Actor training at the Intercultural Theatre Institute of Singapore

Abstract

This article presents a series of interviews with practitioners who have undergone the Intercultural Theatre Institute training programme in Singapore. The programme offers practitioners from all cultures and backgrounds the opportunity of experiencing four ‘training immersions’ in four traditional theatre forms from Asia (Kutiyattam Theatre from India, Beijing Opera from China, Noh Theatre from Japan and Wayang Wong Opera from Indonesia). At the same time, the practitioners are exposed to contemporary training techniques such as Phillip Zarrilli’s psychophysical training, Etienne Decroux’s corporeal mime or Iben Nagel Rasmussen’s wind dance technique employed in the research of ‘organic’ action. Cultivating an appreciation of the traditional roots of different theatre cultures stirs within the ITI student-actor a particular sensibility, which is flexible and open to contradictions. By gaining this deep practical understanding of the theatre conventions that have shaped the world’s theatre landscape, the actor can consciously take charge of their creative life with a view to developing new, contemporary, engaged work.