First staged in 1990, and then subsequently in 2010 to full houses at the Singapore Arts Festival, Those who Can’t, Teach is a play by cultural medallion winners Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma. With no attempt to gloss over the realities of what goes on in secondary schools in Singapore, the play hits the nail on the head by presenting the good, bad and ugly of the lives of the teachers, students and their families. The episodes are hilarious only because it is as real as it gets, and what else can one do but just laugh.

The art direction for this staging mashes the Japanese manga, which was all the rave among teenagers in the 90s, with the format of the quintessential textbook. Replete with random doodles and silly remarks, the ubiquitous textbook format takes on a nostalgic and relatable charm, a subtle tribute to this charming theatre classic of our time.

This staging of Those Who Can’t, Teach was performed from 9 to March 2017 at the Drama Centre Theatre, starring Ghafir Akbar, Joshua Lim, Karen Tan, Lian Sutton and Siti Khalijah Zainal.