It sounded fun and easy enough: Gather a group of theatre friends with a penchant for ghost stories and put up a little play about spooks during the Halloween season. But as the folks behind last month’s play, Pantang, found out, the tension and suspense came before the show actually opened.

“The last two weeks were hellish,” recalled Sophie Khoo, co-founder of amateur group Theatre Lab Productions (TLP). In the mad scramble to the finish line, the undermanned team were all on multiple duties — the playwright acted as set, lighting and multi-media designer, while Khoo herself was an actor and the production manager. Friends and family were hastily recruited (Khoo’s mum even helped sew the scrim backdrop for the video).

They used all possible media, school and online outlets, had an active Facebook account and a YouTube video, but they were never completely sure if people would turn up. They did learn one lesson: It is tough being a new group in the performing arts scene.

SUPPORT GROUP

But that hasn’t stopped new groups from sprouting up like mushrooms.

A week after Pantang’s short (but successful) run, another newbie, Pinball Collective, staged Bedok Reservoir. This week, two new companies make their debuts: Malay theatre collective Hatch Theatrics has their double-bill Ruang; and Singapore-based, Philippines-inspired Entablado Theatre Company is running the Obie-winning The Romance Of Magno Rubio.

Meanwhile, two new groups spearheaded by veterans are also establishing themselves. Independent choreographer Albert Tiong’s newly formed Re: Dance Theatre (RDT) is taking part in local dance festival, Contact 2012, and next year’s M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. And Toy Factory associate artistic director Nelson Chia is also slowly shaping Nine Years Theatre (NYT), a Mandarin theatre company he formed with wife and fellow practitioner, Mia Chee. They’ll be doing 12 Angry Men for next year’s Huayi Festival.

It’s a brave move, considering the current instability of the economy. Admittedly, not-so-newbies have it slightly easier. Chia’s status as an established artist of merit has helped garner support. NYT is receiving a S$100,000 annual seed grant from the National Arts Council for the next three years. His theatre peers have also been encouraging.

“The Theatre Practice, DramaBox, Toy Factory, W!ld Rice — they came up to me when they heard I was starting a theatre company. They’d offer rehearsal spaces. It’s rather touching,” said Chia.

The same goes for Hatch Theatrics. According to Hatch’s Gloria Tan, Teater Ekamatra, Panggung Arts and The Necessary Stage’s Alvin Tan also voiced their support and offered rehearsal space.

But if you’re seen as a group that has come out of nowhere, convincing audiences and potential financial angels that you’re actually worth checking out is a little trickier.

“We were a no-name company staging a show with no stars,” said TLP’s Khoo. “It was difficult to convince people that they weren’t going to end up watching a self-indulgent vanity project involving a bunch of lousy actors faffing around on stage.”

It was a similar case for Pinball. In trying to get Bedok Reservoir off the ground, they went around looking for possible institutions to produce it.

“It was either they weren’t keen on it, there was no available space or it was too costly,” said playwright Wesley Leon Aroozoo. In the end, Pinball decided to do it themselves.

CARVING A NICHE

Indeed, going DIY has its financial risks. Aroozoo had to sell one of his guitars and music processors to help keep the production going. They also tried crowd-funding. But since it’s a relatively new approach here, it didn’t do well. They eventually managed to break even.

“In a scenario where we would have received a generous donation, we would then have been able to do more than what was originally planned,” said Aroozoo.

Still, starting new companies offer benefits and possibilities. For one, artists get a sense of structure and control. “One of the main difficulties as an independent choreographer is the lack of dancers that I can readily tap into as well as having to synch each artist’s schedule. With the company, the dancers train and rehearse together and make it more convenient,” shared RDT’s Tiong.

“Perhaps we can learn from the model of dance companies. That’s my ultimate thing — to have a core ensemble of actors,” said Chia.

Two, with solid guidance, a new group can also focus artistic energies. Hatch, for example, began as a loose group of theatre practitioners, but eventually fell under the guidance of The Substation’s artistic director, Noor Effendy Ibrahim.

“What Fendy wanted for Hatch was to be a contemporary Malay theatre company. He wanted us to do at least four productions in a span of two years,” shared Tan.

These new groups also see potential in niches that need to be addressed.

“(Nine Years Theatre) was grown quite organically from the current situation of the Mandarin theatre scene, where we really don’t see any new companies coming up,” said Chia. “It’s kind of worrying that there’s no form of continuity from (older) active players like Toy Factory, The Theatre Practice and DramaBox. I believe that if there’s a gap, there’s something to be filled, it will be filled.”

Entablado, founded by long-time residents that include Singapore theatre veterans Babes Conde and Filomar Tariao, is eyeing the strong Filipino community here as its base. But it plans to extend its reach with English-language productions and an inclusive cast — Magno Rubio also stars theatre vet Gani Abdul Karim. Tariao said they’re taking inspiration from New York’s notable Ma Yi Theatre Company, which started off as a Filipino-American company before expanding into its current Asian-American vision.

Meanwhile, it’s full steam ahead for these new groups. Pinball Collective is already planning another show for next year, TLP is thinking of a musical and Khoo has even formed her own amateur company with Pantang playwright, Luke Kwek, called Our Company and they are considering some scripts.

The futures of these new groups are still up in the air, but you’ve got to hand it to them: Despite the difficulties, these guys are stepping up to the plate.

The Romance Of Magno Rubio is from Nov 30 to Dec 8, 8pm, DBS Arts Centre — Home of SRT. In English with some Tagalog. Tickets at S$25 and S$35 from Sistic. Ruang runs from Nov 29 to Dec 1, 8pm, The Substation Theatre. Tickets at S$18/S$15 from 6337 7800 or boxoffice [at] substation.org.

Contact 2012 runs from Nov 29 to Dec 9, various dates, Goodman Arts Centre. Re: Dance Theatre performs in Bold Ventures on Dec 3. Tickets from Sistic. www.the-contact.org.