Music Is: Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra at Esplanade Concert Hall

Having made its debut 10 years ago at Tokyo’s Jazz Auditoria 2013, Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra comprises some of the finest jazz players in Japan. For one night only, this acclaimed ensemble returns to Esplanade for an electrifying, soul-stirring night of big band jazz. Led by trumpet virtuoso and music director Eric Miyashiro, Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra has performed at festivals … Continue reading Music Is: Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra at Esplanade Concert Hall

Activating spaces, making places, and finding community at The Substation’s ‘Re-Connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival’

It’s not every day you end up spending your birthday in a carpark, but that’s exactly what Singapore’s first contemporary arts centre did, as The Substation celebrated its 33rd anniversary last Saturday on the 8th floor carpark of Parklane Shopping Mall. This wasn’t just a random celebration with cake and drinks however, and very intentionally coincided with a milestone event – opening night of The … Continue reading Activating spaces, making places, and finding community at The Substation’s ‘Re-Connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival’

The Substation’s ‘Re-Connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival’ opens this weekend

The Substation, Singapore’s pioneering independent arts centre, will launch Re-connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival on the 16th September 2023 at 6:30pm at Lvl 8 Parklane Shopping Centre Led by Festival Director John Tung, The Arts Festival features 15 Singapore artists presenting an array of artworks and programmes, and reflects on the circumstances of arts presentation, place-making, and fostering community between artists and audiences. As John Tung … Continue reading The Substation’s ‘Re-Connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival’ opens this weekend

An Interview with John Tung, Festival Director of The Substation’s ‘Re-Connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival’

The Substation may have faced a tumultuous few years, with the venue itself losing its space, but with last year’s successful return of their beloved SeptFest, the organisation looks to be coming back stronger than ever, with a new direction and new branding, with the announcement of independent curator and exhibition-maker John Tung as their brand new Festival Director. Taking place in September 2023, John … Continue reading An Interview with John Tung, Festival Director of The Substation’s ‘Re-Connect/Centre/Converge: The Arts Festival’

★★★★★ Review: King by T:>Works

Modern take on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde problematises society’s obsession with gender and performativity. In the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, author Robert Louis Stevenson uses the core narrative of a kind man hiding a sinister alter ego to pass commentary on the stress of conforming to strict moral codes and social norms in Victorian-era London. In suppressing our true … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: King by T:>Works

T:>Works’ King: An Interview with writer/performer Jo Tan and director Irfan Kasban

Back in 2020, at the height of COVID-19, theatremaker Jo Tan was invited by T:>Works to present a little one-woman show called King, as part of their annual N.O.W. Festival of Women. With pandemic restrictions in place, King, however, was relegated to becoming a live film, streamed online. Now, with the world open again, Jo is taking another stab at the play again, bringing it … Continue reading T:>Works’ King: An Interview with writer/performer Jo Tan and director Irfan Kasban

Preview: King (2023) by Jo Tan and T:>Works

First produced as a live-streamed digital production for the Festival of Women N.O.W. in 2020, Jo Tan’s one-woman show King returns this National Day week for a live presentation. Presented by T:>Works, this new production of King will now be directed by Irfan Kasban, and will once again star writer Jo Tan, and delivers a tour de force performance playing multiple characters, navigating expertly through … Continue reading Preview: King (2023) by Jo Tan and T:>Works

Review: Kumar Guilty by Ra Ra Productions and Base Entertainment Asia

No holds barred. With all his years in comedy, Kumar has always seemed like someone who boldly moves forward, never one to be slowed down by regret. A force of nature taking human form, Kumar is the kind of performer who never holds back, forever unabashedly, unapologetically frank with his remarks and jokes, and always keeping it real and genuinely himself onstage. Which is precisely … Continue reading Review: Kumar Guilty by Ra Ra Productions and Base Entertainment Asia

★★★★★ Review: See You, Anniversary by Nine Years Theatre

Timely, immensely moving play reminding audiences to cherish all we have. What’s in an anniversary? For some people, it’s an arbitrary date in the calendar, used as a good reason to come together and celebrate an occasion with people who matter. For others, it runs much deeper than that, a triumphant acknowledgement of having reached another milestone for every year that goes by, remembrance for … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: See You, Anniversary by Nine Years Theatre

★★★★★ Review: The Death of Singapore Theatre as Scripted By the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore by Alfian Sa’at

Confronting the toxic relationship between state and artist. In the past, Alfian Sa’at was known as Singapore’s enfant terrible, one of only a few who dared to bring up hard truths and criticism of society, often directed at the authorities. But as time went by, with the proliferation of social media giving almost everyone a voice, and years of raging against the machine, Alfian’s work … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: The Death of Singapore Theatre as Scripted By the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore by Alfian Sa’at