SIFA 2018: OCD Love by L-E-V Dance Company (Review)

Mesmerising, muscular bodies tangle with the simultaneous pain and allure of the mental condition.  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD for short, is characterised as a state by which a person’s mind is constantly occupied by cycles of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. It’s an invisible condition that only really becomes evident when you know someone, and is often a lifelong state an afflicted person finds … Continue reading SIFA 2018: OCD Love by L-E-V Dance Company (Review)

SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Review)

Deceptively simple, Amer Hlehel puts the power of words onstage with a tour de force performance as the eponymous Palestinian poet.  How does one go through countless losses and still come out an optimist? In the eyes and life of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali (1931-2011), one will find that it is completely possible. Directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, TAHA is a show with a simple set-up – writer … Continue reading SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Review)

SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Preview)

Born in a village in Galilee in 1931,Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali has been through many things – he fled with his family to a refugee camp in Lebanon in 1948 before returning to Nazareth where he ran a souvenir shop and taught himself classical Arabic literature and learnt English. But through it all, he remained an unerring optimist, and in his works, celebrated the … Continue reading SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Preview)

SIFA 2018: Housepour – A Manhattan Themed Lounge At The Heart of the Festival

As the 2018 Singapore International Festival of the Arts goes into full swing, each night, audiences fill the festival grounds as they attend the various events across each packed venue. Be it the Victoria Theatre, Esplanade or the many free events at the Arts House (now the Festival House), one would constantly be in need of a dedicated, cosy space to sit and discuss the … Continue reading SIFA 2018: Housepour – A Manhattan Themed Lounge At The Heart of the Festival

The Monday Interview: Ong Keng Sen on the Role of a Curator

It’s hard to miss Ong Keng Sen. Sporting his usual all black attire, complete with a snazzy pair of sunglasses, Theatreworks’ artistic director cuts an imposing figure as he strides across the lobby of the Intercontinental to meet us. But there’s honestly nothing to fear about Ong, who greets us with a smile and a cool demeanour. If anything, the most impressive thing about him … Continue reading The Monday Interview: Ong Keng Sen on the Role of a Curator

SIFA 2017 Finale: Lizard On The Wall

SIFA 2017 drew to a close last Saturday with the premiere of local film director K. Rajagopal’s (A Yellow Bird) latest film: Lizard On The Wall. But the significance of the film was given far greater gravity when you realise what makes the film so special – most of the extras you see in scenes were actually members of the public who participated in the … Continue reading SIFA 2017 Finale: Lizard On The Wall

SIFA 2017: Trojan Women by Ong Keng Sen and the National Theater of Korea (Review)

One thing that can be said about SIFA Festival Director Ong Keng Sen: whenever he attempts to create a new work, he always aims high and goes all the way, resulting at the very least in an unforgettable theatrical spectacle. With Trojan Women, Ong breathes new life into a centuries old Korean art form by applying it to an ancient Greek play. Based off Euripedes’ … Continue reading SIFA 2017: Trojan Women by Ong Keng Sen and the National Theater of Korea (Review)

SIFA 2017: And So You See… Our Honourable Blue Sky And Ever Enduring Sun… Can Only Be Consumed Slice By Slice… By Robyn Orlin (Review)

South African choreographer Robyn Orlin is known in her home country as ‘a permanent irritation’. The incredibly inventive Johannesburg-born artist has constantly pushed boundaries and bent genres in her multimedia dance work, often favourably compared to the idea of ‘photo collages’, or colourful visual masterpieces that carefully and certainly uniquely address some of the most difficult and complex issues that surround her country’s history and … Continue reading SIFA 2017: And So You See… Our Honourable Blue Sky And Ever Enduring Sun… Can Only Be Consumed Slice By Slice… By Robyn Orlin (Review)

SIFA 2017: Lizard on the Wall by K. Rajagopal – SIFA Closing Film (Red Carpet Gala)

Whether you were lucky enough to be a part of the film itself at the O.P.E.N. earlier this year or are just hearing about it now, come down for the Red Carpet premiere of esteemed local director K. Rajagopal’s (A Yellow Bird) latest short film! Lizard on The Wall is hot off the editing suite, having been freshly shot and fully edited into a complete short … Continue reading SIFA 2017: Lizard on the Wall by K. Rajagopal – SIFA Closing Film (Red Carpet Gala)

SIFA 2017: Trojan Women by Ong Keng Sen and the National Theater of Korea (Preview)

After the marvel that was Sandaime Richard in last year’s edition of SIFA, Ong Keng Sen rounds off his stint as Festival Director with one final hurrah in the form of Trojan Women, a contemporary Asian musical combining K-pop and the Korean traditional genre of musical storytelling – pansori. Taking Seoul by storm at the end of 2016, Trojan Women at SIFA will mark the work’s premiere outside of Korea, and … Continue reading SIFA 2017: Trojan Women by Ong Keng Sen and the National Theater of Korea (Preview)