Review: Contemplating Kopitiam and Kampong Wa’Hassan by Oliver Chong and NAFA (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 9/1/20) Alfian Sa’at meets Kuo Pao Kun meets the Millennials in this well-directed but conceptually disjointed reflection on belonging and identity.   There’s something incredibly audacious about splicing two unlike plays together in an attempt to better bring out their shared concerns. Where Kuo Pao Kun’s Kopitiam was a naturalistic, three-character work in Mandarin concerning itself with an elderly coffee shop owner struggling to understand … Continue reading Review: Contemplating Kopitiam and Kampong Wa’Hassan by Oliver Chong and NAFA (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

Review: A Tiny Country by ATTEMPTS (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 8/1/20) Gamification of a hypothetical nation’s destiny has the right idea in mind. While ATTEMPTS’ founder Rei Poh has always been interested in games, with their latest production, ATTEMPTS finally gets a chance to go full on into the genre, with participatory theatre piece and game A Tiny Country, playing as part of the 2020 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Directed and designed by … Continue reading Review: A Tiny Country by ATTEMPTS (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

Review: Café Sarajevo by bluemouth inc. (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 8/1/20) Docu-drama in the form of a live podcast reminds us how difficult it is to mend deep-set rifts, and the politicised effects these have on the most ordinary of activities.  Part of the joy of Fringe is how it offers a platform to showcase non-traditional theatre forms of all kinds. Of these, it is bluemouth inc.’s Café Sarajevo that plays around with … Continue reading Review: Café Sarajevo by bluemouth inc. (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

In London’s West End 2019: Death of A Salesman at the Piccadilly Theatre (Review)

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 4/12/19) Arthur Miller’s classic play of the collapse of the American Dream feels urgent and racially charged in this new version by the Young Vic. LONDON – For anyone who’s ever studied Death of a Salesman in school, Arthur Miller’s classic play is iconic as a symbol of the American Dream crashing down, with the titular death representing everything wrong with the relentless, … Continue reading In London’s West End 2019: Death of A Salesman at the Piccadilly Theatre (Review)

Arts in Malaysia: An Interview with Johnny Ong, Co-Founder of Hauntu

KUALA LUMPUR – Do you believe in ghosts? If you came to THE LINC KL and looked around a bit, you might just find an attraction that’ll convince you of their existence, with Hauntu.  A portmanteau of the English word ‘haunt’ and Malay word ‘hantu’ (ghost), Hauntu mashes escape room and haunted house for one hell of an experience, as live theatre performance, role play and storytelling come together. … Continue reading Arts in Malaysia: An Interview with Johnny Ong, Co-Founder of Hauntu

Review: Cats presented by BASE Entertainment Asia

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 19/12/19) Feline fever dream impresses with its acrobatic skills and musical grandeur, landing squarely on its feet.  As a musical that’s stood the test of time and still receives acclaim over 40 years later, the plot of Cats, if you can call it a plot, is incredibly simple. Once a year, the Jellicle Cats gather around what appears to be a junkyard … Continue reading Review: Cats presented by BASE Entertainment Asia

Review: Single Mothers by Dwayne Ng

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 20/12/19) New play tackles the challenges of single motherhood, and shows potential for more.  Being a single mother certainly isn’t easy. On top of one’s actual obligations to take care of one’s child more or less alone, the situation is often further complicated by society’s expectations and judgment thrust upon them. The trials and tribulations of single motherhood then are explored in … Continue reading Review: Single Mothers by Dwayne Ng

In London’s (Off) West-End 2019: Red Palace by Shotgun Carousel (Review)

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 1/12/19) Fairytales as you’ve never experienced them before – now with a feminist twist. LONDON – Most of the fairy tales we grew up with are problematic in their own right, with far too many involving princesses pining for princes riding in on a white horse, or damsels in distress awaiting a hero to come save them. With Red Palace, Shotgun Carousel returns to the … Continue reading In London’s (Off) West-End 2019: Red Palace by Shotgun Carousel (Review)

In London’s (Off) West End 2019: James Seabright presents Not Too Tame’s Cinderella (Review)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 5/12/19) A classic fairy tale gets an outrageous, pub theatre treatment. LONDON – What’s a holiday season without a little booze and good cheer? Not Too Tame certainly knows those are the key ingredients to having a good time, as they bring their acclaimed production of Cinderella to the Vaults this holiday season. Written by Luke Barnes and directed by Jimmy Fairhurst, Cinderella takes the classic rags … Continue reading In London’s (Off) West End 2019: James Seabright presents Not Too Tame’s Cinderella (Review)

In London’s (Off) West End 2019: Escape From Planet Trash by Sink the Pink (Review)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 6/12/19) Drag meets sci-fi meets an all-important message of environmentalism for a night of good campy fun.  LONDON – Set in 2050, in a galaxy ‘not too far from our own’, Sink the Pink’s Escape From Planet Trash imagines a world so uninhabitable that it’s become the most dangerous place in the solar system, and also, the dumping ground for the entire universe. Unfortunately, … Continue reading In London’s (Off) West End 2019: Escape From Planet Trash by Sink the Pink (Review)