Thursday, April 22, 2021, 17:00 EET (GMT +02:00)
Singapore
Director: Benny Lim / Singapore
Actor: Iulia Colan
Episode: Day 5. Story 9
about the Director
Benny Lim
Benny Lim (born 1980 in Singapore) is a theatre practitioner, academic, and cultural mediator. Benny wrote and directed his first piece of theatre at the age of 16 and has since decided to make the performing arts his lifelong career. At the age of 21, he started a theatre company presenting works on socio-political issues in Singapore.
Besides writing and directing plays in his capacity as the artistic director of the company, Benny developed a research arm to explore the dynamics between self-reflexivity and theatre. Between 2003 and 2019, Benny developed and performed 12 new works in response to his research interest.
Benny was also the director of Initiation International Festival (2005 – 2007), which gathered a group of artists to respond to a common theme annually through performances. Between 2014 and 2020, he curated Along the Edge Arts Festival (Hong Kong), a festival focusing on issues surrounding subordinated and marginalized communities.
In recent years, he received invitations to share his theatre practice in various cultural institutions and universities, including Undercloud Independent Theatre Festival (Romania), Nova Drama Festival (Slovakia), IATC Hong Kong, and more.
Benny Lin obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the Division of Drama, University of Glamorgan (now known as University of South Wales) in 2012.
about the actor
Iulia Colan
Iulia Colan is one of the most appreciated actresses of “Marin Sorescu” National Theatre Craiova. Since her debut (2008), she has been distinguished by impeccable stage presence, charisma, dedication and meticulousness.
Her roles are little pieces of Art worked in filigree, and the attention to every detail is often noticed by the professional audience.
Nina in Pescărușul (The Seagull) by A. P. Chekhov (directed by Yiannis Paraskevopoulos), Natalia Petrovna in O lună la țară (A month in the country) by Ivan Turgenev (directed by Cristi Juncu), Anca in Spargerea (The Break-in) after Razvan Petrescu (directed by Dragos Alexandru Mușoiu), Agika of Familia Tót (The Tóts) by Örkeny István (directed by László Bocsárdi), She in Dacă am gândi cu voce tare (If we would think out loud) by Adnan Lugonić (directed by Radu Afrim) are flawlessly performed roles by Iulia on the stage of the National Theatre Craiova.
“I became an actress the same way I became the person I am today. Throughout my experiences, the people I connected to, the disillusions and joys I had lived, the grandparents I was lucky enough to have, the music I listened to, the books I read”, declared Iulia Colan in an interview.
For the role in the performance at the ACT Theatre – Flori pentru Algernon (Flowers for Algernon) after Daniel Keyes – for which Iulia signed both the direction and the playwriting – she received several awards: the Special Prize at the Excelsior TEEN-FEST Theatre Festival (2015), the Special Prize Pour la Jeunesse – at the International Festival of Studio Performances, Piteşti (2012) and so on.
Currently, Iulia plays in 12 performances of the “Marin Sorescu” National Theater Craiova.
