The Necessary Stage Bookstore
Established in 1987, The Necessary Stage (TNS) is a non-profit theatre company with charity status. Our mission is to create challenging, indigenous and innovative theatre that touches the heart and mind. โฃโฃTNS has the honour of being the only arts company in Singapore helmed by two Cultural Medallion recipients: Artistic Director and Founder Alvin Tan and Resident Playwright Haresh Sharma. Tโฃโฃhe company is also the organiser and curator of the annual M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.โฃโฃ
necessary.orgโฃโฃ | tnsarchives.comโฃโฃ | singaporefringe.com
Abuse Suxxx!!! and Other Plays
Plays in this collection:โฃโฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐น!!!โฃโฃ ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆโฃโฃ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จโฃโฃ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ดโฃโฃ ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ โฃโฃ โฃ Featuring five plays by Cultural Medallion recipient Haresh Sharma, created over a span of two decades, ๐๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐น!!! ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ด is an audacious collection that casts a spotlight on LGBT lives and issues explored in The Necessary Stageโs productions. Yet these plays go beyond being simply out, loud and proud. Rather, they deal with a range of topicsโfrom dealing with death in ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ, to fissures within the community in ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ด, to examining the limits of liberal ideals in ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆโand advocate tolerance and acceptance of difference in our midst.โฃโฃ โฃโฃ The collection also includes a foreword by Artistic Director Alvin Tan and an introduction by researcher Shawn Chua.
$28.00
Best Of
A young Malay-Muslim woman describes a day in her life โ starting with a visit to the prison in the morning to see her cousin, and ending at the hospital to be with her mother who is undergoing chemotherapy. She shares her most immediate concerns, such as trying to settle a divorce with her husband through the Syariah laws in Singapore.โฃ โฃ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ง, although specific in its issues โ grappling with divorce matters in Singapore's Muslim community โ broaches more universal themes. It appeals to anyone regardless of identity markers such as race, class, gender and faith.โฃ โฃ From the kindness of strangers to the staleness of familiarity, the protagonist reveals, through her encounters in this one day, the worst of and the best of, the people around us.
$15.00
Don't Forget to Remember Me
The Necessary Stage is at the forefront of social and community theatre in Singapore. Its plays, created through research and collaboration, actively engage different communities and empower audiences across all ages.โฃ โฃ In recent years, The Necessary Stage has been creating and performing plays on specific medical issues such as dementia, suicide, biomedical ethics and palliative care.โฃ โฃ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ is a brand new collection featuring six of these plays by award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma.โฃ โฃ Drama is a very effective tool in raising public awareness on important social issues. The plays in this collection will especially appeal to schools and social service agencies because they are educational and reach out to a wider public.โฃ โฃ The publication also contains notes on the plays by the writer as well as an introduction by The Necessary Stage's Founder and Artistic Director, Alvin Tan.
$22.00
Eclipse
A young Singaporean man is making a journey to his fatherโs birthplace in Hyderabad, Pakistan. With him are his fatherโs ashes. As he makes the arduous trip, he retraces the original journey made by millions of people โ including his parents and grandparents โ in 1947, during the partition of India and Pakistan.โฃ โฃ A play that looks at three generations of men struggling with their dreams and their journeys, ๐๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด๐ฆ is an intimate look at personal stories affected by historical events.โฃ โฃ First staged to critical acclaim as a short play by Scotlandโs 7:84 Theatre at Traverse Theatre, ๐๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด๐ฆ was developed into a full-length production and presented in Singapore as a Fringe Highlight of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2008.
$15.00
Model Citizens
A man stabs an MP at a Meet-the-People Session. But this is not their story. It is the story of the manโs girlfriend, an Indonesian maid who wants to get married and become a Singaporean citizen. It is the story of the MPโs wife, who tries to cope with her husbandโs injury and the media spotlight. It is the story of the maidโs employer, who is also struggling with her own tragedy. These three women may mean nothing to each other, but they need one another to survive. The maid, the employer and the MPโs wife. Are they all model citizens?โฃ โฃ Written by veteran Singaporean playwright Haresh Sharma, ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด won Best Director (Alvin Tan) and Best Actress (Siti Khalijah Zainal) at the 2011 The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards.
$13.90
Off Centre (Students' Edition)
๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ was first staged by The Necessary Stage in 1993, under the direction of Alvin Tan. Despite some controversy on funding and censorship, the play was eventually performed to public and critical acclaim.โฃ โฃ Over the past 13 years, ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ has been made into an experimental feature film, published as part of a one-play series, adapted into a television movie, given a full reading in the UK, taught at a University in Kuala Lumpur and translated and staged as ๐๐ต๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ in Kuala Lumpur. As one of The Necessary Stageโs landmark works, ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ is part of the Singaporean canon of literary works, and now and โOโ and โNโ level Literature text. ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ is also the first ever Singapore text to be offered at โOโ levels.โฃ โฃ The creation of ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ owes much to a methodology and process that allowed a group of dedicated and passionate artists to research into matters beyond their life experiences, to build a body of emotional and psychological knowledge to draw from, and sufficient time to nurture the maturity of character, relationships and themes.โฃ
$14.95
Off Centre: A Necessary Resource
๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ is the much-awaited guide to ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ , one of Singapore's most celebrated plays. This resource guide comprises material that will greatly benefit all educators and students of ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ . It features pedagogical notes, insights on the play, as well as a question and answer section with the playwright, Haresh Sharma. โฃโฃ โฃโฃ ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ made history in 2007 by being the first Singapore play selected by the Ministry of Education to be offered as a GCE O- and N-Level literature text. The play, best remembered for presenting an honest and unflinching look at mental illness and the social prejudices surrounding it, is back on the syllabus since 2018. โฃโฃ โฃ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ features: โฃโฃ - Founder and Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage, Alvin Tan shares his insight on directing and staging ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ โฃโฃ - Educator Laremy Lee provides a useful guide on approaching narrative, characters, themes, and theatrical and stylistic devices in the play โฃโฃ - Journalist Akanksha Raja reflects on her experience studying ๐๐ง๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ
$16.00
Plays for Schools
The Necessary Stage has been at the forefront of youth arts education since 1992. In 20 years, the company has created numerous plays which have toured primary and secondary schools. Six of these plays can be found in this brand new collection.โฃ โฃ Award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma has created stories and characters that will entertain, delight and surprise the reader. The plays include contemporary adaptations such as ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ (based on Shakespeare's ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต), ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ด ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ฆ (based on ๐๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ) and ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐บ & ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ (adapted from ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ). The collection also includes the hugely entertaining H๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ, ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ? and ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ.โฃ โฃ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ contains notes on the plays by the writer as well as an introduction by Alvin Tan.
