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THE GOLDEN RECORD 3.0

With NUS Stage

Directed by Edith Podesta

Commissioned by NUS Centre For the Arts in commemoration of Singapore’s Bicentennial year

With support from the Centre for Quantum Technologies

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SYNOPSISCompleting a trilogy of original plays inspired by the 1977 launch of the Voyager I and II spacecraft that carried two golden records deep into space, The Golden Record 3.0 brings home the question of our place in the world and how we are far more connected than we can see.

Confronted with having to decide what should be sent to outer space and perhaps, other beings, this documentary theatre piece centres around Cultural Medallion recipient Mrs Santha Bhaskar and her views on the interconnectedness of life, with alternative perspectives from NUS Professor Valerio Scarani from the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) and others. Using previous interviews spliced with live ones, and having student actors perform alongside the personalities they play, the concept of quantum entanglement is amplified on stage in a thought-provoking production melding the worlds of art and science.

Come journey with us even as the NUS CQT’s latest satellite, SpooQy-1 orbits in space with Mrs Bhaskar’s words etched on it - “we are all different nationals, we are entangled together with all the races.”

ABOUT NUS CENTRE FOR THE ARTSEstablished in 1993, NUS Centre For the Arts (CFA) is a vibrant space for the appreciation of the arts and nurturing of the creative and inquiring spirit. We support student engagement with the arts and the integration of the arts into the life of the University.

We comprise the NUS Museum, NUS Baba House and a Talent and Development arm that oversees 21 student arts excellence groups. Through our myriad of programmes, practices, exhibitions, workshops and outreach, such as NUS Arts Festival and the ExxonMobil Campus Concerts, we enrich the university experience and contribute to the building of knowledge and transformation of students.

We also manage facilities such as the University Cultural Centre, with its 1700-seat Hall and 425-seat Theatre, and rehearsal spaces in Runme Shaw CFA Studios and University Town.

For more information, visit cfa.nus.edu.sg

Join Friends of CFA, our complimentary membership programme that brings the arts and people together for enjoyment and learning. Find out more at cfa.nus.edu.sg/get-involved/friends-of-cfa/.

AbOuT THE GOLDEN RECORD TRiLOGy

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The Golden Record 1.0 was inspired by the 40th Anniversary of the 1977 NASA launch of two spacecraft, Voyager I and II. When the Voyager 1 spacecraft left the earth’s atmosphere in 1977 it carried with it a golden phonograph record to be played by extra-terrestrial beings. By the time this interstellar album was cast into the cosmos it included; 116 pictures and diagrams, greetings, samples of the world’s great music, as well as the brain waves of a young woman in love. The Golden Record 1.0 was a theatrical chronicle of the making of this time capsule, it examined its interstellar contents by using verbatim interviews of the artists and scientists involved in the curation of humanities greatest message in the new light of the 21st century.

The Golden Record 2.0 asked the question, given the opportunity to select sounds, images and greetings that portray life on earth, what message would Singaporeans choose to communicate to the universe? The play’s script was assembled from interviews conducted by writer Corrie Tan with some 50 people of different ages and backgrounds in Singapore.

The Golden Record 3.0 represents the intersection of arts and sciences. The Centre for Quantum Technologies, in partnership with the NUS CFA, selected a quote by Mrs Bhaskar from The Golden Record 2.0 to engrave onto the outside of SpooQy-1 satellite launched by the CQT. “As we mark our national bicentennial, Mrs Bhaskar’s quote celebrates the strength of Singapore’s diversity and a hope for such understanding in a globalised world,” says NUS CFA Director, Sharon Tan.

The original Golden Record launched by NASA is said to last for over 4.51 billion years, I agree with Carl Sagan when he said that “the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet”. The Golden Record 3.0 sets forth a conversation with the audience about what cultural, anthropological, and scientific artefacts and ideas constitute an accurate exemplification of the human race.

Signing off,

Edith Podesta Director

CAsT & CREATivE TEAm

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santha bhaskarPerformer

A Cultural Medallion recipient (1990) for dance in Singapore, Santha Bhaskar is known for her distinctive choreography style and was also awarded the Public Service Star (BBM) by the Singapore Government on National Day 2016. She is also the Artistic Director of Bhaskar’s Arts Academy.

