was looking for a programme aimed at youths, I was then able to put the two together and Islands and Cities was born,” Tan explained.

Guiding lights: Tan Kheng Hua (pic) will be working together with Huzir Sulaiman and Claire Wong on developing three local playwrights through the Islands and Cities workshop.

The six writers will each be working on their own play throughout the workshop, with their evolving drafts getting peer as well as professional feedback along the way.

At the end of the programme, all six of their plays will be performed in a public read by professional actors at the 2014 George Town Festival in Penang, with the renowned Claire Wong in the director’s seat.

“Huzir and Wong possess the sort of balance between nurturing, uncondescending, highly intelligent, accessible, funny and effective energy that completely draws the best from young people serious about theatre,” Tan added.

To kickstart the project, Islands and Cities will only be open to young people from Penang and Singapore, and the theme itself will focus on the shared heritage of the two cities.

Tan, however, urged others around the country to keep up their passion for theatrical arts, especially with plans already in place to expand the project in the near future to include the whole country.

“Expanding this project can only be done with enough support – financially, infrastructure-wise and emotionally,” she said. “In the meantime, we look forward to any establishment coming forward to lend us a hand!”

Sign up for Islands and Cities!

To apply to be part of the Islands and Cities youth playwriting immersion workshop, you have to be 15-18 years old, and both born and currently living in Penang.
Send your application to play@georgetownfestival.com with the following:

• A summary of previous theatre experience.
• A short piece on why you like to write.
• A short piece on the reason for your participating in “Islands and Cities: A Penang/Singapore Youth Immersion Playwriting Workshop”.
• An original creative writing piece (short story, play, screenplay, poem or lyrics) of up to 15 pages.