Playwright Myle Yan Tay (seated left) with director Claire Wong (seated right) and the cast (standing L-R): Tricia Tan, Rusydina Afiqah, and Huzir Sulaiman (also the dramaturg). / Courtesy of Checkpoint Theatre
After the the success of Brown Boys Don’t Tell Jokes (2023) in which playwright Myle Yan Tay looks at male friendships, race, and politics, he is back with a new play, which focuses on the purpose of art in Statement Piece.
I caught up with him to find out more about the play, which kicks off Checkpoint Theatre’s 2025 season.
Synopsis
Two weeks after a loss that reverberates through the nation, a young gallerist prepares for her first exhibition. Lily has endured constant pressure from her formidable boss, spent countless hours on research, revved up the public for a buzzworthy show – everything for the perfect opening that will cement her name in the art world. The months of suffering are about to pay off at last.
But when the final painting arrives, hand-delivered by the reclusive Gopal Rangaraj himself, she is horrified. With the entire exhibition—and her fledgling career—on the line, even the surprise visit from her artist girlfriend Marjia can’t cushion the gravity of the situation.
As three different worldviews collide, how much should be sacrificed in the name of Art?
What inspired you to write Statement Piece?
While studying in Chicago, I was spending a lot of time with American artists and having conversations about freedom of speech, the ethics of representation, and the peculiar challenges of being an artist in our era. I’d share Singapore idiosyncrasies with my peers about art-making, which led to me thinking deeper about how Singapore’s art world works and its relationship with our existing systems. These ideas eventually took root and led to Statement Piece.
As your main artistic practice is the the literary arts, what made you choose the visual arts as the main context of the plot?
I write prose and plays, review movies, and host a podcast about comic books—medium is always on my mind. What does one medium do that another can’t? Plays don’t have page-turns, comic books don’t have line breaks, and the central painting in Statement Piece has no dialogue.
Art is only finished when it’s viewed by its audience, but the way an audience finishes the work varies greatly depending on the media. I wanted to put interpretation front and centre in this script, to ask questions about what it means to look at a work, what we are doing when we try to “understand” art. We’re always trying to finish the work we’re looking at, whether it’s subconscious or not. Bringing the painting into the theatre is my way of making that process explicit.
What is the biggest challenge in writing this play?
The biggest challenge of writing this play was probably its relationship to the art world. I want it to feel authentic but I also don’t want to be bogged down by the details. I want the script to be accessible and open, so anyone can approach its ideas without feeling boxed out. The Checkpoint Theatre development process has been integral to finding this balance.
The cast rehearsing Statement Piece. / Courtesy of Checkpoint Theatre
Were there any interesting discoveries seeing your characters come to life in rehearsals?
It’s not quite a discovery but it really is always such a joy to watch this world you built come to life. The joy of playwriting is that you get to hand it off to other people, and when those people are as talented, thoughtful, and generous as Claire Wong, Huzir Sulaiman, Tricia Tan, Rusydina Afiqah, and all the other incredible people in the art, set, lighting, sound, costume, and make-up team, you’re very very lucky.
What is the most pressing issue or question that Singaporean artists should think about?
I don’t think I can prescribe a single issue to every Singaporean artist. If anything, the question every Singaporean artist should be asking themselves is, “what do I want from my work?” Because that’s really the only thing you can control.
Do you want to create societal change? Do you want to provide emotional catharsis? Do you want to make people laugh? All of these are valid questions and should be guiding how we make our work. It really depends on what is personally most important to them, which is actually one of the central questions of Statement Piece.
Catch It!
Statement Piece runs from 3 to 13 April 2025 at the Drama Centre Black Box.
Isaac Tan 