A versatile choreographer, she has staged numerous productions from dance dramas to contemporary works in classical Indian dance as well as cross-cultural and experimental forms reflecting the unique multi-cultural identity of Singapore. Over the years, she has imbibed Chinese, Malay, Thai and western dance style influences in her choreography. Her most recent works include Brihanalla (2017), a collaborative work with Cambodian artistes, and Singai Sathir or Dance of Singapore last year, which incorporated both Malay and Chinese dance and music. Her collaboration with various NUS departments for NUS Arts Festivals includes the Department of Mathematics for 28 (2019), the Department of Geography for Maya Yatra (2018) and Centre for Quantum Technologies, NUS for Sambhavna 2.0 (2017).

shirin KeshvaniPerformer

Shirin Keshvani is a Year 3 Sociology student currently studying at NUS. Originally from SOTA (School of the Arts, Singapore), Shirin studied Theatre for 4 years and Film for 2 years. Her education and experience in SOTA has equipped her with the skills and mindset of a performer and someone who can engage critically with art. From performing in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to

student-devised pieces, like a recent production she did with her fellow NUS students entitled CORPUS which aimed to interrogate the notion of the body, Shirin appreciates experimental works just as much as she does the classics. Previously the head of the Tembusu College theatre interest group, Slate, Shirin is no stranger to leadership positions.

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Luke OoiPerformer

Luke Ooi is a 4th year Life Sciences student at NUS and has been a member of NUS Stage for the last 3 years. Having been Vice-President for his second and third year, he had learned much in his time both as an actor and in managing a drama group. He acted in the previous two iterations of The Golden Record, as well as Edith’s other Stage productions like The City Remembers and A Disappearing

Number. Interested in acting since Junior College, Luke enjoys helping to bring characters to life and helping to realize the Director’s vision of their play.

malini bhaskarPerformer

A multi-talented dancer, Malini Bhaskar is trained in Bharathanatyam, ballet, contemporary and several other dance styles. This granddaughter of dance doyens the Bhaskars, Malini is a natural on stage and picks up choreography very fast. Even before she completed her Bharathanatyam Arangetram in 2010 at the age of 15, she had performed extensively in many of the Academy’s

productions including People Get Connected and Manohra and currently continues to impress audiences dancing as leading roles in productions such as Brihannala and Vinayaka. Malini has travelled with the Academy on overseas tours to India, Thailand, New Zealand, JogJakarta, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. She aspires to one day continue the work of her grandparents in the arts scene.

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valerio scaraniPerformer

Valerio Scarani is Principal Investigator at the Centre for Quantum Technologies and Professor at the National University of Singapore. He was born in Milan, Italy, in 1972. He opted for studying physics with the grand dream of understanding the world. After graduating from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 1996, he heard about the birth of quantum information science, but the

complexities of life led him to a pragmatic PhD thesis in the same university, detecting NMR signals from magnetic nanostructures. He was lucky enough to be given a second chance in the year 2000, when Nicolas Gisin offered him a postdoc at the University of Geneva. There he built expertise in quantum cryptography and Bell nonlocality, pioneering device-independent certification. His luck persists to this day.

Chithrabhanu PerumangattPerformer

Chithrabhanu Perumangatt is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Quantum Technologies at NUS working on satellite-based quantum communication. He was born in Kelara, India, in 1986. He obtained his PhD degree from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India. His basic interest is in experimental tests of quantum principles and their applications in real life, such as in quantum cryptography. He is also a proponent of promoting a scientific temperament as a way of life.

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Edith PodestaDirector

Edith Podesta is a theatre maker, choreographer and writer based in Singapore. She studied Acting and Movement Studies at the National Institute of Dramatic Art’s (NIDA), and holds a Master of Arts Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts. In 2017 she was awarded Best Original Script and Production of the Year at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards for her production BITCH: The Origin of the Female Species, and recently won Production of the Year at the 2019 Life! Theatre Awards for Leda and The Rage, an

Esplanade Commission and Production. Edith is currently Associate Artistic Director of Young & Wild, a division of WILD RICE.

bani HaykalSound Design

Bani Haykal experiments with text + music. As an artist, composer and musician, Bani considers music (making / processes) as material and his projects revolve around modes of interfacing and interaction in feedback / feedforward mechanisms. He is a member of b-quartet and Soundpainting ensemble Erik Satay & The Kamong Arkestra.

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mirabel NeoProduction Manager

Upon her graduation, Mirabel Neo has been the stage manager and production manager of several local and international shows. Her most recent stage managing credits include ChildAid (2017, 2018), Becoming Graphic (2017), and The Golden Record 2.0 (2018). She has also served as the production manager for shows for the 100 and 100 More Festival for Young Audiences in 2018; as well as with Singapore Pocket Opera Theatre and The Opera People.

