Preview: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2026 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

The Esplanade’s annual Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts returns from 27 February to 8 March 2026 with an expansive, story-rich programme inspired by Chinese dialects, dynasties and regional folklore. This 24th edition promises audiences a vibrant mix of theatre, dance, music and family-friendly works featuring celebrated artists from Singapore, the region and beyond. As the festival team notes, audiences can expect “legends told through … Continue reading Preview: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2026 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

★★★★☆ Review: ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends by Dramalab

Jit Murad’s lost play transforms The Playhouse into a spiralling night of ’90s excess, nostalgia, and danger, resurrecting his voice with bold direction and an unforgettable ensemble. KUALA LUMPUR – Stepping into The Playhouse, it begins as though the audience has stumbled into a party already in progress: a beautiful, artsy house with a bar, a living room, and the specific kind of lived-in aesthetic … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends by Dramalab

Review: Falling Falling Falling Falling by SRT’s The Young Company

Modern love is chaos, but somewhere in the mess, we still find connection. What is love? The question hangs, rhetorical, almost mocking, over the opening moments of Falling Falling Falling Falling, as the young ensemble strides down a catwalk-like runway, phones up, posing for selfies as if this were the “catwalk of fame.” It’s a clever visual choice by director Daniel Jenkins, immediately situating us … Continue reading Review: Falling Falling Falling Falling by SRT’s The Young Company

Reviving Jit Murad’s Lost Play: An Interview with director Zahim Albakri, and cast members Ghafir Akbar and Sabrina Hassan of ‘ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends’

It begins, unexpectedly, with a laugh. “I actually think it’s one of his most well-crafted plays,” says Dato’ Zahim Albakri, the director of ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends, and one of the late Jit Murad’s closest collaborators. “Some of the writing is his best and really quite fabulous. It’s different from his other plays, but it’s definitely him; you recognise the writing.” Then, almost in … Continue reading Reviving Jit Murad’s Lost Play: An Interview with director Zahim Albakri, and cast members Ghafir Akbar and Sabrina Hassan of ‘ENTOURAGE – Murder Amongst Friends’

★★★★☆ Theatre Review: Mission Malligapoo by AGAM Theatre Lab

AGAM Theatre Lab ventures into dark comedy with this original wartime epic that balances humour, humanity and heartbreak. Playing as part of the 2025 Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts, AGAM Theatre Lab’s new original work Mission Malligapoo opens with a directive, as the overhead PA announces “Welcome aboard Mission Malligapoo,” and before you know it, the audience is subtly enlisted. It feels as … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Theatre Review: Mission Malligapoo by AGAM Theatre Lab

Review: We Make Spaces Divine ft. Dey by the Esplanade, Pooja Nansi, Shivram Gopinath, Isuru Wijesoma & RAAJ

Pooja Nansi and Shivram Gopinath’s tongue-in-cheek, electric verse meets sick beats to create a profoundly healing experience. In tiny Singapore, it can be all too easy to feel a creeping sense of claustrophobia. Shared third spaces vanish, and opportunities for uninhibited self-expression grow scarce. For poet Pooja Nansi, the solution is not to wait for transformation, but to seize agency: to uncover beauty in the … Continue reading Review: We Make Spaces Divine ft. Dey by the Esplanade, Pooja Nansi, Shivram Gopinath, Isuru Wijesoma & RAAJ

Theatre Review: Temporary Chinese Theatres《当场》by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Wild, absurd work that attempts to make sense of what it means to enter the contemporary Chinese Theatre scene in 2025 and beyond. What does it mean to be a maker of “contemporary Chinese theatre”? Confronting this sharp question head-on, the pioneer cohort of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ (NAFA) BA (Hons) Contemporary Chinese Theatres programme grapples with the industry they are about to enter, … Continue reading Theatre Review: Temporary Chinese Theatres《当场》by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Preview: Jesus Christ Superstar by Base Entertainment Asia

After captivating audiences across London, North America, the UK and Australia, the Olivier Award-winning reimagining of Jesus Christ Superstar is finally set to make its Singapore bow. The iconic rock opera, born from the creative alchemy of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, will storm the stage at Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands from August 2026, marking the next milestone in its remarkable global journey. … Continue reading Preview: Jesus Christ Superstar by Base Entertainment Asia

Kalaa Utsavam 2025: An Interview with directors Subramanian Ganesh and Karthikeyan Somasundaram on Agam Theatre Lab’s original work ‘Mission Malligapoo’

In 1942, Singapore was under the shadow of the Japanese Occupation. Amid fear, scarcity, and uncertainty, ordinary people performed extraordinary acts of courage. Now, Agam Theatre brings those untold stories to life in Mission Malligapoo, a riotous dark comedy that celebrates resilience, multiculturalism, and love in all its forms. Presented as part of the Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts, and directed by … Continue reading Kalaa Utsavam 2025: An Interview with directors Subramanian Ganesh and Karthikeyan Somasundaram on Agam Theatre Lab’s original work ‘Mission Malligapoo’

Kalaa Utsavam 2025: An Interview with Pooja Nansi on what it takes to make spaces divine

We Make Spaces Divine ft. Dey began as a quiet idea in the wake of a pandemic and grew into a riot of sound, poetry, and cinematic memory. For poet and performer Pooja Nansi, the work was a way to finally launch a collection that had been waiting in the wings. “So much of my practice is performance,” she reflects. “I’d already performed every collection … Continue reading Kalaa Utsavam 2025: An Interview with Pooja Nansi on what it takes to make spaces divine