Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2018 Toolkit Toolkit 2018 Final | Page 38

Tamil Theatrical Arts
Importance of Theatre in Language Use
Drama introduces language as an essential
and authentic means of communication
(Kao and O’Neill 1998, 4)
Sustains interactions between students
within the target language by confining
such interactions to a controlled
•
environment
Creates a world of social roles and
•
relations in which the audience are actively
participating as learners by internalising
the social situations in which the language
is used
Language used in drama tends to be fluent,
purposeful and generative as it is embedded
according to the context. This enables the viewers
to learn more about the language, such as by
enabling them to expand their vocabulary.
Language has been claimed as the ‘cornerstone’
of drama (O’Neill and Lambert 1982, 4).
The local Tamil theatre scene was accorded the
literature status by the Ministry of Education
when it selected two local plays in 2014 to be
included in the syllabus of Tamil literature for A-
level students, and such efforts helped to elevate
the stature of Tamil theatre locally and abroad.
Tamil Theatre in Singapore from the 2000s
Growth of the Tamil theatre industry
• In the period 2008-2009, there were only
two main theatre groups, namely
Singapore Indian Artistes’ Association
and Ravindran Drama Group which only
staged 1-2 plays per year
• Plays were revamped to include
prominent themes in Singapore so as to
adapt to the local audience
• Various art forms such as music, dance
and visual arts were introduced to the
masses through theatre
• When attempts were made to revive the
local Tamil theatre scene, preserve our
language and heritage through the art
form, there was a sharp increase in the
quantity of Tamil theatre companies in
Singapore which led to an increase in the
frequency of Tamil plays being staged
Involvement of youth
• Ivann theatre group puts up plays
specifically for students and has been
including students as part of its cast and
crew since 2008
Moving forward
• With the quantity of Tamil plays staged having
increased, there needs to be a way to ensure
that the quality of Tamil plays improve to a
level that is close enough to meet international
standards. In order to achieve that goal, a panel
of Tamil Theatre critiques can be formed to
give consistent and constructive feedback to
theatre groups
o Such a panel would allow for sustained
growth of the Tamil theatre industry and a
budding legacy being created in the process
Digital Archive of Singapore Tamil Theatre
(DASTT) was launched in November 2017, to
collate, annotate and document the history of Tamil
theatre developments in Singapore and make them
available in digital form to anyone anywhere at no
cost.
• The focus of this archive will be on collecting
scripts, publicity materials, recordings and
reviews of as many Tamil plays as possible.
Such an archive will also serve as a teaching
resource for the current and future generations
of theatre practitioners and enthusiasts.
35