Photo courtesy of Checkpoint Theatre
Checkpoint Theatre is delighted to present an electrifying new production, Thick Beats for Good Girls. Written and performed by performance-poet Pooja Nansi (Singapore) and award-winning playwright Jessica Bellamy (Australia), Thick Beats asks a ton of questions about the balancing act that is being a woman, an ethnic or religious minority, and—God forbid—a hip-hop enthusiast. Directed by Huzir Sulaiman, the production will run from 5 to 22 April at the Drama Centre Black Box.
Pooja and Jessica first approached Checkpoint Theatre two years ago with the idea of writing and performing a play about their love for hip-hop and the life lessons it has taught them. The concept for the piece was born out of a conversation over breakfast in Tiong Bahru back in 2013, when the two decided they wanted to collaborate.
Photo courtesy of Checkpoint Theatre | Photo credit: Joel Lim @ Calibre Pictures
Jessica explained, “We made a list of everything we had in common: gender, love of poetry, minority cultural background, and so on. Then we landed on something a bit unexpected: a passionate love for hip-hop. Something about this more specific and less expected focus drew us in. The work we ended up making with Huzir touches on all our other intersections through the frame of this music.”
Since then, Checkpoint Theatre has worked closely with them to develop Thick Beats for Good Girls through numerous drafts, script discussions, and workshops, led by Huzir as dramaturge and director. Checkpoint Theatre also continues to encourage them to push the boundaries of their own artistic practice, with Pooja as a known performance-poet writing for the medium of theatre, and Jessica as an Australian playwright writing with a Singapore audience in mind.
Fresh, funny and full of heart, “[Thick Beats for Good Girls] is a show for everyone who has ever felt trapped, defined, reduced or confused. We hope to entertain and educate. Plus, everyone needs a thick beat in their lives and this show is going to have an amazing soundtrack,” said
Synopsis
“Where’s all the women that still remember who they slept with?
Where’s all the girls too busy studying to make the guest list?
But when you do go out, you still working what you were blessed with […]
Don’t make the good girls go bad, no.”
— Game ft. Drake, Good Girls Go Bad
But what is a good girl anyway? Does she have to know her prayers by heart? Can she ever let go, and get her freak on? Thick Beats for Good Girls is the electrifying collaboration between performance-poet Pooja Nansi and playwright Jessica Bellamy, who ask a ton of questions about the balancing act that is being a woman, an ethnic or religious minority, and—God forbid—a hip-hop enthusiast. This is the coming-of-age anthem Singapore hasn’t heard yet—mainly because it wouldn’t make it onto national radio. This is love and finding a sense of belonging while rapping along to lyrics your mom wouldn’t approve of, the rush of walking into a club and feeling the bass in your bones. This is learning to stand in your own light. This is asking the question: Do good girls ever get to call the shots? Thick Beats combines the distinctive, bold voices of Pooja and Jessica as they ignite the stage with original poems, rhymes and musings on life. At once thoughtful and joyful, claiming and reclaiming, Thick Beats for Good Girls delves into the intersections between race, culture, femininity and hip-hop while embracing the contradictions that lie at the crossroads.
Thick Beats for Good
5- 22 Apr
8pm (Tue to Sat); 3pm matinee (Sat & Sun)
Drama Centre Black Box, National Library Level 5 80 min without intermission
$45 (excludes SISTIC booking fee)
