When you’re standing on the edge…

“I want to be anywhere else but here,
Be anyone but me…” Shan

12 Going On 13 will resonate with anyone who has found themselves in that space where the weight of expectations crashes against the waves of uncertainty. Where fears of failing and falling loom larger than ever.

Meet Shan, 12 years old and on the cusp of something big. Her world is about to change – school, friendships, her parents’ marriage, and the overwhelming, unwanted task of growing up. It feels like she is standing on the edge of a precipice.

This play takes its audience on the often complex and terrifying journey of adolescence, sifting through the challenges of change, while highlighting the often overlooked need to lean on one’s community. It is a story about finding the courage to step forward, despite the uncertainties that lie ahead.

12 Going On 13 will make you laugh, cry and hug the people who matter to you. It is a timely reminder to seek help, find your footing, and know you are never alone.

Post-Show Facilitation

Each performance is followed by a post-show facilitation led by professionals from Singapore Children’s Society. In this parent-child facilitation, they will share about the common signs of distress, how to have an open conversations about mental health, and share relevant resources to support mental wellness among children and youth.

Caroline is 17. She suffers from a liver disease and misses school a lot. She likes cats, Elvis, and photography.

Anthony is 17. He is charming, confident, does well academically and is the star basketball player on the school team. He likes jazz and plays the saxophone.

Caroline and Anthony could not be more different. Caroline lives with her single mother who spends most of the day working. Anthony’s father is a university professor who spends a lot of time with his son. Caroline lives in a flat, Anthony lives in a condo. Caroline and Anthony are classmates, but they barely know each other.

One afternoon, Anthony arrives unexpectedly at Caroline’s door with a copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, a group project for their Literature class. Through their (initially unwilling) analysis of the text, they discover similarities, share dreams, secrets, argue about music and slowly the walls come down, they bond, and their relationship deepens.

Adapted by award-winning playwright Jean Tay and directed by Samantha Scott-Blackhall, Behind The Wall follows Tommy, a little mouse who ventures beyond a mysterious wall in the perfect city of Pura Pura, where he meets animals that talk and look different, like Al the Elephant, a worker from a faraway land. Behind The Wall shows us that, while people may look and sound very different, we are all the same on the inside, and just as capable of kindness.

This 30-minute film is designed for families with children 7 to 12 years old, and is accompanied by a 20-minute post-show activity video and digital activity booklet, which provides insights into the lives of our migrant worker friends.

Production By:
Behind The Wall is based on the book “Who’s Behind That Wall?”
Written by Kim Eun-Hee and presented by HealthServe Limited.