Mass Participation World Conference 2019: Highlighting The Importance of Sustainability, Health and Innovation

The Mass Participation World conference came to a close yesterday after an engaging three-day event where over 300 delegates were treated to a range of discussions and presentations highlighting the trends and key observations of the mass participation industry. A resounding theme from the various speakers and the inaugural MPW Asian Participant Survey is the association of physical activities with health and mental well-being and the … Continue reading Mass Participation World Conference 2019: Highlighting The Importance of Sustainability, Health and Innovation

Music Is: An Interview with Local Rapper Yung Raja

Yung Raja is, in a word, young. But in spite of his youth, the local rapper and occasional actor has already been making waves over the last two years as a mainstay across both local and regional festivals, breaking through as one of the hottest up-and-coming artistes, and as his Spotify profile reads, “hip hop’s next avant-garde bilingual artiste”, thanks to his unique compositions that … Continue reading Music Is: An Interview with Local Rapper Yung Raja

Review: Operatic Identities by CulturedGen

Modernising Chinese Opera for a contemporary audience. It’s not often that one thinks of ‘Instagram museums’ or immersive exhibitions as having a strong educational focus, but with CulturedGen’s Operatic Identities, the experiment in form has yielded success in making Beijing Opera ‘cool’ and intriguing. Conceptualised by Summer Song as inspired by her mother, a Beijing Opera performer and educator in Singapore, the idea behind Operatic Identities stemmed from … Continue reading Review: Operatic Identities by CulturedGen

Singapore International Festival of Arts 2020 Releases First Wave of Tickets, Confirms Local Commissions and Crystal Pite’s Revisor

Come its 43rd year in 2020, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) returns with a slew of new works from both local and international artists in the month of May. The festival has released the first wave of tickets for five productions that will be making their debut next year, with local theatre companies Nine Years Theatre, The Finger Players and The Necessary Stage, … Continue reading Singapore International Festival of Arts 2020 Releases First Wave of Tickets, Confirms Local Commissions and Crystal Pite’s Revisor

Review: Peter Pan In Serangoon Gardens by W!ld Rice

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 29/11/19) Pan-tastic end to W!ld Rice’s 2019 season reminding audiences of the magic of childhood and belief.  The wonderful thing about W!ld Rice’s pantomimes is that while very much focused on creating a year-end show that children can enjoy, these same shows are also very much family affairs, allowing even the adult audiences to slip into the same mindset and simple joy … Continue reading Review: Peter Pan In Serangoon Gardens by W!ld Rice

SGIFF 2019: 30th Edition Draws To A Close with Over 110,000 Audiences and 35 Sold-Out Screenings

The 30th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) culminated on Sunday (1st Dec) after two weeks of film screenings and off-screen programmes that celebrated and showcased the best of independent cinema. The Festival brought together a record attendance of more than 110,000 festival-goers to engage with filmmakers from Singapore and the region in film screenings, panels, talks, exhibitions and masterclasses. This year, the SGIFF presented a … Continue reading SGIFF 2019: 30th Edition Draws To A Close with Over 110,000 Audiences and 35 Sold-Out Screenings

Touring The UK 2020: Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! by New Adventures

LONDON – New Adventures has  delighted to announce that Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! returns to London for a limited Christmas season at Sadler’s Wells in December 2020. The sweetest of all Matthew Bourne’s Christmas treats, it’s a Nutcracker! like no other. With family-sized helpings of Bourne’s trademark wit, pathos and magical fantasy, Nutcracker! follows Clara’s bittersweet journey from a darkly comic Christmas Eve at Dr. Dross’ Orphanage, through a shimmering, ice-skating winter … Continue reading Touring The UK 2020: Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! by New Adventures

Review: Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment, Presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre

★★★★☆ (Performance attended 28/11/19) Reimagined version of Sondheim’s macabre musical thriller a refreshing take on an oft-forgotten classic, with Broadway star Lea Salonga a highlight.   In the Victorian era, penny dreadfuls were some of the more popular forms of entertainment, a serialised form of literature that derives its name from how every issue would cost just one penny. As for the ‘dreadful’ portion, well, that … Continue reading Review: Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment, Presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre

SGIFF 2019: The Truth (La vérité) dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda (Review)

Palme d’Or winner Kore-eda’s non-Japanese debut is a subtly moving portrait of complex familial relationships while celebrating the film industry and legacies left behind.  While The Truth marks the first non-Japanese film Hirokazu Kore-eda had directed, it remains a project that has his name stamped all over it. Known for his mastery over subtle, understated family dramas, The Truth follows prima donna actress Fabienne (French film icon Catherine … Continue reading SGIFF 2019: The Truth (La vérité) dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda (Review)

SGIFF 2019: Revolution Launderette dir. Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen (Review)

More experimental shenanigans from the team behind Cannonball sees them contemplating big, philosophical questions of fate, reality and the meaning of life.  For all their talk about their new film having a stronger narrative than their last, Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen’s Revolution Launderette still follows very much in the same vein as their debut feature Cannonball, with plenty of experimental, indie filmmaking techniques and stylistics rarely seen on … Continue reading SGIFF 2019: Revolution Launderette dir. Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen (Review)