★★★☆☆ Review: Offending The Audience by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Flawed revival of Handke’s classic fails to find a place in the contemporary world. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Ang Gey Pin) 6 Script (Peter Handke and devised parts by cast) 6 Performance 7 Lighting Design (David Li) 7 Total 26/40 (65%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Since premiering in Germany in 1966, Peter Handke’s Offending The Audience has gained a reputation for being a quintessential … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Offending The Audience by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

★★★☆☆ Review: Dream School by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Oversimplification of problems in arts education makes this less of a forum than it is another angry shout into the void against the system. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Li Xie) 5 Script (Devised by Li Xie and Cast) 5 Performance 7 Lighting Design (David Li) 7 Total 24/40 (60%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Presented as part of Emergency Stairs and NAFA’s Industry Project 2022, … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Dream School by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

★★★★★ Review: Pinocchio by Wild Rice

Italian fairytale proves powerful inspiration for Wild Rice’s annual pantomime. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Pam Oei) 10 Script (Thomas Lim) 9 Performance (Mae Elliessa, Ebi Shankara, Siti Khalijah Zainal, Dwayne Lau, Michelle Ler, Vester Ng) 9 Music – Composition/Lyrics (Julian Wong / Joel Tan) 9 Live Music (Joel Nah, Feri Susanto, Colin Yong, Brandon Wong, Rizal Sanip) 9 Choreography (Gino Babagay) 9 Set … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Pinocchio by Wild Rice

Review: Playwrights’ Cove 2022 by The Necessary Stage

From featuring promising young theatremakers at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, to the creative jamming of The Orange Playground, in recent years, The Necessary Stage (TNS) has been increasingly moving towards the developing of new works and setting the foundations for a new generation of theatremakers. This year, TNS has also brought back Playwrights’ Cove, a playwriting training and mentorship programme led by Resident Playwright … Continue reading Review: Playwrights’ Cove 2022 by The Necessary Stage

Review: Mina Kaye – Live In Concert 2022 by Sight Lines Entertainment

If there was ever any doubt of local actress Mina Kaye’s capabilities, then attending her live concert would have dispelled them all; even three months pregnant, Mina puts on a showstopper of a performance in Mina Kaye – Live In Concert that marks her as a true professional. Directed by Sight Lines Entertainment artistic director Derrick Chew, as part of the company’s 10th anniversary, the … Continue reading Review: Mina Kaye – Live In Concert 2022 by Sight Lines Entertainment

★★★★☆ Review: Baby Queen dir. Lei Yuan Bin (SGIFF 2022)

Charting the birth of the new queer Singapore through the portrait of a queen. There may be countless jokes around the ever-growing list of letters that make up the LGBTQ+ initialism, but in many ways, that problematisation of clear definition and categories is precisely what makes the queer community so beautiful – the sheer diversity across the rainbow spectrum of identities. And in Singapore, where … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Baby Queen dir. Lei Yuan Bin (SGIFF 2022)

★★★☆☆ Review: Kingdoms Apart by Chong Tze Chien and Esplanade – Theatres on The Bay

Held back by the weight of its ambition in this valiant but problematic new staging of The Mahabharata. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Chong Tze Chien) 6 Script (Chong Tze Chien) 6 Performance 7 Set Design (Eucien Chia) 7 Sound Design (Darren Ng) 8 Lighting Design (James Tan) 8 Costumes/Hair/Makeup (Yuan Zhiying & Jacqueline Teo/Ashley Lim/Bobbie Ng) 5 Multimedia (Koo Chia Meng) 7 Puppetry … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Kingdoms Apart by Chong Tze Chien and Esplanade – Theatres on The Bay

★★★★☆ Review: Extinction Feast by The Theatre Practice

Experimental eco-theatre fishes out the complexities of climate paralysis. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Ang Xiao Ting) 7 Script (Nabilah Said, Lee Wai Lokm Ang Xiao Ting, Sim Xin Yi, and Andrew Marko) 5 Performance (Andrew Marko) 9 Set Design (Chen Szu-Feng) 7 Lighting Design (Faith Liu Yong Huay) 8 Multimedia Design (Elizabeth Mak) 9 Sound Design (Ferry and Sandra Tay) 8 Costumes (MAX.TAN) … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Extinction Feast by The Theatre Practice

★★★★☆ Review: Slava’s Snow Show by Base Entertainment Asia

Russian clowns use humour and imagination to cope with crushing solitude. First premiering in Russia in 1993, Slava’s Snow Show is a surreal tragicomedy that takes place in a wintry world straight out of a painting. Born from the mind of Russian clown Slava Polunin, the show follows a clown in yellow as he navigates the strangeness of the world he’s in, alongside the odd … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Slava’s Snow Show by Base Entertainment Asia

★★★★☆ Review: The Almighty Sometimes by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Newcomer Arielle Jasmine delivers a stellar performance in this play about the side effects of psychotropics and perils of parenthood. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Daniel Jenkins) 8 Script (Kendall Feaver) 7 Performance (Arielle Jasmine Van Zuijlen, Karen Tan, Salif Hardie, Shona Benson) 9 Set Design (Eucien Chia) 7 Lighting Design (Gabriel Chan) 10 Sound Design (Daniel Wong) 8 Costumes (Leonard Augustine Choo) 8 … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: The Almighty Sometimes by Singapore Repertory Theatre