Actress Kimberly Chan owns about 50 pairs of shoes and actor Erwin Shah Ismail makes cardholders and laptop cases out of leather.

Both developed a solo show around their interest and the works will be staged on Friday and Saturday at the School of the Arts Studio Theatre, under local theatre company GenerAsia's Platform Series.

GenerAsia is helmed by director and impresario Richard Tan, 62, who says the Platform Series showcases promising or little-known Singaporean works.

"What's lovely about both these plays is that these are one-man shows, but both play multiple characters," he says.

Tan worked with Erwin on the first edition of the actor's Kulit On The Go in 2016.

The two were put together during Teater Ekamatra's Projek Suitcase, a regular affair in which theatre-makers are invited to create a 20-minute show involving one actor and minimal props.

Erwin, 31, says the first show he wrote and performed was "very light, very feel-good" and full of enthusiasm for his new hobby of leather-crafting.

He presented it again in 2016 for a leather-crafting fair, then extended it last year for a staging at the opening festival of Gateway Theatre in Bukit Merah.

The play showing this week is deeper and darker, according to Tan and Erwin.

Erwin brings in the perspective of the farmer as well as the fashion-conscious. "At first, it was 'edutainment' about craftsmanship," says the actor.

"It was fun and light, but there's something behind it that we tend to forget," he adds, meaning the slaughterhouse and also cattle-farming's contribution to global warming.

Chan's In Her Shoes also began as a light-hearted personal piece, but evolved into something deeper.

Initially, it was going to be a cabaret-style musical revue, then she thought it could be a showcase for her 50 pairs of sneakers, boots and heels.

Finally, while working with director Samantha Scott-Blackhall, she realised that it would be better to literally walk in other women's shoes.

The play now is a series of character sketches in which shoes are metaphors for the character's current stage of life. For example, a woman whose shoes are too tight finds they are a bad fit, just like her current relationship.

For the staging, Chan has even bought yellow moccasins of a type she rarely wears. "My feet are too wide," she says, grimacing.

In Her Shoes features music composed and arranged by Aloysius Foong, who has been musical director for past operas staged by L'Arietta Singapore, including last year's The Four Note Opera.

"It wouldn't be the same without music," says Chan, whose theatre credits are dominated by musicals, such as last year's Detention Katong by Dream Academy and The Great Wall: One Woman's Journey by Glowtape Productions.

The work is still finding its feet, adds Scott-Blackhall, laughing at the unplanned pun.

She adds: "We talk about girl things and womanhood and the female journey and female strength."