★★★☆☆ Review: As Far As Isolation Goes by Tania El Khoury and Basel Zaara (SIFA 2021)

An encounter with a refugee opens our eyes to the human pain behind the conflict. Moving to a new home can be hard. But it’s especially hard for refugees from war-torn nations finding themselves in a strange new land, reeling from the trauma of the past, adapting to their new life, and resisting strangers’ dirty looks and the creeping fear of feeling completely, absolutely alone. … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: As Far As Isolation Goes by Tania El Khoury and Basel Zaara (SIFA 2021)

★★★☆☆ Review: Three Sisters by Nine Years Theatre and SITI Company (SIFA 2021)

Cross-continent, multilingual hybrid adaptation of Chekhov a valiant effort but flawed in execution. Ideally, collaborations between arts companies should produce work that take the very best of each company’s style and elevate the final production to new heights. It is especially exciting to see cross-border collaborations, where the contrasts in artistic philosophy and culture may lead to surprising results. But collaborations are by no means … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Three Sisters by Nine Years Theatre and SITI Company (SIFA 2021)

★★★★☆ Review: Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes by HuM Theatre

How much are your morals worth? Actors have never had it easy. You can choose to be an Artist with a capital A, and continue struggling unless you miraculously become a hit. Or you can dive into the nebulous world of film, take on questionable roles and be labelled a hack or sellout. In HuM Theatre’s newest production, the local company tackles the complications of … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes by HuM Theatre

★★★★☆ Review: Gardens Speak by Tania El Khoury (SIFA 2021)

Planting the seeds of hope in this unique sound installation highlighting the casualties of war. They say that a single death is a tragedy; a million deaths, a statistic. And for countries like Syria, where war has ravaged its citizens for years, the shadow of death is always looming, almost second nature at this point. For a Singaporean who has likely never witnessed or experienced … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Gardens Speak by Tania El Khoury (SIFA 2021)

★★★☆☆ Review: The Curious Case of The Missing Peranakan Treasure by Sight Lines Entertainment, Double Confirm Productions, and Raffles Hotel

Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way. When I was younger, I used to imagine that hotel stays would have been that much more exciting with a little mystery on our hands. After all, I grew up reading Agatha Christie and other mystery novels, priming my imagination with the idea that hotels make the perfect backdrop for a daring detective solving … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: The Curious Case of The Missing Peranakan Treasure by Sight Lines Entertainment, Double Confirm Productions, and Raffles Hotel

★★★★☆ Review: The Commission by Pangdemonium, Wild Rice and SRT (SIFA 2021)

Satirical yet vulnerable as three titans of local theatre take to the stage and get personal. In the immortal words of Macbeth’s three witches: When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning or in rain? Following their unprecedented collaboration on short film The Pitch during the sturm and drang of last year, local artistic directors Gaurav Kripalani (Singapore Repertory Theatre), Ivan Heng (Wild Rice) … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: The Commission by Pangdemonium, Wild Rice and SRT (SIFA 2021)

★★★★☆ Review: En Route by one step at a time like this (SIFA 2021)

Learn to see the city in a new light. With the lack of leisure travel or commercial flights, it’s little wonder that being cooped up has filled us with yearning for a change of scenery, and the far too common cry of “there’s nothing to do”. But perhaps rather than looking out, it’s more important to turn our gaze inwards, and change our perspective to … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: En Route by one step at a time like this (SIFA 2021)

★★★★☆ Review: I Am Kumar by Dream Academy

Singapore’s drag queen of comedy still reigns supreme. Kumar is synonymous with the Singapore drag scene. There’s rarely been any doubt as to who Kumar is – raunchy, fabulous, and entertaining as heck. So it may come as a surprise that Singapore’s foremost and favourite drag queen’s new show is all about staking his claim and spelling out his identity in no uncertain terms, with … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: I Am Kumar by Dream Academy

★★★★☆ Review: The Rishi Report Live (April 2021)

The rare time more news is good news. Rishi Budhrani has established himself as a comedian with the Midas touch. But rather than turning objects into gold, he turns bad news into comedy. With the second live edition of The Rishi Report, we found ourselves back again at Gateway Theatre to witness his news coverage show, now armed with new reports and events from the … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: The Rishi Report Live (April 2021)

★★★☆☆ Review: RevoLOOtion by Intercultural Theatre Institute

Doom is inevitable, but perhaps we can learn how to make things less crappy. When you think of a theatre course’s graduating show, forum theatre isn’t the first medium you might think of. But as far as showcases go, it’s a medium that provides a surprisingly large number of ways by which to challenge graduates, from quick-witted improv skills to the ability to immediately embody … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: RevoLOOtion by Intercultural Theatre Institute