Theatre Life! uses the rich resources available in The Straits Times newspaper from 1958 to 2000 to document the history of English Language Theatre in Singapore.

  It is only natural that author Clarissa OON, who has been involved in acting, directing and scriptwriting since her student days, desires to fill the gap in our Singapore people's memories of the role played by those who have been instrumental in giving Singapore theatre its unique Singaporean identity. 

  Hence, in this book you will find copious examples of the fruits of labour of once-young Singaporean bright sparks, such as LIM Chor Pee, ONG Keng Sen, GOH Poh Seng, Stella KON, LI Lien Fung, KUO Pao Kun, LIM Kay Tong, Max Le Blond, Margaret CHAN and LIM Siauw Chong, some of whom have moved on out of theatre into the mundane world of 9-5 office work. 

  But, it is the stuff that these local talents proffered - as they emerged into maturity - that we can identify with by virtue of its youthful exuberance and the bare-bones interpretation of life as the artists saw it in their eyes. 

  Also, find out how these chaps, with their home-grown scripts, were instrumental in getting the amateur Singapore theatre to come out of the shadow of the expatriate groups in the 1980s, and able to inspire new blood, such as KOH Boon Pin, Karen TAN, Ovidia YU, Eleanor WONG and T. Sasitharan, to take English theatre into the next stage of development - going professional - in the 1990s. 

  Along the way, understand the part played by education policies of the 60s and 70s - putting English as the main medium of instruction - in shifting the status of English drama from a minority concern to a mainstream activity in the 1980s.

  Read the book to feel the vibes of a new generation of English-speaking Singaporeans dealing with growing up and self-expression in an age of profound social change. 

A Book Review by Raymond HAN

ISBN 981 04 3705 6 Published in 2001