This section covers the Singapore Arts and Theatre Scene. This very vibrant scene is amazing and we will update the latest happenings and giveaways. Stay Tuned.
After Cooling Off Day in 2010 it only seemed natural that Alfian Sa’at follow up with another political play the next election year, this time in the form of GRC, first performed in December last year. GRC takes place in a Singapore turned upside down, where Malays are now the majority, and Chinese are a minority race, discriminated against for being suspected of their Chinese communist ties, and stereotyped … Continue reading Review: GRC by Teater Ekamatra
Unsaid is a social enterprise/arts collective who have been actively highlighting awareness of women’s issues this year, and breaks onto the theatre scene with their debut production. Every Singaporean Daughter‘s title riffs on the popular web series Every Singaporean Son, aiming to showcase the shared experience of the Singaporean female in this production. Playwright Marie Ee used stories and e-mails submitted to Unsaid to weave a … Continue reading Review: Every Singaporean Daughter by Unsaid
Red Pill Productions’ Let’s Get Back Together (or rather unsubtly, LGBT) was first staged in 2014, and W!ld Rice has revived it for the 2016 Singapore Theatre Festival with an all new cast, consisting Ezzat Alkaff, Ann Lek, Ruzaini Mazani, Eleanor Tan, Jo Tan and Zachary Ibrahim. LGBT is a play much in the same vein as Alfian Sa’at’s Cooling Off Day, in that it uses interviews … Continue reading Review: Let’s Get Back Together by Red Pill Productions (10/7/16)
Boo Junfeng’s name has been making the rounds in Singapore, most recently for directing that advert featuring a long distance relationship made possible through Singtel. It’s no surprise; after all, he’s one of the nation’s best, following his sensitive coming of age film debut Sandcastle in 2010. In his latest film, which premiered at the Cannes Festival this year, we follow Aiman (Firdaus Rahman), a young Malay man … Continue reading Review: Apprentice dir. Boo Junfeng
Last night, the German duo Markus&Markus left an indelible Margot-shaped impression in local discourse on the right-to-die with their riveting documentary theatre Ibsen: Ghosts. This certainly isn’t the first time Singaporean audiences have been confronted with moral questions about dying (think: the use of medical marijuana in Haresh Sharma’s Good People (2007)), and this moving piece with its dearly departed protagonist Margot suggests that one … Continue reading REVIEW: Ibsen:Ghosts
After a sell out run of Innamorati One in 2014, Toy Factory is back to ignite the Drama Centre stage this September with its sequel Innamorati Two (唯二): A Spirited Mandarin Musical. Innamorati Two is not a direct sequel to Innamorati One, rather, a spiritual successor, both penned by Jiang Daini. Innamorati Two follows an ensemble cast of 7 people searching for an answer to their physical and emotional losses in life, and … Continue reading PREVIEW: Innamorati Two
W!ld Rice has really brought in a gem with this double bill. Both Riders and Hawa are unique in that they showcase voices rarely heard in the theatre scene – Riders for its honest portrayal of the mat moto subculture in Singapore, and Hawa for a glimpse into Islamic funeral rites from a recent convert to Islam grappling with personal issues of her own. These are issues and scenes that are in short supply … Continue reading Review: Riders Know When It’s Gonna Rain/Hawa [3/7/16]
Since catching it on the West End and Broadway, I dreamed a dream that one day, I’d be watching Les Misérables on our very own shores, like my parents did 20 years back. Now, that day has come and we were more than excited to get a chance to catch it at last. Les Misérables is eternally on the London stage for good reason – … Continue reading Les Misérables (28/6/16)
Hotels are strange places. They’re transitory, temporal spaces for people to live, many of which happen to be foreigners in a new country. People come and go, and leave traces of the past behind the same rooms that get cleaned up each day, in an almost spectral manner. Each room contains a rich history. W!ld Rice’s epic Hotel traces the hundred year history of a … Continue reading Hotel by W!ld Rice [2/7/16]
Figs, in Judaism, are thought to be the fruit of knowledge that Adam and Eve ate from in the Bible (and not apples), and so brings to mind images of sin, life and knowledge. In Figs, there is in fact, no specific mention of figs at all. In fact, the characters even end up eating pears onstage, which begs the question of its title. There is however, … Continue reading Figs by Make Space Theatre (1/7/16)
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