Andrea EeStage Manager

Andrea Ee first started her theatre journey in the spotlight, performing in school productions in Dunman High Theatre Arts and NUS Stage. She has since taken the black, and now helps put together the shows she loves from behind the scenes, most recently as Administrator for Young & Wild. During theatre dark days, she is training to practice Law.

Tai Zi FengLighting Design

Tai Zi Feng graduated from NAFA in BA (Hons) in Theatre Arts; specializing in Lighting Design. Since then, he works independently as a Scenic and Lighting Designer in the Theatre Industry. Some of his works include: 情断昆吾剑 by Nam Hwa Opera Ltd; Oedipus, The Transition Room and Innamorati 2 by Toy Factory Productions; Supervision by Wild Rice; Crescendo the Musical by Shining Entertainment; and The 39 Steps by Asylum Theatre.

bEHiND THE sCENEs

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bEHiND THE

sCENEs

FuN FACTs

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AbOuT GOLDEN RECORDs

By 2030, both Voyagers will cease communications with NASA and drift endlessly among the stars, in hopes that another advanced civilization will intercept them one day.1

Voyager was sent to space carrying 118 photographs; 90 minutes of selected music; greetings in 55 human languages and various sounds of Earth, including the brainwaves of a woman in love.

2NASA engineers incorporated instructions and equipment on the cover of the record to help extraterrestrial life decode the data contained on the disks.3

Astronomer, Carl Sagan and writer, Ann Druyan were on the recording team. It was then that they fell in love and decided to get married. 4

Carl Sagan’s 1978 book, “Murmurs of the Earth”, was what inspired the first play of the trilogy: The Golden Record (2017). 5

A minute-long segment of the Golden Record consists of an EEG of Ann Druyan, thinking about her lover Carl Sagan. Long after life on earth has ceased to be; 40,000 years from now, when Voyager enters the next stellar system; the final memento of our civilisation; the very last letter on the very last page of our story; will be a thought of love.

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Source credits: NASA

FuN FACTs

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The satellite SpooQy-1 carries a scientific instrument designed to create pairs of light particles with the quantum property of entanglement. Such light could enable secure communication in future quantum networks.

1Measuring just 30cmx10cmx10cm and weighing approximately 3kg, SpooQy is based on the ‘CubeSat’ standard for small satellites, making it inexpensive to launch and build compared to traditional satellites.

2SpooQy was built at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at NUS by researchers in the group of Alexander Ling, a CQT Principal Investigator and Associate Professor in the NUS Department of Physics.

3Before SpooQy entered orbit in June 2019, the satellite spent a few months on the International Space Station. Astronauts there shot the satellite into space using a special kind of cannon.

4Two aluminium interstage panels that form part of the satellite’s external skeleton have engravings. One carries the quotation from Mrs Bhaskar. The other has the signatures of the team that assembled the satellite.

5SpooQy completes one orbit of Earth in roughly 90 minutes. CQT researchers are communicating with the satellite via ground stations in Singapore and Switzerland.

6Friction with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere will slowly drag SpooQy downwards. The small satellite will become a small meteor within a year or so, burning up completely.

7A quantum device inside SpooQy will create pairs of entangled light particles, which can be used to generate a secret key to secure

communication.

Image credit: Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore

Researchers at the Centre for Quantum Technologies at NUS took this picture with the completed satellite before it was launched.

Image credit: Tom Vergoossen, Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore

AbOuT sPOOQy-1

CREDiTs

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Creative and Production TeamDirector Edith Podesta

Transcriber Ariane VancoProducer Jobina Tan

Sound Designer Bani HaykalSound Operator Noah Gabriel Diggs

Lighting Designer Tai Zi FengAssistant Lighting Designer Darren Lee

Production Manager Mirabel NeoStage Manager Andrea Ee

Performers Santha Bhaskar Shirin Keshvani Luke Ooi Malini Bhaskar Chithrabhanu Perumangatt Valerio Scarani

Composer for Anumanam Mario VanegasPublicity Managers Adam Ho

Judy Zhang

NUS Stage Executive CommitteePresident Rachyl Lim

Vice President Ong Bing JueTreasurer/Secretary Choo Wei Zhong

Marketing Head Adam HoPublicity Head Judy ZhangWelfare Head Christiann Priyanka Augustine

Logistics Head Janelle Deanna Sim

With support fromCentre for Quantum Technologies, NUS

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