#HelloTFP: Myra Loke

by fingerplayers

#HelloTFP is a series of anecdotes where we introduce and share more about the members of the TFP family; from core team members to office interns. In our inaugural feature, we asked Daniel Sim, one of our core team members about how his interest in objects in performance came about, and why he chose to do a thesis on objects.

Next, we asked Myra Loke, one half of our Co-Artistic Director duo and a member of TFP’s core team, to share her thoughts about her journey with TFP – from training and performing as an apprentice to directing her first TFP main season production and what got her into theatre at the beginning.

2015 – Myra (i.e second from the left) performing in the community tour of “Love Is The Last Thing On My Mind” in 2015.

There was something that Kuo Pao Kun said which really resonated with me. He said “You can’t explain passion. Sometimes, people carry on because they got into the habit. Sometimes it is because there is no great need to change a lifestyle. Very often, it’s not for lofty ideals, not really. But I suppose every moment of your life there must be something that basically satisfies your expectations.” 

2016/2017 – Myra repping TFP in an international collaboration with a theatre company from Tokyo, as part of Esplanade’s Super Japan – Japan Festival of Arts.

“I came across this when I was helping out with Rant & Rave by Chong Tze Chien, in my first or second year as a TFP apprentice. It was also around that time when I changed my direction in theatre – moving from production work to more performance/creation based work. I remembered people being shocked by that change and I couldn’t explain why I felt I wanted to change. And then this quote came along. And I felt that sometimes it’s really true. There are many things I cannot explain and I just went with it, because it just felt right. And that’s what theatre makes me feel too.”

2020 – Myra sharing her artistic directions with one of the performers at a rehearsal of “Peepbird”
2020 – Myra working on the costumes for “Peepbird” with TFP’s associate costume designer, Max Tan.

“It just felt right. 13 years ago, theatre accompanied me through some difficult times. It also taught me discipline. It showed me the world outside of my bubble. And theatre has really been part of my life since then. So it may really be out of habit, maybe I didn’t feel a great need to change. These are not really lofty ideals, that’s just how the world communicated with me, and that’s how I want to communicate with the world.”

Myra started her journey in Singapore’s theatre scene 13 years ago when she participated in ARTivate (Pioneer Batch), a youth wing of Drama Box Ltd. Joining us in 2014 as an apprentice, Myra has been involved in many TFP productions  and community tours. Last year, she was officially appointed as the Co-Artistic Director (together with Ellison Tan) and a member of TFP’s artistic core team.

“Peepbird” is Myra’s first directorial debut for TFP and one of the four theatre productions presented by TFP as part of “The Present/Future Season” 2020. It is part of the live performance pilots initiated by the  National Arts Council, where a limited number of seats to this performance will be made available to the public, subject to safe management measures in effect at the venue. Click here to find out more.

*Tickets for the preview (7 Oct) have been sold out and the tickets for the 8 Oct show are selling fast.