Singapore I-Lien Drama Society

Aliwal Arts Centre
#02-06

iliendrama@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/ILienDramaSociety

Singapore I-Lien Drama Society is an amateur Chinese drama society formed in 1957 by a group of drama enthusiast to promote cultural and drama activities through experimenting with a wide spectrum of plays which include both master-pieces of foreign playwrights and local plays. The earlier productions of Chinese classics include "General Hua Mu Lan" (花木兰) in 1958, "The Thunderstorm" (雷雨) in 1959 and "Enmity in the Qing Court"(清宫怨) in 1965.  The group was even invited to reproduce some of the earlier plays for telecasting.  A total of 15 television productions were made between 1964  to 1975.  The later productions include "Chinese Knots" (中国结), "Goodbye Again, Cambridge" (再别康桥), "Legendary Star: Ruan Ling Yu" (阮玲玉), "Sunrise" (日出), "The 72 Tenants" (72家房客), “The Visit” (贵妇还乡) etc.

Besides presenting plays, the group also organised theatre-related activities. In January 2011, the group organised “Cao Yu and Singapore Theatre: Talk cum Exhibition” in conjunction with the great Chinese playwright, Cao Yu’s 100th Anniversary. In the same month, the group co-organised the Asian Regional Centre of IATA’s (International Amateur Theatre Association) Asia Pacific Theatre Conference at The Arts House where a discussion on the situation of Asian theatre was held and the plans on the organisation of international festivals were presented. In 2014, we again co-organised a seminar on new Media and its impact on theatre with IATA.

The group also participated actively in activities that promote Chinese culture. We were invited by the Singapore Writers Festival, the MoonFest at Esplanade and the Silver Arts programme under NAC to present dialect nursery rhymes. We were also invited by the Esplanade to present a variety programme  related to Chinese New Year during the 2015 Huayi Festival.