Sound Plot: Ulu
NTU Museum collaborated with theatre development company Centre 42 for the 3rd edition of their audio plays series Sound Plot, where each edition draws on a certain geographic area in Singapore. This edition zooms in on Jurong West and its surrounding area, where the university is located.
Writers were invited via an open call to respond through audio drama to this fascinating area, guided by the curatorial prompt “Ulu”. 11 submissions were received and two writers were selected – Selma Alkaff and Weiqi Chuah. A third writer Elliot Wong was picked from the six submissions from the NTU Student workshop held in September 2024.
Selected writers worked on an intensive 3-week script development phase in October 2024, and with directors Adib Kosnan, Cherilyn Woo, and Chen Yingxuan during the recording and production process in November & December 2024. Audio production was done in collaboration with Artwave Studio.
Their scripts were developed as a collection of 3 audio plays: Batu was released online in January 2025, and Along for the Ride and Heart of the Forest released in February 2025. The audio plays are available for the public to listen to online and on Spotify.
Curatorial Prompt
ULU
Jurong West tends to be the butt of our “ulu” jokes. After all, it’s where we seem to tuck away things we’d rather not see: cemeteries, a man-made island heaving with chemicals, and secretive military bases.
But if we look beneath this industrial veneer - always building, always reclaiming - what other stories might we find? Here thrum large swathes of undeveloped secondary forest, rewilding over the memories of the gambier plantations that kickstarted Singapore’s endless development. Here, the coast hugs the mouth of the Straits of Johor, where we can still imagine our deep connections to ancient kingdoms. Here lies a large university town, filled with utopian architecture that tells a story about a world that could be so much better and kinder to the earth. And here lie the hopes and dreams of new families looking to build lives in one of the fastest-growing residential zones on the island, each built-to-order flat remaking the “ulu” face of the Western region.
We invite you to write a play that reckons in any way with these ideas. Whether you’re curious about the many layers of history in Jurong West; have a story to tell about the diverse range of people who live, work, and play here; or have a speculative tale about its future, we want to hear your ideas!
Along for the Ride by Weiqi Chuah
Seng is a bus driver operating a soon-to-be-discontinued service along the ulu streets of Jurong West. One afternoon, after picking up a strange couple along a deserted road, his bus meets an accident that leaves them stranded in the middle of nowhere. As Seng tries his best to resolve the situation and assuage his commuters, unexplainable strange occurrences begin to happen. Is this just his imagination, or are the spirits of the West speaking to him?
Advisory: Contains some coarse language
Listen to Along for the Ride on Spotify
Creative Team:
Playwright: Weiqi Chuah
Director: Chen Yingxuan
Actors: Adib Kosnan, Dalifah Shahril, Hang Qian Chou, Kyra Lefebvre, Matthias Teh
Sound Designer: Chung Ee Yong
Audio Producer: Artwave Studio
Batu by Selma Alkaff
Night after night, Anya dreams of a white crocodile, a stone, swimming pigs, and distant islands. The more she dismisses these dreams, the more her reality crumbles. She finds herself forced to confront the undercurrents of her work, the history it disrupts, and the lasting impact of her choices.
Advisory: Contains some coarse language
Creative Team:
Playwright: Selma Alkaff
Director: Adib Kosnan
Cast: Chng Xin Xuan, Fahim Murshed, Jamil Schulze, Natalie Titus
Sound Designer: Syafiq Halid
Audio Producer: Artwave Studio
Heart of the Forest by Elliot Wong
Susu and Kiki are two young monkeys in a little community called the Muna Village. When an elder of the community, Elder Haha, addresses strange sounds that have been disturbing the peace at night, Susu excitedly drags Kiki along on an adventure to discover the source of these sounds. What was supposed to be an exciting adventure of discovery, however, soon turns into an unravelling of the world as they know it. Will Susu and Kiki make it home in time to tell the other monkeys about the things they have seen?
Listen here
Listen to Heart of the Forest on Spotify
Creative Team:
Playwright: Elliot Wong
Director: Cherilyn Woo
Cast: Ching Shu Yi, Fahim Murshed, Rino Junior John, Selma Alkaff
Sound Designer & Audio Producer: Artwave Studio
Student Workshop
In September 2024, NTU students were invited to participate in an Audio Drama Writing Workshop series conducted by Centre 42 to learn about writing and producing audio dramas, using the environment surrounding NTU as a source of inspiration.
11 students across the different schools and levels in NTU participated in these three workshops. One writer from the workshop, Elliot Wong, was selected to further develop their play and have it produced as part of the Sound Plot: Ulu series of audio plays.
Workshop 1 was facilitated by playwrights Joel Tan and Danial Matin, introducing the potential of audio and storytelling techniques involved in writing audio plays. They led the students in a walk-and write around some of NTU's architectural highlights like The Hive, Gaia and Yunnan Garden to get them thinking deeply and creatively about the sonic and built environment around NTU, and how it could inspire their stories.
Workshop 2 saw Joel introduce more examples of audio drama writing samples and techniques used to build stories on a sonic level. The students had a chance to write their own short snippets in a creative writing exercise and share their works with the group in a collaborative discussion.
Workshop 3 was conducted by music producer Pan Zai'En of Artwave Studio with an overview of working with digital audio workstations and basic techniques and considerations in creating audio soundscapes to enhance their stories. The workshop concluded with a hands-on session where the students got to try their hand at creating their own mini trailers.
Info
Open call for writers (5 Aug - 15 Sep 2024) – open call details at Centre 42.
NTU student 3-workshop series (5 Sep, 9 Sep, 12 Sep 2024) – workshop details at Centre 42.
Launch of audio plays – 28 Jan, 14 Feb, 28 Feb 2025 – list of audio plays at Centre 42.
Other NTU Museum events:
