The Necessary Stage calls for urgent donor support to continue annual Singapore Fringe Festival in 2026 and beyond

Each year, The Necessary Stage has been consistently curating and bringing together a plethora of local and international fringe performance work that becomes the Singapore Fringe Festival, calling to attention urgent issues affecting community and society. After a successful 2024 edition, the 2025 edition of the Singapore Fringe Festival will mark M1’s final year as its dedicated donor, after 20 years of support. The Necessary … Continue reading The Necessary Stage calls for urgent donor support to continue annual Singapore Fringe Festival in 2026 and beyond

The Feelings Farm: An Interview with Amanda Chong on connecting with children and managing emotions

“Like a Pixar film onstage.” That’s how writer Amanda Chong imagines any kind of Theatre For Young Audiences theatre should feel like, rather than talking down or infantilising it in any way, able to connect not just with children, but even with the adults accompanying them by speaking to some fundamental, universal, relatable truths. And in many ways, that is precisely what she’s achieved with … Continue reading The Feelings Farm: An Interview with Amanda Chong on connecting with children and managing emotions

Staging Ryuichi Sakamoto: An Interview with Todd Eckert, founder of Tin Drum and co-creator of KAGAMI on technology and friendship in the arts

In March 2023, Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of Japan’s greatest contemporary composers and pianists, passed on after a long battle with cancer. Known for his ambient, sparse compositions that were capable of evoking powerful reactions and emotions from his listeners, his fans mourned him, while also knowing they would never get to see him perform live again. Yet, one of those fans, who also happened to … Continue reading Staging Ryuichi Sakamoto: An Interview with Todd Eckert, founder of Tin Drum and co-creator of KAGAMI on technology and friendship in the arts

★★★★★ Review: Dear Evan Hansen by Pangdemonium!

The hit musical promises to bring you to tears in its depiction of our fundamentally human reactions to grief and the need to belong. Few recent musicals in the 21st century can claim to have as much impact and widespread appeal as Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s Dear Evan Hansen. With an irresistibly replayable soundtrack that balanced catchy tunes with witty and emotionally … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Dear Evan Hansen by Pangdemonium!

★★★★☆ Review: Accidental Death of an Activist by Wild Rice

Italian madcap farce gets a modern update, beating audience over the head with its political message. To the ordinary citizen, the authorities often work in mysterious ways, working behind closed doors. And as much as the arrest of dangerous criminals is ostensibly for the betterment of society, do the ends always justify the means? Do our definitions of dangerous criminals align with the authorities’? Or … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Accidental Death of an Activist by Wild Rice

White, All White: An Interview with writer/director Deonn Yang and cast member Koh Wan Ching on care and growth

Beyond her formal arts education in LASALLE College of the Arts, theatremaker Deonn Yang is also a self-proclaimed graduate of the ‘School of The Necessary Stage (TNS)’, beginning with an online playwriting workshop conducted by Haresh Sharma in 2020, during the COVID era. That led to her applying for Playwrights’ Cove in 2022, also by TNS, before presenting her show Why Be Good When You … Continue reading White, All White: An Interview with writer/director Deonn Yang and cast member Koh Wan Ching on care and growth

★★★★☆ Review: Every Brilliant Thing by Gateway Arts

Sharon Sum lifts our spirits in this fringe performance that fights back against crushing depression with hope and wonder. What are the things worth living for? As part of National Suicide Prevention Month, Gateway Arts presents a new staging Duncan Macmillan’s critically-acclaimed one-person play Every Brilliant Thing, as directed by Oliver Chong and starring Sharon Sum. Chong himself previously starred in a Mandarin adaptation of … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Every Brilliant Thing by Gateway Arts

Preview: Playwrights’ Cove 2024 by The Necessary Stage

Race and religion. Love and death. Community and loneliness. These are just some of the thought-provoking themes explored in a series of bold and promising works-in-progress by the participants of The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) Playwrights’ Cove 2024, to be presented as dramatised readings from 21 to 24 November 2024. This iteration of Playwrights’ Cove is the company’s third iteration of the much sought after playwriting … Continue reading Preview: Playwrights’ Cove 2024 by The Necessary Stage

★★★★☆ Review: Dive by Wild Rice

New and Now initiative by Wild Rice plunges into the deep end with Laura Hayes’ arresting play about a long-term abusive relationship. They say there’s plenty of fish in the sea, but what if the one you end up hooking pulls you overboard? In Laura Hayes’ Wild Rice debut, the NAFA lecturer explores the often complex and damaging aspects of abusive relationships through the lens … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Dive by Wild Rice

★★★★☆ Review: This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May) by Wichaya Artamat

A closer look at ordinary life that carries on in spite of the extraordinary. Thai writer-director Wichaya Artamat claims that his play This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May) is an unpolitical play. But can any play truly be completely devoid of any political attachment? Rounding off the Esplanade’s 2024 season of The Studios, This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: This Song Father Used To Sing (Three Days In May) by Wichaya Artamat