Category: Theatre

Arts, Theatre

An Invitation to Play: Chong Tze Chien to honour Legacy and evoke paradigm shifts for his tenure as SIFA’s newest Festival Director

“Let’s play” sounds like an unexpected invitation at a time like this. In recent years, Singapore’s arts ecosystem has felt increasingly brittle, one defined by closures, stagnant funding, and a growing sense that artistic labour must constantly justify itself in numbers, outcomes, and economic value. Against this pragmatic backdrop, theatremaker Chong Tze Chien has emerged from the wings and prepares to stage his first act … Continue reading An Invitation to Play: Chong Tze Chien to honour Legacy and evoke paradigm shifts for his tenure as SIFA’s newest Festival Director

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Arts, Dance with Me, festival, Preview, Theatre

Singapore International Festival of Arts 2026 set to turn city into a playground for the arts with theme ‘Let’s Play’

For two weeks in May, Singapore becomes a stage. Across theatres, parks and historic civic spaces, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) returns from 15 to 30 May with performances that stretch from aerial dance spectacles and immersive theatre to experimental late-night encounters. This year’s edition carries an unusually simple invitation: “Let’s Play.” The phrase captures the spirit of a festival that wants audiences … Continue reading Singapore International Festival of Arts 2026 set to turn city into a playground for the arts with theme ‘Let’s Play’

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Arts, Chinese Theatre, Interview, Nine Years Theatre, Preview, Theatre, Theatre Companies

Civility Falls Apart: An Interview with director Nelson Chia and the cast of Nine Years Theatre’s God of Carnage 《杀戮之神》

At the start of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage, everything looks reasonable. Veronica has prepared food. Michael has arranged the living room. Annette arrives determined to be gracious. Alan, distracted by his phone, still shows up. Four adults sit down to discuss their sons’ playground conflict calmly, civilly, like responsible people should. That the evening collapses into chaos feels less like a shock than a … Continue reading Civility Falls Apart: An Interview with director Nelson Chia and the cast of Nine Years Theatre’s God of Carnage 《杀戮之神》

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Arts, festival, Review, Theatre, Theatres

★★★★★ Theatre Review: Le Père (The Father) 父亲 by Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre

by D.Y. Mandarin adaptation of acclaimed Florian Zeller play finds heartbreaking new resonance; spotlighting the Asian sensibilities of a family at war with Alzheimer’s disease.  In theatre, there are few plays that break the trust between audience and performer in its storytelling; And with an unassuming title such as ‘The Father’, the audience is lured into a false sense of familiarity. But, when the naturalistic, … Continue reading ★★★★★ Theatre Review: Le Père (The Father) 父亲 by Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre

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Arts, festival, Interview, Preview, Theatre, Theatres

★★★★☆ Dance Review: Diary VII ・ The Story Of…… by Mui Cheuk-yin

Mui Cheuk-yin transforms a chance encounter with a stray cat into a profound reflection on migration, memory and the circular nature of time. Diary entries often feel like streams of consciousness, a flow of thought. So for a dance piece to take inspiration from one, that results in a performance where there is no dramatic overture, no attempt to overwhelm. Instead, the theatre fills with … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Dance Review: Diary VII ・ The Story Of…… by Mui Cheuk-yin

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Arts, festival, Review, Theatre, Theatres

★★★★☆ Theatre Review: The Sun by 4 CHAIRS THEATRE

A searing Taiwanese sci-fi triumph that evokes harrowing existential crises as we wonder how much humanity we leave behind as we evolve. There is something disquietingly apt about encountering The Sun in a cultural moment already steeped in suspicion, fracture and the long psychological aftershocks of global crises today. Directed by Tora Hsu and adapted by Chen Yi-En from Tomohiro Maekawa’s 2010 Japanese script, this … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Theatre Review: The Sun by 4 CHAIRS THEATRE

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Arts, festival, Review, Theatre, Theatres

★★★★☆ Theatre Review: Deling and Cixi by He Jiping

A tender look at power and femininity in the dying days of the Qing dynasty. As the opening production of this year’s Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts, Deling and Cixi arrives with imperial grandeur and no small ambition, taking us back to the days of imperial China. Written by celebrated playwright He Jiping and directed by Roy Szeto, this sweeping three-hour production brings the … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Theatre Review: Deling and Cixi by He Jiping

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Arts, festival, Interview, Preview, Theatre, Theatres

Huayi 2026: An Interview with Hong Kong dance icon Mui Cheuk-yin ‘Diary VII ・ The Story Of……’

For more than four decades, Mui Cheuk-yin has shaped the language of contemporary dance in Hong Kong through works that are deeply personal yet quietly expansive. Her long-running Diary series, begun in 1986, traces a life in motion: recording memories, migrations, encounters, and the passing of time through the body. With Diary VII・The Story Of……, which makes its Singapore premiere this February as part of … Continue reading Huayi 2026: An Interview with Hong Kong dance icon Mui Cheuk-yin ‘Diary VII ・ The Story Of……’

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Arts, festival, Interview, Preview, Theatre, Theatres

Huayi 2026: An Interview with King Shih-chieh, star of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre’s ‘Le Père (The Father)’, and director David Jiang

Quick-witted and sharp-tongued, André is used to commanding every room he enters. But as small ruptures begin to surfac;a missing watch, rearranged furniture, unfamiliar faces at the dinner table, the boundary between memory and reality starts to dissolve. Le Père (The Father) draws audiences into the disintegrating inner life of an ageing man confronting Alzheimer’s, unfolding with unsettling intimacy and emotional precision. Presented as part … Continue reading Huayi 2026: An Interview with King Shih-chieh, star of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre’s ‘Le Père (The Father)’, and director David Jiang

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Arts, festival, Interview, Preview, Theatre, Theatres

Huayi 2026: An Interview with ‘The Sun’ director Tora Hsu and writer Chen Yi-En

Set in a post-apocalyptic future marked by division and survival, The Sun is a contemporary reimagining of Japanese playwright Tomohiro Maekawa’s celebrated science fiction fable. Directed by award-winning Taiwanese theatre-maker Tora Hsu, with script adaptation by Chen Yi-en, this new staging reframes the work through a distinctly Taiwanese lens, responding to the fractures, anxieties and ideological tensions of the present moment. Premiering internationally at Huayi … Continue reading Huayi 2026: An Interview with ‘The Sun’ director Tora Hsu and writer Chen Yi-En

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