A Grand Design
(An Audio Experience)
Checkpoint Theatre
1-12 July 2020
Writer-Performer - Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips
Director and Dramaturg - Chen Yingxuan
Producers and Dramaturgs - Huzir Sulaiman, Faith Ng
Sound Designer - Shah Tahir
Production Stage Manager - Chermaine Cham
Synopsis
Listen to the call of the wild in A Grand Design, an audio experience read by environmentalist and educator Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips that will reconnect you with nature.
Directed and dramaturged by Chen Yingxuan, with sound design by Shah Tahir, this lecture-performance will take you on a remarkable journey with Cheyenne as she recounts her hilarious misadventures in the environmental sector — from dangers posed by strawberry red frogs, snakes with hook-like teeth, to Homo Sapiens: the species that really should know better.
Witty, charming, and insightful, A Grand Design is a passionate examination of how we love, or fail to love, the natural world around us.
Photo Credit: Checkpoint Theatre
2020 was a strange and difficult year, thanks to Covid. In the midst of that, I'm glad that I managed to work with environmentalist Cheyenne Philips on this audio experience, even though the museum tour we had been crafting had to be shelved. Through A Grand Design (An Audio Experience) and conversations with Shah Tahir and Cheyenne Philips, I've learned so much more about sound design and the everyday wonders of the natural world.
While the pandemic makes us quite resent being biological beings that are vulnerable to the physical world, the audio play reminds us of our biological kinship with other living things and this rich and beautifully odd planet we inhabit.
I'm glad we also had the opportunity to have a listening and panel session for the Eco Youth Collective on 30 July 2020. It's really lovely to see the passion that the youths have for the environment. "A Grand Design" is now available as a dramatised reading for schools through the AEP.
Click here to read more about A Grand Design.