M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: Displaced by Ground Cover Theatre (Review)

Ground Cover Theatre tackles the refugee crisis in an intimate, polished piece brimming with theatrical magic. In Displaced, Ground Cover Theatre boldly tackles the topic of the refugee crisis in a play that tells of three women from different time periods who all escape to Canada. Mary (Jacqueline Block) flees from Ireland’s Great Famine in 1847, Sofia (Anna Mazurik) leaves war-torn Germany in 1947, and Dara … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: Displaced by Ground Cover Theatre (Review)

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: The Most Massive Woman Wins by Mitchell Productions Inc. & Chopt Logic Productions (Review)

Mudwrestling meets body image issues as this production weighs in on the way society has taught women to be perceived and to perform.  Since the dawn of time, humans have always been obsessed with their bodies, and perhaps, none more so than the female body. Brought up on a steady diet of women’s magazines with stick thin covergirls, constantly told that ladies shouldn’t be eating … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: The Most Massive Woman Wins by Mitchell Productions Inc. & Chopt Logic Productions (Review)

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: Attempts: Singapore by Rei Poh (Review)

There’s no need for any hints as to how much we enjoyed this impeccably produced participatory theatre experience.  In a world of innovative theatrical experiences, you often come across too many that scrimp on either execution or narrative. That’s not the case for Rei Poh’s Attempts: Singapore, which provided a thoroughly well-planned out participatory ‘game’ as its audience worked together to unravel a mystery, one clue at … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: Attempts: Singapore by Rei Poh (Review)

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: The Neighbor’s Grief Is Greener by Emanuella Amichai (Review)

Stepford wives from 1950s America get a macabre, surreal twist in this bloody good show.  There are times we find ourselves wondering when exactly the seeds of feminism were sown. In 1940s America, as men were shipped off to become soldiers during the war, the running of the country was left to women, as wives stepped foot into factories and worked for the first time. … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018: The Neighbor’s Grief Is Greener by Emanuella Amichai (Review)

Preview: Esplanade presents Huayi Festival 2018

February is fast on our heels and you know what that means? The Esplanade’s annual Huayi Festival is back with a smorgasbord of new productions to feed your spirit and soul with art! There’s a whole range of options available this year, from theatre to music to dance and everything in between, and we’ve summarized what you can expect from this year’s festival, set to be … Continue reading Preview: Esplanade presents Huayi Festival 2018

M1 Fringe Festival 2018: The Immortal Sole by Edith Podesta (Review)

A confident, powerful performance to kick off the 2018 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. By now, Edith Podesta has firmly established herself as the mistress of just about every performing art form. From her years of experience as a theatre director leading up to the award-winning BITCH, to her stint as a choreographer in RAW Moves’ Indices of Vanishment, Podesta’s breadth of work has grown from strength to strength, … Continue reading M1 Fringe Festival 2018: The Immortal Sole by Edith Podesta (Review)

Review: We, The Singaporeans by The Royal Dance-Off Company

Contemporary dance often has the unfortunate association with descriptors like ‘enigmatic’ and ‘abstract’, and too easily, one fears walking out of the theatre having understood nothing but beautiful movements and choreography. Not so for The Royal Dance-Off Company (TRDOco). Under artistic director Ryan Tan, the company’s 2018 annual production has started off the year’s dance calendar on an incredibly hopeful note, having found a way to … Continue reading Review: We, The Singaporeans by The Royal Dance-Off Company

M1SFF 2018 Previews Part 2: Redefining Individuality and Identity

As we looked at the pressure to conform to societal norms in part 1 of our 2018 M1SFF previews, we follow up on the theme with another aspect of Amanda Heng’s Let’s Walk – redefining individuality and identity. In our increasingly chaotic world, it becomes more important than ever to hold on to some kind of meaning, and that is best gleaned from confidence and assurance in … Continue reading M1SFF 2018 Previews Part 2: Redefining Individuality and Identity

M1SFF 2018 Previews Part 1: Battling Societal Influences and Pressures

The annual M1 Singapore Fringe Festival kicks off this year with an all new theme, as artistic director Sean Tobin takes it in a new direction – celebrating some of the most influential Singapore artists and taking inspiration from their most iconic works. In 2018, this theme begins with artist Amanda Heng and her seminal work Let’s Walk, created in 1999 as a response to women losing … Continue reading M1SFF 2018 Previews Part 1: Battling Societal Influences and Pressures

Kalaa Utsavam 2017: Khwaab-Sa – Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by The Company Theatre (Review)

Khwaab-Sa opens with a spotlight on lithe, petite dancer Ronita Mookerji as the iconic spirit Puck. In the background, a musician clad in a unicorn mask assaults our ears with loud electronic music, as Mookerji writhes and vibrates. Grinning madly, she laughs silently before impishly back-flipping across the stage, a moon projection making her lunacy obvious. This is Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as you’ve never seen … Continue reading Kalaa Utsavam 2017: Khwaab-Sa – Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by The Company Theatre (Review)