Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (Cantonese versions, performed by Tan Cher Kian and Gary Tang)

Two ways to tell a poignant story of growing up in Cantonese.  First written as a book, in My Grandfather’s Road, Neo Kim Seng explores his familial history through the lens and geography of a bygone Singapore, thinking of his childhood growing up on what is literally his grandfather’s road (Neo Pee Teck Lane) and told through personal memories and anecdotes. While we previously watched the full … Continue reading Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (Cantonese versions, performed by Tan Cher Kian and Gary Tang)

Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (English version, performed by Karen Tan)

Put on your nostalgia goggles for this monologue about people and places past, laced with a pinch of death and loss.  To call a stretch of land your grandfather’s road sounds like an audacious claim. But for theatremaker Neo Kim Seng, that claim is rooted in truth, with Neo Pee Teck Lane quite literally named after his paternal grandfather. My Grandfather’s Road is adapted from … Continue reading Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (English version, performed by Karen Tan)

Review: Fourteen by SPLIT Theatrical Productions

An absurd look at the perils of being a teenager today.  Adolescence can be a trying time. Fourteen director Darryl Lim knows best – he’s an educator, and faces teenagers on a daily basis, going through a roller coaster of emotions as he observes them interact during recess, or the way the staff approach and address them. In Fourteen, these observations are brought to light in absurd extremes. We … Continue reading Review: Fourteen by SPLIT Theatrical Productions

An Interview with the Cast and Creatives of My Grandfather’s Road

“Eh, you think this one your grandfather’s road ah?” Is a common retort to careless drivers or pedestrians acting as if they own the roads. But in the case of Neo Kim Seng, it can be taken quite literally if you ever find him walking down Neo Pee Teck Lane, named after his grandfather. First presented in 2015 as an English-language monologue, a photo exhibition … Continue reading An Interview with the Cast and Creatives of My Grandfather’s Road

Review: Traditionally Speaking by Bhumi Collective

Get schooled with Bhumi Collective’s very first lecture-performance about traditional cultural dance forms.  In Bhumi Collective’s latest production, they’re breaking new ground as they deviate from plays to explore the medium of performance research lecture. Bringing together practitioners/researchers, the collective aims to use the series to question and critique performance practices of today, and present to the public the research process behind it, opening up new … Continue reading Review: Traditionally Speaking by Bhumi Collective

Preview: Traditionally Speaking by Bhumi Collective

Bhumi Collective strides into 2018 with an all new series of works, utilising the performance-lecture medium to deliver a series of performances aimed at colliding research, process and performance. For the very first instalment of this series (titled Intersections), they begin this March with Traditionally Speaking. Directed by Muhammad Noramin Bin Mohamed Farid and in collaboration with Elizabeth Chan, these dancers will reflect back on the experiences that have shaped … Continue reading Preview: Traditionally Speaking by Bhumi Collective

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: An Interview with Rei Poh (Attempts: Singapore)

Rei Poh is a geek who likes video games. And being the innovative theatremaker he is, it makes complete sense that he’d apply it to his work as well. We decided to spontaneously meet up with Rei on bump in day to find out a little more about just what his mysterious new show, Attempts: Singapore is all about. “I used to work with Drama Box and we … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: An Interview with Rei Poh (Attempts: Singapore)

M1 Fringe Festival 2018: Hayat by Pink Gajah Theatre (Review)

The transformative power of pain is on full display in a moving work from Pink Gajah. Hayat may be a word that means life, but in Pink Gajah’s newest work of the same name, it begins with a death. Specifically, the memory of the death of performer Ajuntha Anwari’s mother, a trigger to reflect upon her life and begin her journey of grief, not only for her mother, … Continue reading M1 Fringe Festival 2018: Hayat by Pink Gajah Theatre (Review)

A Tale of Two Cities: Open Waters by Tan Shou Chen and Jaturachai Srichanwanpen

It has to be said that of the many potential cross-country collaborations out there, Singapore doesn’t often feature many Thai ones. So when Singaporean theatremaker Tan Shou Chen met Thai artist Jaturachai Srichanwanpen (Chuan) one day at the Substation, it seemed the perfect opportunity for pioneering a brand new collaborative project, and one that would reflect on their own perspectives of their own and each other’s … Continue reading A Tale of Two Cities: Open Waters by Tan Shou Chen and Jaturachai Srichanwanpen

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: Reflecting on Life with Pink Gajah’s Hayat (Preview)

“Pink Gajah is a company where everyone becomes family,” Sharda Harrison, Artistic Director of Pink Gajah Theatre muses, while sipping on her drink. “I’m quite picky about the people I work with, because I need them to be comfortable with themselves, and be able to be raw and open with one another. I can’t have people who are trying to plaster themselves onto me or … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: Reflecting on Life with Pink Gajah’s Hayat (Preview)