SINGAPORE WRITERS FESTIVAL LATE NIGHT PROGRAMME: THE GHOST IN YOUR HEAD

A Night of Multi-Sensorial Experience where the Literary Dead Come Alive

Singapore, 15 October, 2018 – Dead writers and favourite literary villains and heroines come alive this November in a one night only multi-sensorial experience at the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) 2018.

Called The Ghost in Your Head (TGIYH), this special commission is part of SWF’s Late Night Programme and will comprise six unique events ranging from theatre, film to interactive art installations that are inspired by famous literary texts and authors from the past at The Arts House.

Conceptualised and produced by Global Cultural Alliance (GCA), TGIYH will feature well-known writers and characters, such as Eileen Chang, Mary Shelley, Pu Songling and Miss Havisham, portrayed by upcoming talents and veterans in the scene, such as Shelia Wyatt, Sharon Lim, Rebekkah Sangeetha Dorai and Hang Qian Chou.

Audiences can expect to engage in a host of interactive activities ranging from playing a mahjong game with Lust, Caution author, Eileen Chang, watching a debate between Mary Shelley and Pu Songling to Live F to taking part in a food installation that recreates Miss Havisham’s unfinished wedding breakfast.

Elaborates Ms Karine Tan, producer and cultural executive of GCA, “TGIYH is conceptualised with this year’s SWF theme in mind, being ‘界 (jiè)’. We wanted to see how far we could take the idea of “Worlds” or “Borders”. In this, we decided to create a surreal and yet interactive and fun experience for audiences involving famous dead writers and literary characters. The programme asks: if all these dead or fictional characters from the past could come to life, what would they say to each other and what advice would they have for us? In doing so, we explore the borders between the past and present, the real and unreal and ultimately, the perception of reality in our minds and that which is actually out there.”

Besides theatrical experiences, TGIYH will also be featuring two surrealist films – Paprika (2006) and the rare Raffles Hotel (1989). TGIYH is inspired by texts by Mary Shelley, Pu Songling, Eileen Chang, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, Li Bai and Tang Xianzu.
Explains Mr Jeremiah Choy, co-director of TGIYH, “Through TGIYH, we hope that this will arouse the curiosity and interest in these literary fictional characters and writers whose works have inspired many even up to the present. The audience will explore, experience and engage with the performers in the different rooms. Roaming around the space and deciding what to
see, when to see and how much to see is very much a voyeuristic entrance into the text chosen. Audience will see, feel, smell, touch and taste text in this 2-hour multi sensorial show.”