Right To Work

Date: 23 October, Friday | Time: 10:30 - 12:00 | Venue: Academia Room, L1-S1

Speakers: Assoc Prof Michael Tan, Participating Cancer Survivors & Singapore Cancer Society

Programme Synopsis: 

Right to Work is an applied theatre experience that centres the lived realities of cancer survivors navigating the complexities of returning to work. Developed in collaboration with the Singapore Cancer Society, the session features monologue performances by cancer survivors, followed by facilitated dialogue that invites reflection and exchange.

Through monologues and storytelling, the work creates an embodied platform to explore how illness reshapes identity, social roles, and future trajectories. The performances present personal accounts of disruption, resilience, and reintegration, while highlighting the emotional and relational dimensions of survivorship.

Situating illness within everyday social structures, the project reframes return to work as more than economic recovery—it is a process of reclaiming dignity, agency, and belonging. It foregrounds care as both relational and systemic, extending beyond healthcare into workplace cultures and policies. Through this engagement, the session invites audiences to reflect on how meaningful care can support not just survival, but living well.

Programme Details:

The proposed applied theatre experience foregrounds the lived realities of cancer survivors navigating return-to-work processes, situating employment not merely as economic participation but as a deeply human and relational act of reclaiming identity, dignity, and belonging. The project is led by Assoc Prof Michael Tan in collaboration with the Singapore Cancer Society, Right to Work brings together cancer survivors—referred to here as cancer warriors—who share their personal narratives through monologue performance, followed by facilitated dialogue with the audience.

Drawing on applied theatre methodologies such as storytelling, improvisation, and role-play, the session creates an embodied platform for examining how illness reshapes one’s sense of self, social roles, and future trajectories. The performance component (45 minutes) presents first-person accounts of disruption, resilience, and reintegration, while the subsequent discussion opens space for reflection on workplace inclusion, stigma, and systemic barriers.

This work responds directly to the conference’s call to understand illness beyond clinical frameworks by situating survivorship within everyday social structures—particularly the workplace. For cancer survivors, returning to work is not simply a marker of recovery, but a complex negotiation involving physical limitations, emotional vulnerability, and shifting relational dynamics with employers, colleagues, and family members.

The project foregrounds care as relational and systemic:

• It highlights how meaningful care extends into workplace policies, organisational cultures, and social attitudes.
• It positions employers, co-workers, and institutions as active participants in the ecology of care.
• It interrogates how dignity, autonomy, and agency are upheld—or compromised—during reintegration.

Through embodied storytelling, the session invites healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public to engage with the moral and ethical dimensions of survivorship, asking: What does it mean to care beyond treatment? How can systems support not only survival, but meaningful living?

Significance and Contribution

The intersection of arts-based practice and workplace equity for cancer survivors remains underexplored in Singapore. This project contributes to medical humanities discourse by:

• Demonstrating applied theatre as a method of knowledge production, not just expression
• Bridging emotional, social, and institutional dimensions of illness experience
• Amplifying patient voices as co-creators of meaning and advocacy
• Offering a replicable model for arts-health collaboration in community and policy contexts

Session Structure (90 minutes)

• Monologue Performances by cancer survivors (45 minutes)
• Facilitated Dialogue & Q&A with audience (45 minutes)

Intended Impact

This session aims to cultivate empathy, deepen understanding of survivorship beyond the clinic, and provoke critical reflection on how care is enacted across systems. By centring lived experience, it calls for more humane, inclusive, and responsive approaches to supporting individuals living with and beyond illness.