TTRP Open House 2007

A Glimpse of a unique theatre training process taught by experienced teachers

Hear what our graduates have to say about life as an actor

Discover the relevance of traditional theatre forms to contemporary theatre

Open House Programme Details

* Workshops supported by

Date: 20 January 2007 (Saturday)
Time: 10am - 6pm

Venue: Theatre Training & Research Programme

               11 Upper Wilkie Road

               Singapore 228120

Pre-registration required:

Contact Amanda Huang at 6338-5133 / amanda@practice.org.sg

Click here to download online registration form.

Profile of Speakers / Teachers

T. Sasitharan (Singapore)

Director - Theatre Training & Research Programme (TTRP)

Sasi, together with the late Kuo Pao Kun, conceived and established TTRP, a three-year full-time training programme for actors of contemporary theatre in August 2000.

He was Artistic Director of The Substation (a venue for the arts) from 1996 to 2000, and now serves on their Board. One of Singapore’s finest actors, Sasi has performed in groundbreaking works directed by Max Le Blond, Chandra Lingam and Kuo Pao Kun, notably in the multi-lingual Mama Looking For Her Cat (1988). He was also a noted theatre and visual arts critic, journalist and editor, and continues to engage in international research and dialogue on arts and culture. He most recently presented papers at forums organized by Columbia University with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, and UNESCO. He holds an MA in Philosophy, and has also taught at the National University of Singapore.

Sasi has been a member of numerous Boards and Advisory Panels in Singapore, including those of the Ministry of Information and the Arts, National Arts Council, Singapore Art Museum, and the Singapore International Foundation.

Alex Pinder (Australia)

Acting & Movement Teacher – TTRP

Alex is currently the acting and movement teacher at TTRP, and he has over 20 years experience in the performing arts, as an actor, director and theatre/acting teacher. He received his acting training at The Ensemble, Sydney, in areas such as voice, movement, improvisation, script and scene work, and subsequently at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris for movement and mime, and neutral mask.

He has taught subjects in movement and acting at The Victorian College of the Arts, The National Institute of Circus Arts and Deakin University (all Melbourne), which included subjects in mime, clowning, commedia and the neutral mask. Alex also taught the well-known Lecoq 20 Movements, where students choreograph and perform, using only the mime movements exercises taught in class. In January 2006, he taught commedia at The Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, with Mallika Sarabhai, in Ahmedabad, India, exploring character in the context of local folk tales and the Ramayana.

Alex has produced and directed his own productions including Cyrano de Bergerac, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing all of which have been performed in Melbourne and have toured Victoria. He most recently performed in a reading of Salmon Rusdie’s Midnight’s Children in Melbourne, a complex piece about India’s independence.

Jarrod Benson (Australia)

Voice Teacher - TTRP

Currently a voice teacher with TTRP, Jarrod holds a Licentiate in Speech & Drama Australia awarded by the Australian Music Examinations Board (Melbourne University) – an accumulation of 7 years of extensive part time study with voice teacher Leslie Cartwright.  He also has a Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training (National Accredited Vocational Training Qualification) awarded by Melbourne University.  In addition, Jarrod studied voice with international voice teacher Catherine Fitzmaurice and international Alexander technique voice teachers Jane Heirich (University of Michigan) and Cathie Madden (Assoc Prof University of Washington), as well as 5 years part time singing study with musical director Mark Jones.

His earlier experience includes voice teaching at the National Theatre Drama School, Melbourne University, Swinburne University, Northern Metropolitan Institute of Tafe, Actor’s Lab and the Actor’s Showcase.  He also runs his own workshops and private practices.

Peter Sau Jia Liang (Singapore)

Graduated from TTRP – December 2003

Peter performed in the Singapore Arts Festival 2006, in Drama Box’s A Stranger At Home and in the Singapore Arts Festival 2005, in Teater Ekamatra's Impenjarament. He has also performed, amongst many other roles, the monologue Teochew Porridge, presented by The Arts House as part of Singapore’s National Day celebrations 2005, A Language of Their Own by Checkpoint Theatre for the Esplanade’s Studios season, and Godeatgod by The Necessary Stage, which has been performed in Romania, Hungary (in the Sziget Festival 2006), Hong Kong and Singapore. Peter has also co-directed a research-based performance with Bambang Suryono - Princess Cina - a dance-drama that drew on elements of Beijing Opera and Javanese court dance. This was presented in the Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta, and in Solo, Indonesia. In between projects, Peter coaches the National University of Singapore’s Chinese Drama Group.

Yeo Yann Yann (Malaysia)
Graduated from TTRP – December 2003

Yann Yann recently starred in the feature film Singapore Dreaming, which premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival in April 2006. She was also handpicked by Cinepede (USA) to perform in Ghost Boys and POV Murder, two “Mobies” created specially for 3G phones. POV Murder has been distributed by MobileOne in Singapore, and a UK distribution deal is also in the works. Prior to this Yann Yann performed in Action Theatre’s musical An Admiral's Odyssey, The Necessary Stage’s Separation 40 (performed in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur), The Theatre Practice’s Street Play for the Singapore Arts Festival 2004, and as Miranda in Shakespeare’s The Tempest by The Theatre Practice. Her most recent stage appearances were in The Theatre Practice’s production of Cao Yu’s classic, Thunderstorm, in the Singapore Theatre Festival in Spell #7’s National Language Class, and in the Singapore Arts Festival 2006, in Dramabox’s A Stranger At Home.