Review: Arts House House Party

The Arts House’s annual celebration of all things artsy returns this weekend for another insane party highlighting literary expression across genres by various local artists. One of today’s highlights had to be Note For Note, a poetry based performance where various local poets performed poems alongside local musicians providing accompanying music. With both local literary giants such as Yong Shu Hoong, Pooja Nansi and Marc … Continue reading Review: Arts House House Party

Review: WOMEN at Troy & Thesmophoria by Intercultural Theatre Institute

Greek theatre isn’t dead! At least, that’s what the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI)’s 2017 graduating cohort wants you to think, with their double bill of two classic Greek pieces: Euripedes’ Women of Troy and Aristophanes’ Women at the Festival of Thesmophoria (Thesmophoriazusae). As Singapore’s leading multicultural theatre institute, ITI excels at bringing international and intercultural students and practitioners together to learn and create works that may … Continue reading Review: WOMEN at Troy & Thesmophoria by Intercultural Theatre Institute

The Studios 2017: With/Out (Review)

How do you remember a life? In 1999, The Necessary Stage presented Completely With/Out Character, where Singapore’s first openly HIV-positive man, Paddy Chew, performed a true, heartfelt monologue about his life, unfortunately passing away a few months after the end of the production. For those who have never heard of Paddy Chew however, his story remains unknown to them, and the chance to feel and experience it … Continue reading The Studios 2017: With/Out (Review)

Review: Normal by Checkpoint Theatre

“Would you say that these works have any merit as opposed to… Shakespeare?” As if in response to such a challenge from a line in the play, Checkpoint Theatre opens its 15th anniversary season confidently with Faith Ng’s Normal. Last staged in 2015, the play revolves around the lives of two schoolgirls from the fictional Trinity Girls School. Feeling straitjacketed and lagging behind in the … Continue reading Review: Normal by Checkpoint Theatre

Review: Rounds by Resuscitate Theatre

There’s a moment in Rounds when two junior doctors sit down on a couch in front of the TV, and rather tongue-in-cheeked, watch Grey’s Anatomy while commenting on how the doctors never seem to wash their hands. A TV medical drama this is not, and inspired by real interviews conducted with junior doctors working for the NHS, Rounds was created specifically to address the many issues doctors face in … Continue reading Review: Rounds by Resuscitate Theatre

Review: Fundamentally Happy by Nine Years Theatre [Studios 2017]

Wait a minute, a collaboration between Nine Years Theatre and Haresh Sharma? You didn’t just misread that. First presented in 2006 by The Necessary Stage in its original English language, Fundamentally Happy has since bagged Best Production and Best Original Script at the 2007 ST Life Theatre Awards and is still making its rounds on the big screen via the 2015 film adaptation by 13 … Continue reading Review: Fundamentally Happy by Nine Years Theatre [Studios 2017]

Review: Ugly Lies The Bone by National Theatre

Virtual reality is one of those fascinating pieces of technology that still hasn’t quite fully found its footing yet, still feeling very much like a sci-fi fantasy. Recent shows like Black Mirror and The Nether have taken to attempting to incorporate it into a key part of their narrative, to varying degrees of success. Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies The Bone is the latest show to do just that, and in … Continue reading Review: Ugly Lies The Bone by National Theatre

Review: Family Secrets by The Necessary Stage

From the schoolyard to a dementia day care center- The Necessary Stage has definitely been busy! In addition to their recent production of the classic Those Who Can’t, Teach, TNS continues its 30th anniversary celebrations during that very same weekend with Family Secrets, a Theatre For Seniors double-bill centered around the elderly and their families. In this restaging, Cultural Medallion winner and playwright Haresh Sharma … Continue reading Review: Family Secrets by The Necessary Stage

Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl at Southwark Playhouse

It seems Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel has seen a resurgence of interest in the past few years, with a film adaptation starring Bel Powley, Kristen Wiig and Alexander Skarsgard in 2015. The film’s director and writer Marielle Heller subsequently adapted the work for stage as well, and we see it presented here in Southwark Playhouse’s production. The Diary Of A Teenage Girl is a coming of … Continue reading Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl at Southwark Playhouse

Review: Gleason dir. Clay Tweel

Chronicling 5 years in the life of ex-New Orleans Saints football defensive back Steve Gleason after being diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), Gleason is an intimate look at the declining health of a man who had it all and the immense love and support he receives and an incredible strength within he uses to carry on living. Gleason’s story is a heartbreaking one: the film … Continue reading Review: Gleason dir. Clay Tweel