Being a front-of-house theatre staffer with the Second Breakfast Company

It was a volunteer position. Eight hours of my time over a Saturday and Sunday to sit outside a black box in Chinatown and check that everyone has scanned the SafeEntry QR code before reminding the guests that the show will not include an intermission and to point them towards the washroom. I could be sitting in an air-conditioned mall making at least $8 per hour for the same job, and I'd even get a chair to sit on.

But my love for the theatre made that opportunity too good to resist, and without too much hesitation I signed myself up to be a volunteer staffer for two matinee shows. So off I went, on the 13th and 14th of March, to volunteer as a front-of-house staffer for the Second Breakfast Company. And I kid you not, what a GLORIOUS two days that was.

Stamford Arts Centre (Image from National Arts Council)

Stamford Arts Centre is a little colonial-era house which stood out from the shophouses and the backdrop of skyscrapers in the city area of Singapore. As soon as I reached the second floor where the Black Box was, I met a nice lady who was seated on the floor and pulling thread off a button from a shirt. She introduced herself as the costume designer for the play and invited me to join her. I was as excited to listen to everything she knew about the theatre industry as she was happy to introduce a new theatre kid to her lifelong passion, and when she found out I was going to matriculate into NUS' Theatre Studies programme, well - turns out that she is my direct senior! Nothing beats hearing about all the tea and secret hacks from a graduated senior, and I took in everything I could.

The whole experience was entirely different from being in acting class, and yet I saw similarities in what I was taught as I watched the lead actor warm up his vocals and pace around the stage, completely invested in his pre-show ritual. I completed my assigned task of shining my phone torchlight onto the glowing stickers on the audience seats so that they could find their seats in the dark later on, which taught me about the tiny details and logistics that went into running the show - seeing the intricate sets, the sound technician at the back of the house expertly navigating through the controls, the actors running through their lines and blocking on their own while waiting for the guests to arrive. I had pockets of time to chat with the dramaturg and the producer as they told me more about their show and how they got into theatre. I learned about opportunities on the ground and the short but vibrant history of Singaporean theatre. It felt like magic, and in some ways, it was.

During the show, the backstage crew would playfully press their ears to the doors and try to catch a whiff of dialogue or music coming from inside. They got me to join them in the fun, and man, to feel like a child again eavesdropping on a larger-than-life story? I got chills just being there and feeling the energy coming from the applauding and raving crowd. It was a full house, as full a house as pandemic regulations allowed, but the audience made it feel like every seat was filled.

The second day, the dramaturg came over to us, clearly excited to share his news: Ivan Heng, Singapore's first male Hollywood actor, the founder of W!LD RICE Theatre, the man himself, was coming to that very matinee show. The whole time I was trying so hard to stay professional (and I'm not even a professional) but I was internally squealing the whole way through. But guess what the highlight of the day was? Ivan Heng coming out of the theatre after the show and acknowledging me by name. The dramaturg had probably introduced me during the show. That's some insane bragging rights I bagged for chancing on a Telegram open call on a random weekday at home.

The theatre community in Singapore is relatively unseen by the majority of Singaporeans, but it's far and away from being dead. It's as alive as it can be, the people are a close-knit and wonderfully passionate community of performers and theatregoers, and spending time with them was worth every moment. 10/10 would do this again.