Aaron Yap Design

Life’s a Stage

Drama Centre Theatre, Singapore, July 2016

Director/ choreographer: Lim Moi Kim, Jenny Neo, Low Ee Chiang
Set Designer: Aaron Yap
Lighting Designer: Tay Huey Meng
Costume Designer: Aaron Yap

Produced by Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Dance Theatre

Life’s a Stage is a Chinese dance drama that set in 1950s Singapore, telling the story of 3 Chinese opera actors. In view of a rather small stage and side stages with limited fly bars, the set is designed as a relatively “light” and stylised one, focusing more on the mood and ambience of each scene while omitting or simplifying the various minute details.

In terms of costumes, the silhouette of the “modern” costumes were based on how Chinese people wore in general during the 1950s, and the cutting modified accordingly to facilitate dance movements. Likewise the Chinese opera rehearsal costumes were based on the how Chinese opera actors would wear for rehearsals during those days, and then stylised for a more theatrical feel.