Preview: Being Mrs. Gandhi by HuM Theatre

The last time local theatre company HuM Theatre produced a show was back in 2016, with We Are Like This Only 2. This October, they’re back with a brand new production, presenting new play Being Mrs. Gandhi at the KC Arts Centre, about the life of the wife of iconic Indian civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi. Written and directed by Subin Subaiah, Being Mrs. Gandhi stars Daisy Irani as Kasturba, the … Continue reading Preview: Being Mrs. Gandhi by HuM Theatre

Preview: Dear Elena (青春禁忌游戏) by Nine Years Theatre

Nine Years Theatre returns this October for their third and final production of the year. Following the premiere of brand new play First Fleet in July, the company returns to their roots with Dear Elena, with artistic director Nelson Chia adapting a Russian play into Mandarin. Originally written by Russian playwright Lyudmila Razumovskaya, Dear Elena Sergeevna, the original play, was first staged at the beginning of … Continue reading Preview: Dear Elena (青春禁忌游戏) by Nine Years Theatre

Review: Fantastic Mr Fox 《了不起的狐狸爸爸》by The Little Company

Quality Roald Dahl adaptation buoyed by strong performances and high production value. Put together a crew of winsome animal protagonists, a group of nefarious farmers and a classic tale of innocents against oppressors, and you’ve got a triumph of a show waiting for you already. But what The Little Company’s Fantastic Mr Fox does that takes it one step further is combine high production value and strong … Continue reading Review: Fantastic Mr Fox 《了不起的狐狸爸爸》by The Little Company

Review: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Steering audiences to believe in the redemptive power of art. Written and directed by Nelson Chia, First Fleet marks a bold move for the Nine Years Theatre artistic director, clearly differentiating them from the rest of the companies producing works relating to Singapore’ colonial history this year. Taking inspiration from both historical figures and Thomas Keneally’s novel The Playmaker, First Fleet instead focuses on Australia’s colonial history. And more specifically, the … Continue reading Review: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Nine Years Theatre’s First Fleet (第一舰队): An Interview with Director Nelson Chia

Following FAUST/US earlier this year, Nine Years Theatre returns this week for their second production of the year – an original work about the first British fleet to step foot onto what would eventually become Australia, aptly titled First Fleet. Written and directed by Nelson Chia, we posed a number of questions to the Nine Years Theatre Artistic Director to find out a little more about what we … Continue reading Nine Years Theatre’s First Fleet (第一舰队): An Interview with Director Nelson Chia

Preview: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre

Nine Years Theatre (NYT) is back for their second production of the year with the all new First Fleet. Written by NYT Artistic Director Nelson Chia, First Fleet draws inspiration from Thomas Keneally’s novel The Playmaker, and tells of the journey taken by British officers and convicts as they travelled towards what would become Australia, during the colonial era of convict transportation. Along the way, the Governor gives an unusual instruction … Continue reading Preview: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre

Review: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Lest the demons get to me. Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the early 1800s, there is a timelessness to the narrative and themes discussed in Faust that have led to it becoming an inspiration for countless other works of art, and its regard as one of the greatest works of German literature. To stage it in a new capacity then, is certainly a challenging … Continue reading Review: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Dealing with the Devil: An Interview with Performer Mia Chee and Director Cherilyn Woo of Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US (浮世/德)

This March, Nine Years Theatre (NYT) opens their 2019 season with what is now their signature style of adapting a Western text into Mandarin, this time around having selected Goethe’s Faustus, the quintessential ‘deal with a devil’ story of a scholar who sells his soul in exchange for his wildest dreams. But in Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US, not only will protagonist Faust be receiving a gender swap; for … Continue reading Dealing with the Devil: An Interview with Performer Mia Chee and Director Cherilyn Woo of Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US (浮世/德)

Preview: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

“I often feel like there are two souls living in me. One with an overwhelming zest with love for life, desperately clinging onto the world and all its wonders, the other is immensely yearns to fly above the dust, and into the light.” The classic tale of a deal with the devil gets the Nine Years Theatre (NYT) treatment as the company presents FAUST/US this March. … Continue reading Preview: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Review: Guards at the Taj by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Harrowing tale of male friendship torn asunder by contrasting beliefs; a must-watch. American playwright Rajiv Joseph is a modern master of the two-man play. Across some of his other works (Gruesome Playground Injuries, The North Pool), Joseph is able to quickly establish familiar encounters between two people who find the oddest, yet relatable connections to each other, developing it over the course of his writing before … Continue reading Review: Guards at the Taj by Singapore Repertory Theatre