(un)becoming
14 to 17 july 2021, zoom
Co-creators: Sim Yan ying ‘YY’ and NabilaH Said
Devised and performed by: Arielle Jasmine Van Zuijlen, Chanel Ariel Chan, Isabella Chiam and Suhaili Safari
Dramaturgs – A Yagnya & Cheng Nien Yuan
Scenic and Costume Design – Johanna Pan
Multimedia Design – Jevon Chandra
Sound Design – Tini Aliman
Stage Manager – Shivani Rajan
Assistant Stage Manager & Transcriber - Catherine Ho
Filming and Editing – Chimene Khoo
Publicity Design – See Yongxin
digital exhibition collaborators: Annjee teo, annie low and ella wee
DURATION: 100 MINS
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
A millennial mother and her Gen Z daughter grapple with their disintegrating relationship. A doula finds herself trapped in a cycle she can’t seem to break. A little girl walks alone. In between, stories of women across time, space, and reality emerge from Kinder Eggs. What does it mean to mother? Or to be a daughter? And from what perspectives can we understand this bond between them?
(un)becoming explores the complex dynamics of mother-daughter relationships in Singapore today, through an online experience combining live performance, short films, and digital snooping. Created by Sim Yan Ying “YY” and Nabilah Said, and devised in collaboration with the (un)becoming team, this show attempts to uncover what women inherit from their mothers and what they pass down – for better or for worse.
(un)becoming is presented as part of T:>Works Festival of Women N.O.W. 2021.
PRESS/RESPONSES
“Every artistic and technical choice was so carefully considered that the entire experience, from the moment you were permitted into the session until the moment you left, felt as exciting as it was welcoming. […] This is an astute digital production by a team that is thoughtful of human behaviour in the digital age.”
AMITHA AMRANAND, BANGKOK POST
“This writer is still reeling from amazement that the Zoom platform could leave him so emotionally bare. The production leaps into the relatively brave new world of digital theatre and brilliantly showcases the possibilities with how the format could add to storytelling, even with a story that demands — and ultimately delivers — so much raw humanity.”
matthaeus choo, sinema.sg
“This is a story from our part of the world, yet ripe for a worldwide audience. [...] As a Malaysian aka cultural cousin of Singaporeans, I understood and empathised with the characters and their struggles. Breakdowns at HDB void decks and fights in Singlish, I see ya, I feel ya."
adriana nordin manan, critic
“I'm not sure how a show manages to be both so intimate and so planetary in scope. I'm here in my home behind a screen, but I'm also in a spiralling galaxy with ancient goddesses building a world. [...] Thank you for this beautiful work about the many weird and wonderful ways in which we are in relation to everyone else, through which we are made and remade, in which we become and unbecome…"