SG Insecure parodies surveillance state through task force and Merlion

As a birthday gift to the nation on its 60th, The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) triptych play SG Insecure confronts nettling topics.

- Clement Yong Correspondent

The Necessary Stage's SG Insecure, seen here during a rehearsal on Oct 10, aims to provide thought-provoking critique and entertainment.

(ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI)

Homing in on the mistreatment of migrant workers and student activism, its overarching theme - played up in its marketing material - is that of surveillance.

Snatches of scenes this journalist catches at TNS' rehearsal space in Paya Lebar Road includes a worm's-eye view of the chaos of the 2013 Little India riot and the false security of a migrant worker boarding a lorry at the end of a hard day's work.

But director Haresh Sharma insists the audience will not be bogged down by the weight of its themes. Come for thought-provoking critique, but also expect to be entertained.

He says: “This play is a parody. We are not talking about these things in a serious, serious way. Surveillance and all that is just within the world of the play.”

In fact, he has created further distance by linking the three short plays through the cheeky conceit of a government task force called SG Insecure, after SGSecure, the national movement to prepare the public for terror attacks and maintain social cohesion.