Geoff Sobelle serves up food for thought, elevating the act and art of consumption. Geoff Sobelle is nothing short of a master of theatrical magic and clownery. And considering how skeptical today’s audiences are, and how easy it is to see through most performers’ sleight of hand, that’s high praise for an increasingly rare talent in entertainment. But more than just parlour tricks, Sobelle’s work … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: FOOD by Geoff Sobelle
Jaha Koo delivers a whimsical, uplifting show about food and connection in a foreign land. What links a person to their culture? A common answer from many Singaporeans would undoubtedly be food, not only in the tastes, but the scents, atmospheres, and experiences inexplicably tied to them. In that same vein, with Haribo Kimchi, Korean artist Jaha Koo has also found himself turning to food … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Haribo Kimchi by Jaha Koo / CAMPO
Do we need what we eat? Do we eat what we need? What does it really cost? In FOOD, American theatremaker Geoff Sobelle returns to Singapore with an invitation to chew on the complexities of consumption, memory, and meaning. Set around an absurdly oversized banquet table, this multi-sensory theatrical experience transforms the act of eating into a ritual of inquiry. Guests are not merely observers … Continue reading The Studios 2025: An Interview with Geoff Sobelle on ‘FOOD’, art, and connection
Myriad views of the climate disaster and the desperation and depression that emerges in its rise. How does one frame a play about climate change and still add to the already burgeoning conversation? Adapted for a Singaporean production, Australian playwright David Finnigan’s Scenes From The Climate Era is keenly aware of the weighty and convoluted nature of the climate crisis, and how difficult it can … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Scenes From The Climate Era by David Finnigan and Ellison Tan
The surprising flavour of seaweed soup. The sharp sound of a knife slicing cucumber. The hiss and sizzle of mushrooms on a scorching fire. In Haribo Kimchi, South Korean theatremaker and composer Jaha Koo invites us into a pojangmacha, or a typical neon-lit street food tents from Korea. Get ready to meet a snail, a gummy bear, and an eel as they guide us through … Continue reading The Studios 2025: An Interview with Jaha Koo on ‘Haribo Kimchi’ and the process of creation
A couple debates whether to bring a child into a world on fire. Scientists race to build a coral reef in a lab. Somewhere in Antarctica, a team attempts to hold back a melting glacier with a seawall. And in the dark, the last frog of its species calls out—hoping, futilely, for a mate. In Scenes from the Climate Era, Australian playwright David Finnigan zooms … Continue reading The Studios 2025: An Interview with playwright David Finnigan on ‘Scenes From The Climate Era’
Two years ago, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s annual theatre season, The Studios, embarked on a three-year curatorial arc revolving around the theme of LAND. In 2023, they covered Landings, exploring the natural world we live in and the way we interact with it, while in 2024, they covered Fault Lines, focusing on disruptions and movements that shift the trajectory of our lives. Now … Continue reading Preview: Esplanade’s The Studios 2025 – Sustenance
There are a few things that make good theatre and live performance so uniquely powerful, but perhaps the greatest factor that leads to us appreciating it that much more lies in how it is quite simply, temporal. No two nights are the same, whether it is due to a difference in the audience members present, a change in actors’ delivery, or even something that seems … Continue reading Bakchormeeboy Awards 2024: Revivals, restagings and hope for the future
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
Hell lies somewhere between a bar and a breakout room. Considering that we live in a world ravaged by war, beset by pandemics, and face unprecedented climate change that brings with it the assurance of disaster, it’s not entirely surprising that something eventually breaks inside us from how overwhelming it can all be. But when faced with such existential anxiety – do we end up … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Hi, Can You Hear Me? by The Necessary Stage
