"The Classiest and sweetest original piece of local theatre this year."
- The Sunday Times
"Roots is a fascinating piece of theatre which is held together by an exceptionally strong and well-crafted script, and deftly executed by an undoubtedly gifted actor in Oliver Chong." - Buttons-in-the-Bread
"Chong tells a simple story filled with humor, pathos and humanity. Performance-wise, he did a superhuman marathon playing anyone from his stooped grandmother to an entire roomful of nosy Chinese villagers. This deserves a re-staging, pronto." - Adeline Chia, sea.blouinartinfo.com
"It is, dare I say it, one of the best acting performances I have seen this year - a moving personal adventure that does without the modern trappings of multimedia and complex choreography, and sticks to some wonderfully straightforward storytelling." - Corrie Tan, The Straits Times Life!
RootsA man goes in search of his hometown in China with only the scantiest clues to go on.
His grandmother could only remember the name of a distant relative,
who may or may not be alive in China.
With only that name, the man trawls through the internet for information and zeros in on a place
which may or may not be his grandfather's hometown.
This man embarks on a journey to find this distant relative, who may or may not exist in a place
which may or may not be his grandfather's hometown.
The kind folks in China, point out the directions to this place,
where he may or may not find this distant relative,
who may or may not reveal the family secrets that his grandmother has kept from him.
The man, so fixated on finding out the truth,
may or may not find what he is searching for in the first place.
Director, playwright and actor, Oliver Chong, delivers a monologue about finding oneself in an alien landscape full of strangers who may or may not be related to him.
Roots is based on a true story.
Awards2013
The Straits Times Life! Theatre Award winner for Best Production of the Year
The Straits Times Life! Theatre Award winner for Best Script
The Straits Times Life! Theatre Award nomination for Best Actor (Oliver Chong)
The Straits Times Life! Readers' Choice Award nomination for Production of the Year
2012
The Flying Inkpot's Pick of the Year
Blouin Artinfo's Singapore Top 10 Plays
The Sunday Times Best of 2012
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