Review: Giselle by Teatro Di San Carlo

Hailing from Naples in the south of Italy, the world’s oldest opera house Teatro Di San Carlo presented a brilliant performance of Giselle at Mastercard Theatres this weekend. Often considered one of the great classical ballets, Giselle is a technically demanding piece, and dancers who have mastered the role hailed as brilliant in the annals of history. With such prestige to their name, Teatro Di San Carlo did not … Continue reading Review: Giselle by Teatro Di San Carlo

Review: Fatimah and her Magic Socks by The Esplanade

Based on the popular children’s book of the same name by theatre practitioner Zizi Azah, The Esplanade presents a glorious stage adaptation directed by Daniel Jenkins that tingles with creativity with its all star creative team. Spreading the message of acceptance with the simple story of a pair of mismatched socks, Fatimah follows our young heroine with a sunny disposition who dares to be different. When told … Continue reading Review: Fatimah and her Magic Socks by The Esplanade

Review: Twelfth Night by Original Impact

“If music be the food of love, play on.” The immortal lines mark the beginning of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and in Original Impact’s latest production at the Blue Elephant Theatre, have never rang more true. Director Sam Dunstan’s take on the classic tale of crossdressing and mistaken identity is given a distinctly teenage makeover here, with the play opening to the tropical beats of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ … Continue reading Review: Twelfth Night by Original Impact

Review: Laojiu The Musical by The Theatre Practice

First written by Chinese theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun as a play, Lao Jiu has since seen 2 more revivals in 2005 and 2012, reincarnated as a showstopping musical. This time around, The Theatre Practice returns with a new staging of the hit show, and boy were we glad we managed to catch it. Lao Jiu (Sugie Phua), literally “the ninth child”, is the first and only … Continue reading Review: Laojiu The Musical by The Theatre Practice

Review: Hand To God by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Parents, please don’t take your kids to see this show, thinking that it’s as innocent as Sesame Street. It’s not. Robert Askins’ Hand To God is anything but godly, and makes it Singaporean debut with the Singapore Repertory Theatre at last, and will overturn everything you thought you knew about puppets and instill you with a deep fear of your inner demons…or perhaps even the devil himself. … Continue reading Review: Hand To God by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Review: Resilience dir. James Redford

How much impact does your childhood really have on you? Plenty, as Resilience, a short but effective film tracing the relationship between childhood trauma and its lasting health impacts well into adulthood proves. More than ten years ago, Dr Robert Anda and Dr Vincent Felitti discovered their patients experiencing various behavioural, weight gain and heart disease issues all had things in common – histories of exposure … Continue reading Review: Resilience dir. James Redford

Review: La Cage Aux Folles by W!ld Rice

W!ld Rice has always been known to be one of the glitziest theatre companies in Singapore, but with its restaging of Harvey Fierstein’s La Cage Aux Folles, it can safely walk away with the title of the brightest – what with its one THOUSAND lightbulb set, framing the stage in a cage pattern reflecting the translation of the play’s title (the “caged madwoman”). But the set wasn’t … Continue reading Review: La Cage Aux Folles by W!ld Rice

Review: Every Brilliant Thing by Bhumi Collective

Coming hot on the heels of his Best Actor win at the recent Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards, Andrew Marko stars in yet another affecting play that not only tugs at audiences’ heartstrings, but also delivers a very powerful message about mental illness. In this solo show, Marko, brimming with boundless energy, stars as an unnamed six year old growing up with a depressed mother. … Continue reading Review: Every Brilliant Thing by Bhumi Collective

Review: Tropicana The Musical

What exactly was it like when we mention the swinging 60s then, in our island city? Tropicana The Musical is here to bring audiences a taste of the sex, freedom and glitz of that era. The brainchild of producer and veteran actress Tan Kheng Hua, Tropicana The Musical was inspired by the real Las Vegas-style night club that first opened its doors to the public in 1968 in Orchard … Continue reading Review: Tropicana The Musical

Review: The Philanthropist at Trafalgar Studios

Written as a response to and subversion of Moliere’s The Misanthrope, Christopher Hampton’s hit 1970 comedy takes place in an alternate England, where outside the confines of a small, unnamed university town, mayhem ensues when the Prime Minister and his cabinet have been assassinated, gunned down in Parliament and the top English writers are slowly being murdered one at a time. But none of this quite affects … Continue reading Review: The Philanthropist at Trafalgar Studios