What makes some of these local or global creatives tick? In this weekly column, multi-hyphenate Bright Ong shares his favourite things.
Photo credit Studio Vetyver.
1. Acting: Most who knew me at the start of my career as an artist, will remember me first as an actor. It was my first love, and it still vies for my attention with my other loves. There’s something so crazily visceral about the ability to play another person, it really runs the system into overdrive.
2 Houses (performed at the Georgetown Festival 2014). Photo credit Crispian Chan.
2. Puppetry: Puppetry is something that I never thought would become “my thing” when I started out. It started out as a lingering voice from my childhood love of The Muppets, and then became a serious addiction to the study of its entirety. These days, the thought of creating something radical and visceral is oftentimes far too enticing to ignore.
All of my creations are a reflection of my journey as a puppetry creative, and I’m excited to see what is next!
3. Performance Making: I think coming from an unusual and non-conventional theatre background really shaped me in this aspect of my career. I’m always on the search for total knowledge in creating art, and I love diving into so many different forms.
It gets pretty wild when I get the chance to pull so many different wonderfully open and talented artists together to create something, so here’s a toast to more! What The Bach!? was special, getting to create and direct these amazing people on stage was such a joy!
Cast of What The Bach!? (Performed at Esplanade 2021-2022) Photo credit Joelle Cecilia.
4. Directing: Directing is again, something that I’ve come into by circumstance. A big life-changing incident in 2017 made me rethink my journey, and a friend of mine pushed me to direct my very first puppet show.
It was a pivotal moment, having to be responsible for an entire team and the vision of the show. Not to mention we built it together with our own bare hands! The show also made its international debut at an international puppet festival in 2018! Haven’t looked back since.
5. International Theatre Festivals: Going around the world for theatre festivals, be it as a participant, delegate, or performer is something that I look forward to every year. It’s such an amazing privilege to connect with all these wonderful artists and producers, and the ideas shared are priceless.
The geographer in me is ever so satisfied with making these global connections.
6. Martial Arts: A large part of who I am comes down to the years of training in Taekwondo and Capoeira. It’s in my nature to stand up for those that cannot defend themselves, but more than that, it really drills in the basics of discipline.
I love that I got to practice two very different styles of martial arts; the power and speed of taekwondo, and the flow and deceit of capoeira — it makes for fantastic movement vocabulary.
Photo credit Tan Ngiap Heng.
7. Climbing: There’s something that every climb can teach you, and this is the one sport I feel that really pits you against yourself. Every shortcoming, every strength, every minor detail comes to light when you’re on the wall.
Climbing for me is catharsis, and it can be such a wonderful teacher.
8. Other forms of art: I think it is so vital to look away from your own world every now and then to gain a clearer perspective of the world that we share with others. In relation to my world, I’ve recently taken to looking at different forms of art.
This was by far one of my favourite exhibitions by my hero and colleague, Rizman Putra.
9. Moto-touring: My favourite style of holiday! You see, smell, hear and feel so much more on two wheels than on four. And the freedom of being on a little machine to experience the world is a joy unrivalled.
10. Nature: Going back to nature is what keeps me grounded. Whether it is mountain biking through the jungles, being out in the ocean on a surfboard, or even just spelunking through caves, nature is where we come from, and will go back to when our journey ends.
Connectedness to nature is something that I wish we all had more time for, because we will be better for it, and can do better by it.
Once you’re done with Bright Ong’s obsessions, click here to catch up with our June/July 2022 issue!
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