Latest News

Thillana Mohana, by Priyalatha Arun
Tuesday, 16 June 2009

World-in-Theatre and Singapore Indian Association present

Thillana Mohana

by Priyalatha Arun

Concept and Choreography - Priyalatha Arun

Director- Yeo Hon Beng

Lyrics - Elavazhagan Murugan

Music Composition and Vocal - R.Gomathinayagam (SIFAS)

Nattuvangum - Saroopa Das (SIFAS)

Mridangum - S. Devarajan

Violin - K.Sivaraman (SIFA)

Temple Musicians - Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple

Narrators - Felin Jayatissa & Kamini Ramachandran

Date: 9 July 2009

Time: 8pm

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel

Tickets: $25 and $30

$25 (for tickets worth $30) ~ Concession (seniors, students and children)

Ticketing:

Categories

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

SMS a ticket: 9.085.2904

The tumultuous but beautiful story of Thillana Mohana is going to play on the local stage once again; this time round, with a new theatrical interpretation by renowned Bharatha Natyam dancer Priyalatha Arun and Little Red Shop Associate Artistic Director Yeo Hon Beng.

In order to stretch the emotional impact that the story has had on thousands of Indians in the world - making it a timeless tale to tell - it is also a chance to see how the fine Indian dance art of Bharatha Natyam and western theatrical direction tell this story using a single dance body on stage. This challenging dance presentation to be held in Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel is a bold theatrical experiment attempting to break conventions and build new theatrical vocabularies.

Audiences from far afield as Moscow and Adelaide, and from metropolises like London and Seoul have been treated to the virtuosity of Priya's performances. She has graced the covers of magazines and has been the subject of television documentaries. Priya is a Bharatha Natyam graduate from the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society. She is also a founding member of World-in-Theatre and has acted in its production of Ramayana, The Royal Hunt of The Sun, The Apparatus and Two Women For One Ghost. Priya also performed in Maya Dance Theatre's Bophana, a contemporary dance theatre production directed by Richard Chua (also artistic director of Little Red Shop, a local theatre society that devotes itself to developing independent artists).

Director Yeo Hon Beng is no stranger to dance, having light-designed numerous dance productions on local stages. A theatre director in his own right, he has worked on countless theatre productions training some of the most promising young theatre artists in the local scene today.

The story Thillana Mohana is about two great artists, one a reputed Nadaswaram player Shanmugasundaram, and Mohana, a renowned Bharatnatyam dancer. In their very first meeting they both give their hearts to each other. But Mohana's avaricious mother disapproves of this relationship, as Shanmugam's economic status is far below her expectations. She tries every trick in the book with the help of her associates to separate the two and make Mohana settle with any wealthy person. Both Shanmugam and Mohana face many hardships and obstacles. Many misunderstandings are created between them by people with vested interests. Every hardship is endured by them, and they prove that true love always triumphs.

To present this story in a contemporary society like Singapore is crucial. For urban life has slowly devoured humanity and love between people, let alone to have faith in true love among people.

An Indian dance production not to be missed. Tickets are available on Little Red Shop website at http://www.littleredshop.org. More information on the production is attached. Patrons could also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.




One complimentary ticket will be given to the teacher of the school for every 20 tickets ordered.

School tickets are priced at a special rate of $20 per ticket per student. Special offer only available for bulk bookings.

Ticket Delivery Charges

No charge, pick up at performance venue

Registered mail @ S$3.00 ( 1 - 30 tickets purchased )

Courier by hand @ S$15.00 ( 31 tickets purchased & above )

Administration Fee - $2.00 per ticket

Terms & Conditions of Ticket Sales

If you do not hear from us 2 days after you have submitted the booking form, please email us to confirm your booking.

STRICTLY no cancellation, refund or exchange of tickets will be made under any circumstances

Post-Performance Discussions

A post-performance discussion may be arranged with the director for bookings of at least 20 students
Last Updated ( Thursday, 02 July 2009 )
 
Rehearsing A Good Cause
Wednesday, 20 May 2009

After losing our arts housing bid with the NAC, Little Red Shop, like a stray cat looking for a home, has been spending a lot of time seeking a suitable rehearsal venue for our artists. Fortunately enough, earlier this month, we made an arrangement with The Little Arts Academy to rent their rehearsal room, with a common understanding that money paid for the use of the room will be channeled to send an under-privileged child through an arts course organised by The Little Arts Academy.

For we see many similarities between under-privileged kids wanting to do art, but lack the opportunities to do so, and independent artists with limited access to many different forms of resources in Singapore; most of these resources unfortunately are not public goods, and hence are not readily available.

In its attempt to close this gap, Little Red Shop seeks to inculcate a theatre society, where independent artists are encouraged to bundle together to build capacities and share resources. While it faces great difficulties developing its works alone, the campaign, Rehearsing A Good Cause, is another attempt by the theatre society to get more donation monies for its ambitions. In a larger sense, this campaign is a meaningful initiative aimed at artistic development in Singapore, for both young and mature artists.

Centre Manager Adelina Ong was enthusiastic on this collaboration:

"The Little Arts Academy grew out from a need to provide more systematic arts training and a dedicated creative learning space for The Business Times Budding Artists Fund (BT BAF) beneficiaries and it is indeed encouraging to receive support from the arts community, especially Little Red Shop's effort in wanting to help these children to develop artistic abilities. This donation through Little Red Shop will help to support the education of more children from low-income families through The Little Arts Academy's programmes.

It offers fully subsidised training in dance, music, theatre and visual arts to children from financially disadvantaged families through BT BAF, and it would be impossible to accomplish this without support from the arts community. We are all part of an ecosystem that constantly draws on one another for support and inspiration in order to produce art that inspires and makes a difference to the world we live in.

The Little Arts Academy draws inspiration and knowledge from the arts community, thanks to the gifts of time and expertise through our teachers and in time, we hope that our students will grow up to become innovative, compassionate and creative individuals who will contribute to the arts community as artists, art supporters/donors and audiences who love and understand how the arts enrich our lives."

Rehearsing A Good Cause campaign is a chance for the public and arts enthusiasts to put their dollars into good use. This is a commitment Little Red Shop will make to our donors: Your dollars will be put to good use, not just for Little Red Shop, but also to develop another young prospective artist in Singapore. In addition Little Red Shop will also make donation figures public through our website. We will also track the development of the young artist under The Little Arts Academy's care. Rehearsal cost is pegged at $28 per rehearsal hour.

Art-making shouldn't be stopped in the face of diversities, least of all due to a lack of money in the arts. It shouldn't also be hindered by limited state support. For in diversity we see hope, in this case: Little Arts Academy's out-stretched hands to Little Red Shop in pushing us further toward building excellence in art-making.

We strongly urge friends of The Little Arts Academy and Little Red Shop to come together to make a difference in their lives. Make a small donation of $28 per hour today. All you need to do is to choose the number of hours you would like to support by entering the number of hours in the quantity box after you have clicked on the purchase button:

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 June 2009 )