$20.00
Poor Thing
Another day in Singapore. Another minor road accident.โฃ โฃ Another incident of road rage?โฃ โฃ Typical Singaporeans.โฃ โฃ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, TNS' ground-breaking production by Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma, grapples with the issue of road rage. A unique production involving social media interaction, audiences of Poor Thing were invited to watch a video clip of an accident before they enter the theatre to catch the 'live' action on stage. During the performance, more clips were posted online which audiences could view and comment on.โฃ โฃ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ challenges you to explore what drives road rage in Singapore.
$15.00
Reading the Room: A Playwright's Devising Journey
Over the past three decades, award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma has written more than 120 plays, many of them created with the The Necessary Stageโs unique devising methodology.โฃโฃโฃ โฃโฃ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ: ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ offers unprecedented access into the devising process, with keen insights and intimate reflections gleaned from Hareshโs artistic journey.โฃ โฃThis book describes Hareshโs devising process in meticulous detail, illustrated by production case studies and incorporating numerous archival artefacts, including photographs, early drafts of scripts and personal correspondences. It also features in-depth interviews with some of TNSโ most notable artist-collaborators.โฃโฃ โฃ โฃ The chapters highlight different aspects of devising such as:โฃโฃ โฃ Devising with Communitiesโฃโฃโฃ Devising and Verbatim Theatreโฃโฃโฃ Devising and International Collaborationโฃโฃโฃ Devising and Interdisciplinary Theatreโฃโฃ.โฃ โฃโฃ Written as an accessible how-to guide, ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ: ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ promises to be an invaluable resource for playwrights, directors, students, teachers and collaborative artists, as well as anyone curious about Singapore theatre history.
$30.00
Shorts I
After the successful launch of ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐บ, The Necessary Stage returns with another collection of plays, ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ by Haresh Sharma.โฃ โฃ This collection of 6 plays contains some of Sharmaโs best and most popular early works. 3 of them, ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐ต, ๐๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ and ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ have been published in a previous collection, but which is no longer available.โฃ โฃ The other 3 plays, ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ, ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ and ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ have never been published before.โฃ โฃ The collection also contains an introduction by Alvin Tan as well as notes to each play by Sharma.
$22.00
Shorts II
Following the successful launch of ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐, The Necessary Stage presents ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐๐, the second installment of short plays by award-winning Singapore playwright Haresh Sharma.โฃ โฃ This collection of 8 plays includes some of Sharmaโs best and most popular early works, including ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ which have been performed to rave reviews both locally and internationally. 3 other plays, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ and ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ have also been performed at international festivals.โฃ โฃ For 6 of the 8 plays, this will be their first appearance in print.โฃ โฃ The collection also contains an introduction by Alvin Tan as well as notes to each play by Sharma.
$22.00
This Chord and Others
โThe marginal voice here is now one of exile, suspension and loss; more than just a dissonant whisper, it has the power of some fearsomely universal cracksโ โฃ - Clarissa Oon, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ!, 3 June 2000โฃ โฃ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด is an accomplished and thoroughly absorbing collection. Each play in this remarkable book tantalises the audience with its provocative and unique style. The plays in this collection are ๐๐ฆ, ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ, ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ and ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. Haresh Sharma invites us to enter the minds and lives of a range of startling characters: Susan, who is plagued with grief at the loss of her daughter; Jen, who is a manifestation of modern self-interest; Rosnah, balancing cultural priorities. These are just a few of Sharmaโs powerful creations, through whom he addresses issues such as grief, racial tension, alienation and avarice.
$29.50
Those Who Can't, Teach
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต, ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ turns the spotlight on the madcap lives of teachers and students in a typical secondary school in Singapore. As the teachers struggle daily to nurture and groom, the students prefer to hang out and โchillaxโ. With upskirting and Facebooking, griping and politicking, school takes on a whole new meaning as the colourful characters struggle to prove that those who can, teach.โฃ โฃ Written by Singaporeโs most prolific playwright Haresh Sharma, ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต, ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ was first staged by The Necessary Stage in 1990 to critical acclaim. Twenty years later, Sharma revisits this classic to revitalise it for the Singapore Arts Festival 2010, transforming it into a powerful portrayal of the pressures and challenges facing teachers (and students) in schools in the 21st century.
$13.90
Trilogy
๐๐ณ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐บ is a collection of three plays by Haresh Sharma that explore the fundamentals of text and realism by scrutinising pressing issues that affect contemporary society.โฃ โฃ Written between 2006 and 2008, the plays โ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ and ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฌ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ดโfeature simple but powerful narratives that question personal, social, cultural and political convictions.โฃ โฃ These award-winning plays represent some of The Necessary Stageโs most critically-acclaimed works in recent years and are set to be contemporary classics of Singapore theatre.
$20.00
