Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: Press Gang (Review)

Seven years on from Fear of Writing, Tan Tarn How makes a welcome return with this politically-charged, incisive commentary on the death of local journalism.  Over the years, mainstream media has seen countless changes transform its purpose and perspective. From being seen as the fifth estate to becoming a government mouthpiece, to the advent of new media and alternative news sites to even today’s proliferation … Continue reading Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: Press Gang (Review)

Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: Supervision (Review)

A successful second outing for Thomas Lim in this gripping domestic drama touching on national themes.  George Orwell’s novel 1984 may have predicted a future where he believed our every action and movement will be placed under surveillance, but never could he possibly have imagined that the perpetrators would be ourselves. That dystopian future has unwittingly become a startling reality in Singapore, where not only are there CCTV … Continue reading Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: Supervision (Review)

Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: Building A Character (Preview)

When we first saw Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai onstage in Boeing Boeing last year, we knew she was something special. She’s proven that again when we last saw her onstage at the Arts House in The Page On Stage, and we were overjoyed to see her get a chance to take the spotlight all on her own in an upcoming solo show in the 2018 Singapore Theatre Festival. As … Continue reading Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: Building A Character (Preview)

Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: An Interview with Thomas Lim and Janice Koh (Supervision)

W!ld Rice’s newest Resident Playwright Thomas Lim made a stunning debut with Grandmother Tongue at the Singapore Theatre Festival 2 years ago, selling out both that run and the restaging last year. This year, he’s back with an all new play in the form of Supervision, set to make its world premiere next week at the opening of W!ld Rice’s 2018 Singapore Theatre Festival. Directed by W!ld Rice artistic director … Continue reading Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: An Interview with Thomas Lim and Janice Koh (Supervision)

Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: An Interview with Tan Tarn How, Rei Poh and Shane Mardjuki (Press Gang)

Former Straits Times journalist Tan Tarn How knows a thing or two about controversy. The playwright is best known for penning some of the most scintillating political satires in local theatre, from his infamous The Lady of Soul and her Ultimate ‘S’ Machine, receiving objections in 36 of its 67 pages from the authorities, to his most recent play Fear of Writing, in 2011, where ‘MDA officials’ … Continue reading Singapore Theatre Festival 2018: An Interview with Tan Tarn How, Rei Poh and Shane Mardjuki (Press Gang)

A Spotlight On New Writing: Singapore Theatre Festival 2018 by W!ld Rice

If you thought you loved theatre before, then W!ld Rice’s Singapore Theatre Festival will have you falling head over heels for it. Returning this July for its sixth edition, the festival from one of Singapore’s leading theatre companies will once again be taking place at Lasalle College of the Arts, and presenting a total of eight shows over three weekends! Says W!ld Rice Artistic Director … Continue reading A Spotlight On New Writing: Singapore Theatre Festival 2018 by W!ld Rice

Review: GRC by Teater Ekamatra

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

Review: Let’s Get Back Together by Red Pill Productions (10/7/16)

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)

Review: Riders Know When It’s Gonna Rain/Hawa [3/7/16]

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]

Hotel by W!ld Rice [2/7/16]

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]