During Stanislaus’ final year at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in 2022, she scored a huge opportunity to work on a solo production for a foreign audience.
A Canadian theatre producer had been looking to work with international talents at the French school and was impressed by Stanislaus’ performances.
“The producer wanted to come up with a clown show while bringing together international artists and local Canadian creatives,” Stanislaus said. “So I pitched a clown show that was influenced by my Southeast Asian background and made it appealing and relevant to Canadian audiences.”
Thus came about Mail Ordered, a comedy that drives home the seriousness of child trafficking in Cambodia and its effects on women in the region.
“I’ve volunteered for organisations that focus on helping women and young girls in Southeast Asia,” she said. “One expedition I went for was in Cambodia, where I learned about the horrible practice of girls being trafficked as young brides – I wanted to bring that to the stage and express its importance using clown and comedy.”
Stanislaus’ character Lila is a young girl who “markets” her qualities to the audience in the hopes of being married to a much older and richer man who can take care of her.
The soldout show ran for six months in 2023 in Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton in Canada. It also made an appearance in New York City in the United States.
Mail Ordered also won several awards, including the Jester’s Cap Emerging Artist Award at last year’s Calgary Fringe Festival.
“I still can’t believe all of that happened – it was the first time I really saw the value of being a Singaporean creator,” Stanislaus said.
“The reception to Mail Ordered showed me that people did want to hear and see a woman from Singapore with her crazy ideas and literal clowning,” she added. “There is a space for me out there and I want to expand the space back home, too.”
SHARING HER LOVE FOR CLOWNING IN SINGAPORE
