The Necessary Stage has to date produced more than 27 publications.
Still Building (1994), published by EPB Publishers, is a compilation of three plays by the company's Resident Playwright Haresh Sharma. Other published work by Sharma include This Chord and Others (1999) - a compilation of six plays published by Minerva Press, and Off Centre(2000), published by Ethos Books. PIE to Spoilt (2002), a maiden collection of plays by then Company Playwright Chong Tze Chien was published by the company in 2002.
In 1997, the company published 9 Lives: 10 Years of Singapore Theatre, a landmark book and the first of its kind featuring essays on Singapore theatre, commissioned by The Necessary Stage. 2000 saw the company publish a report, Development Through Drama: Towards Providing A Holistic Education in Singapore Schools, with support from the National Arts Council, documenting its pilot developmental drama programme conducted during curriculum time. That year also saw the company publishing a quarterly artszine called The Programme. It featured articles on the local arts scene as well as doubling as a programme booklet for The Necessary Stage's productions that year. Between 2001 - 2002, a bi-annual journal, FOCAS - Forum on Contemporary Art and Society was published; engaging issues of contemporary art, politics and social change.
Off Centre has been selected by the Ministry of Education as the first Singapore play to be offered as a GCE 'O' Level literature text from 2007, and is republished in two editions - a generic one as well as a student's edition.
Our publication list includes:
- Ask Not
- This Chord and Others
- Off Centre
- 9 Lives
- Model Citizens
For more information about our publications available for sale, including their synopses and pricing, please download our publications list here.