Dealing with the question of how independent our lives can be, Ghostwriter is The Necessary Stage‘s 2016 main season production that offers a glimpse of how the lives of people—bounded by blood and ties—struggle to make sense of their existence amidst memory, tradition and responsibilties. The play, written by Haresh Sharma and directed by Alvin Tan, was staged on 9-12 June at the Esplanade Theatre Studio.

Inspired by the quote “writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard” by Daphne du Maurier, the concept is built around the idea of a needed existence but not allowed to live. The production logotype is presented as if it has been attempted to be rubbed off, deliberately. It is accompanied by key visual, a beguiling collage of the main actors strangely cropped and mixed with imageries of different spaces, memories and perspectives. This plays on the idea of how each person is made of the ghosts of their pasts, and the sense of identity and self is constantly shifting.