If you’ve watched Kubo and the Two Strings, chances are you’ll probably already be familiar with a shamisen, a traditional Japanese string instrument. Enter promising young Japanese shamisen player Niya, whom we had the pleasure of meeting at the Hello Hokkaido! Fair. You may think that the shamisen is old and outdated just because it’s traditional, but Niya wants to dispel that myth. Niya was … Continue reading 忍弥 NIYA – Hello Hokkaido
Award winning playwright Lucy Kirkwood has never been afraid of touching on difficult topics in her work. This time around, the Royal Court Theatre presents her latest piece: The Children, an affecting play about aging, life and letting go. The Children is set in an isolated coastal English house, the sound of waves discernible from inside. The cottage is inhabited by an elderly couple, Hazel (Deborah … Continue reading Review: The Children by The Royal Court Theatre
Over the last few months, Hatch Theatrics crafted Cari Makan as part of their pioneer Arts Incubation Residency with the Malay Heritage Centre, truly going back to basics and taking inspiration from tradition. Cari Makan refers to a Malay expression that literally translates to ‘finding food’, which means ‘to earn a living’. First time playwright Nadia Cheriyan wanted to shed light on the forgotten occupations of Malay culture, … Continue reading Review: Cari Makan by Hatch Theatrics
Body X Productions is responsible for the Body X series – immersive theatre experiences plunging audiences straight into the heart of a murder mystery. Following their success with their previous sell-out production Body X – The Wedding during the 2014 Singapore Writer’s Festival, that team is now back with Body X – The Rehearsal. Heading and directing this production are Li Xie and Danny Yeo, both … Continue reading Review: Body X – The Rehearsal
If you’re a person of Chinese origin, chances are you grew up having watched at least one version of Journey To The West on television. Now, W!ld Rice is here to break those language barriers with its annual Christmas pantomime, and they’ve brought back the sellout Monkey Goes West for the second year in a row, and the bold move certainly paid off. Alfian Sa’at takes the classic Chinese … Continue reading Review: Monkey Goes West by W!ld Rice
Affordable Art Fair is back again this year to bring art to the masses. Even if you’re not the art buying type, there’s still plenty to see here, with a great collection of artists from all over. AAF isn’t just about selling art though, it’s also concerned with charity. This edition sees an installation by Yen Phang, titled The Ocean’s Mind, which aims to dispel the myths and … Continue reading Affordable Art Fair November 2016: An Arty-licious Evening
School of Rock has no right to be so entertaining. The musical is based off the 2003 film starring Jack Black, and is back with a vengeance, featuring music by the great Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical follows Dewey Finn, a rocker turned unwitting schoolteacher who leads a bunch of privileged children with terrible relationships with their parents to victory in a rock competition through … Continue reading Review: School of Rock at the New London Theatre [16/11/16]
When was the last time you caught yourself out for not checking your privilege? More often than not, we find ourselves becoming more and more aware of the distinct class and racial differences around us as such issues slithering beneath the surface are brought to the fore in our seemingly PC world. Ayad Akhtar’s 2013 Pulitzer-Prize winning play takes a harsh look at such issues … Continue reading Review: Disgraced by SRT [16/11/16]
It’s hard to pin down what exactly the latest play from E.V. Crowe is about. The Sewing Group starts off set in the 1600s, when a young woman (Fiona Glascott) is newly introduced to a village who seems to do nothing but sew. In a series of scenes, she speaks cryptically to her group, consisting of two other women (Sarah Niles and Jane Hazlegrove) on sewing, … Continue reading Review: The Sewing Group by The Royal Court Theatre
Based off writer H.G. Wells’ Kipps: The Story of A Simple Soul, Half A Sixpence adapts the 1967 British musical film of the same name and follows the story of Arthur Kipps – a young orphan from Kent who unexpectedly comes into wealth. The tale takes on a Victorian twist, and Kipps must choose between two women – the upper class Helen Walsingham who he falls head over … Continue reading Review: Half A Sixpence at the Noel Coward Theatre [15/11/16]
