LIVING ADAPTATIONS, the 6th Singapore Literature Festival returns to NYC, spotlighting writing for stage and screen.
Schedule
DAY ONE
2024 Singapore Literature Festival Keynote: Tradition and the Contemporary Global Moment
Sat, 10/19, 3–5 pm ET
This event is co-presented with the Korean Cultural Center New York (122 E 32nd St, NY, NY)
ONG Keng Sen has been Artistic Director of Singapore’s T:>Works (formerly TheatreWorks) since 1988. He was the founding Festival Director of Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and initiated the Young Curators Academy in Berlin.
His production of Euripides’ Trojan Women, a collaboration with the National Theater of Korea, played at BAM Next Wave Festival in New York (2022) and Edinburgh International Festival (2023) to rave reviews.
In his keynote address for the 2024 Singapore Literature Festival, he will expound on the challenges of adapting the ancient Greek play into a changgeuk (traditional Korean opera), while transmitting the essence of this powerful story about women who struggle to transform themselves in war from victims to survivors. In his exposition, he will draw out vital insights for theater today.
Conversation after the talk is moderated by Judy Kim, Executive Director of the Asian Cultural Council.
2024 Singapore Literature Festival: New York premiere of AJOOMA and talkback
sat, 10/19, 7–9 PM ET
This event is co-presented with the Korean Cultural Center New York (122 E 32nd St, NY, NY)
A Singaporean widow obsessed with Korean soap operas travels abroad for the first time in her life and finds more than she bargained for in Seoul. Starring HONG Huifang, YEO Jin-goo, KANG Hyoung-suk, and JUNG Dong-hwan. Written and directed by HE Shuming. Mandarin; Korean; English; with English subtitles.
This screening of Ajooma is the New York premiere of the film, and will be followed by a talkback with director HE Shuming, and Grace Jung (K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television).
DAY TWO
Panel 1: Multilingual Existence
sun, 10/20, 12–1:15 PM ET
This event is co-presented with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Panelists Grace Jung (K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry Into Why We Love Korean Television), Simon Wu (Dancing On My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy), and Dena Igusti (Cut Woman) will join us to speak to their multidisciplinary approaches to art-making between spheres of identity, gender, race, culture, language, medium, and genre. This conversation will be moderated by writer and translator Aruni Kayshap (The Way You Want To Be Loved).
Panel 2: Editing as Writing: The Making of Narrative Film
sun, 10/20, 1:30–2:45 PM ET
This event is co-presented with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Explore the art of storytelling in film with this panel of accomplished filmmakers—Dev Benegal (Road Movie), Chai Vasarhelyi (Nyad), and HE Shuming (Ajoomma)—as they discuss the craft of writing and editing. Learn how they use moving visuals to narrate lived experiences and examine the political and ethical implications of shaping these stories on screen. Moderated by Ashish Ravinran (Chasing Cricket).
Panel 3: Adapting Classics for the Stage
sun, 10/20, 3:00–4:15 PM ET
This event is co-presented with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Literary classics are commonly supposed to be timeless, and yet they have been creatively reimagined for every new generation. What are the social, political, ethical, and artistic considerations for contemporary theatrical adaptations of classics from the East and West? Explore these questions with Ong Keng Sen (Becoming Salome), Rebecca Martínez (co-director, Public Theatre’s Mobile Unit: The Comedy of Errors), Damon Chua (Warrior Sisters of Wu), and moderator Zizi Majid (Milk).
Closing Event: Staged Reading & Reception
sun, 10/20, 5:00–7:00 PM ET
This event is co-presented with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Sisters of the Storm is a chamber opera that reinterprets Shakespeare's King Lear within the context of an Asian-American family. Genevieve Wong is a retired Shakespeare professor grappling with dementia. As her condition worsens, Genevieve compels her three daughters to reenact the play, escalating the family's challenges in navigating eldercare. Librettist: Marcus Yi (Working for the Macbeths). Composer: Justine F. Chen (The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing). Talkback with Marcus Yi and Shakespeare scholar Cordelia Zukerman.