A w!ld life with Ivan Heng
Award-winning thespian tells us why living a life with passion is such an important part of being human
Tell us how you started W!ld Rice?
We started W!ld Rice with a production called Emily of Emerald Hill by Stella Kon. It’s a Singapore classic that’s one of Singapore’s most beloved plays but it also puts our voice on stage.
It was very important at that time that we found a venue that was located in the heart of the city because I believe that theatre needs to be at the centre of conversation that we have as a nation, as a country, as a people.
And so I put all my savings together and I booked the Jubilee Hall at the Raffles Hotel and we had a wonderful opening.
Over the past 17 years, we’ve reached out to more than a million people and we have done this without a theatre of our own from our little studio in Little India which we love but it’s been a really amazing adventure.
What would you share with someone who is keen to pursue theatre?
My advice to anyone who wants to do theatre is – don’t do it. Unless you are very sure.
Because it is all consuming, you burn your holidays, you don’t have Sundays, you’re working at night and you are working against all odds so it has to be a passion and a calling.
But if you do choose to do it, it is richly rewarding and it would tell you so many things. It would give you so many lessons about what it means to be human.
My advice to anyone who wants to do theatre is – don’t do it. Unless you are very sure.
- Ivan Heng