In London’s (Off) West End 2019: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds – The Immersive Experience by dotdotdot (Review)

Blockbuster multi-room experience uniting live theatre with immersive technology. LONDON – It’s hard to deny that immersive experience fever has taken over London. Each year, more and more new companies have emerged in an attempt to break into that market, each trying to differentiate themselves from the last with better ideas, and a longer lasting impression that stays with audience members long after leaving the space. … Continue reading In London’s (Off) West End 2019: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds – The Immersive Experience by dotdotdot (Review)

Toy Factory’s The Wright Stuff Festival 2019: The Puppet King (玩具王) by Titus Yim

★☆☆☆☆ (Attended 2/11/19, Matinee) Final production of The Wright Stuff 2019 meanders in its exploration of existentialism.  While the characters of Pixar’s Toy Story have always dealt with inherent struggles surrounding ideas of abandonment and purpose, none of the ever faced these ideas head-on, at least, not with quite as much darkness as the one infused into Titus Yim’s The Puppet King. Directed by Renee Chua, The Puppet King is set … Continue reading Toy Factory’s The Wright Stuff Festival 2019: The Puppet King (玩具王) by Titus Yim

French Film Festival 2019: Who You Think I Am dir. Safy Nebbou (Review)

Juliette Binoche turns in a captivating performance in this twisty thriller about catfishing. From the day it was created, the Internet was and continues to be a source of hope, where just about anything and everything is made possible through a few simple clicks. For 50-year old divorced mother-of-two teacher Claire (Juliette Binoche) – that hope takes the form of the possibility of new love, … Continue reading French Film Festival 2019: Who You Think I Am dir. Safy Nebbou (Review)

French Film Festival 2019: Goodbye First Love dir. Mia Hansen-Løve (Review)

First loves are hard to let go of. You never really forget your first love. But for Camille (Lola Créton), whose teenage romance with Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky) is passionate and sexually-charged, it’s something she never really learns to let go of, bringing it with her into university and adulthood. Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, Goodbye First Love is a familiar tale of fate gone wrong when Sullivan decides to … Continue reading French Film Festival 2019: Goodbye First Love dir. Mia Hansen-Løve (Review)

Review: The Hawker by The Second Breakfast Company

★★☆☆☆ (Attended 13/11/19) Good attempt to immerse audiences in this novel concept, but let down by a central lack of purpose. The humble hawker centre is nothing short of a national icon. Representing our multicultural society with its mix of just about every kind of cuisine, along with its affordability and convenience welcoming diners of all class and backgrounds, it truly becomes a microcosm of Singapore … Continue reading Review: The Hawker by The Second Breakfast Company

Review: The Gingerbread Man by SRT’s The Little Company

★★☆☆☆ (Performance attended 26/10/19) A children’s show that needed more time to rise in the oven. “Run run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man.” The iconic lines of everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic baked good has been taken quite literally in SRT’s The Little Company’s latest musical for kids, with the titular Gingerbread Man using his need for speed to … Continue reading Review: The Gingerbread Man by SRT’s The Little Company

Singapore Writers Festival 2019: Bad Feminist Roxane Gay Speaks About Bodies, Pop Culture and the Importance of Media Literacy

Roxane Gay is an icon for our times. Big, black, queer and intellectual, Roxane rounded off the final weekend of the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) with a number of talks and events surrounding her work. Best known for her bestselling essay collection Bad Feminist and memoir Hunger, Roxane’s writing deals primarily with issues of identity, femininity (or society’s expectations of it) and how our views of the world have … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019: Bad Feminist Roxane Gay Speaks About Bodies, Pop Culture and the Importance of Media Literacy

Singapore Writers Festival 2019 Closes with Literary Stars and Contemporary Topics, Marking New Festival Director Pooja Nansi’s Inaugural Edition

The 22nd edition of the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) concluded on 10 November after a stellar 10-day line-up of literary events and programmes headlined by influential Singapore and international writers, speakers and thinkers. Organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) to champion and grow appreciation for literary arts and culture in Singapore, the theme “A Language of Our Own” explores the ways in which verbal, … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019 Closes with Literary Stars and Contemporary Topics, Marking New Festival Director Pooja Nansi’s Inaugural Edition

Singapore Writers Festival 2019: An Interview with Min Jin Lee, Author of Pachinko and Free Food For Millionaires

“I like writing because I don’t like talking very much,” says author Min Jin Lee. “I was really one of those quiet Asian kids as a child, and it was something I had to work through when I realised that in America, if you don’t know how to talk well, people will think you’re stupid, and I definitely didn’t want people to think that about … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019: An Interview with Min Jin Lee, Author of Pachinko and Free Food For Millionaires

French Film Festival 2019: Made in China dir. Julien Abraham (Review) + An Interview with Frédéric Chau

Cultures and beliefs may clash, but family always comes first. About 1 million citizens of Asian origin live in France, making up approximately 1.5% of the country’s entire population. As minorities in the country, it’s no surprise that while the French are certainly aware of their existence, they may not necessarily have fully absorbed or integrated them into mainstream French culture, leaving much of their practices and customs a … Continue reading French Film Festival 2019: Made in China dir. Julien Abraham (Review) + An Interview with Frédéric Chau