tara tan, Straits Times 10 Sep 09;
They are not your typical ecowarriors. Aged between 50 and 82, a group of senior citizens is the latest brigade to raise awareness about the environment.
Their battlefield? The stage. Weapons of choice? Puppets, stories and dollops of song and dance.
The Glowers, a 31-member voluntary drama troupe set up by senior citizens, has teamed up with local theatre groups Drama Box and The Finger Players for the three-year-long eco-art collaboration called Project Mending Sky.
Over the next two weekends, they will be staging free performances at Toa Payoh Central and near Lot One at Choa Chu Kang.
The evening will feature Let's Vote!, an interactive theatre piece facilitated by Drama Box's artistic director Kok Heng Leun. It will also feature a puppetry performance called Nu Wa Mending Heart, which is directed by The Finger Players' Ong Kian Sin.
In Let's Vote!, The Glowers will present two forum theatre pieces - where audiences are called onstage to solve a plot dilemma - proposing the ban of plastic bottles and disposable cutlery.
Kok, 42, says: 'I don't think art changes a society, but it changes an individual. This project is not just about green action but green spirituality. It is about relooking how to live your life in less extravagant and more responsible ways, which has great repercussions on our immediate lives and the future.'
He adds that having this movement engaged by and for the community is very empowering.
'It's not so much about preaching messages about the environment, which is mostly done by government bodies. But it is the stories of how you do it and why you do it, which is what affects people.'
If there is enough support and enthusiasm generated after the show, audience members can sign a petition proposing these eco changes which will be sent to the press and relevant authorities.
Project Mending Sky is currently in the second phase of the three-year project which started last year.
The Glowers worked closely with the two theatre groups in weekly or twice-weekly workshops and brainstorming sessions over five months.
Nineteen members of The Glowers picked up puppetry for Nu Wa Mending Heart, a 40-minute piece about human consumption and man's unending quest to acquire new things.
The puppets are made from old newspapers and recyclable materials, a skill the public can learn if they sign up for a puppet course from Monday to Wednesday.
Treading the boards is 60-year-old retiree Irene Chan, who will be a narrator for the puppet show.
The former primary school teacher, who joined The Glowers about two years ago because she wanted to try out different things, says: 'Manipulating puppets didn't turn out to be that easy. It requires dexterous fingers and wrist control. At our age, our fingers are not as nimble as they used to be.'
Nonetheless, the project was an interesting and engaging process, and she is 'looking forward to seeing how the audience would react to the performance'.
On working with The Glowers, director Kok says: 'In talking about sustainability, it is interesting to think about how retirees can become a resource to be tapped on, in a society that places so much emphasis on the young.
'They have the wisdom and the time, and some of them have the heart.'
PROJECT MENDING SKY: YOU
Where: Toa Payoh Central (outside Library) and next to Block 340, Choa Chu Kang Loop (opposite Lot One)
When: Tomorrow & Saturday, 6.30 to 10pm (Toa Payoh); Sept 18 & 19, 6.30 to 10pm (Choa Chu Kang)
Admission: Free. For more information, go to www.dramabox.org
PUPPET-MAKING WORKSHOP
Where: Keat Hong Zone 1 Residents' Committee, 01-09. Block 340, Choa Chu Kang Loop When: Monday to Wednesday, 7 to 10pm
Admission: $10. E-mail kate.artivate@gmail.com or call 6324-5434
