Preview: Fika & Fishy by Patch and Punnet

Local theatre company Patch and Punnet rings in 2020 with a brand new show, following their two productions of their original work The Adventures of Abhijeet  in 2019. Now under W!ld Rice’s inaugural Company-in-Residence programme, the fledgling collective has been enjoying free access to rehearsal space, dramaturgical support and arts management advice since August 2019. All of this has resulted in the upcoming Fika & Fishy, their first original play while undergoing said residency programme.

They say that friends are the family that you choose. But when you’re a goldfish trapped in a bowl for your whole life, you’re pretty much f*cked. When an adolescent puppy who’s as trustful as he is lustful trots into her life all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, will Fishy try her best to ignore his exposed anus and befriend the freak? Or will she make a tasteless joke about his questionable parentage and proceed to call his mother a whore?

A “heartwarming comedy about the friendship between an innocent puppy and a jaded goldfish”, Patch & Punnet warns that this is a show that is absolutely not suitable for kids, in spite of its other colourful appearances. Expect a fair bit of swearing, the occasional sex toy, and the looming question of one’s own mortality awkwardly hanging overhead.

Fika & Fishy, in a similar vein to how 2018’s Stupid Cupid played above independent bookstore The Moon, will be performed in an unconventional location –  the second floor of a freshly renovated shophouse in Little India. Expect the space to be decked out with decked with soft carpets, cushioned floor chairs, beanbags, comfy pillows and even a couch touted by the founders as ‘the best seats in the house’.

With eyes firmly on their goal of creating irreverent theatre, with a show that is ‘less of an event and more of a lifestyle’ as a means to get more Singaporeans to appreciate theatre as part of the local identity, come join Patch and Punnet on their first production of 2020 set to be as wholesome as it is lewd, and as heartfelt as it is frivolous. Brace yourself for a heartwarmingly disgusting and disgustingly heartwarming story about the unlikely friendship between a dog and a fish.

Fika & Fishy plays from 14th February to 1st March 2020 at 11 Chander Road. Tickets available from Peatix