Pangdemonium to stream ‘Dragonflies’ to raise funds for Ukraine

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is worsening day by day, and we cannot turn a blind eye, or pretend to be insulated from it. A theatre in Mariupol, Ukraine, was recently targeted and destroyed by an airstrike, threatening the lives of more than a thousand civilians, including children, seeking shelter in the building. In response to the crisis, Pangdemonium has launched a public fundraiser appeal to … Continue reading Pangdemonium to stream ‘Dragonflies’ to raise funds for Ukraine

Review: The Transition Room by Toy Factory

Waiting rooms can feel like hell.  Over the years, purgatory onstage has taken a great many forms, from the horrific to the mundane. With Stanley Seah’s The Transition Room, the face of limbo takes an absurdist approach towards the middle ground, as we open with four characters finding themselves in a bare, abstract room, each dressed in shades of grey, with no memory or knowledge … Continue reading Review: The Transition Room by Toy Factory

Review: Off Centre (2019) by The Necessary Stage

A Singaporean classic through and through, as disturbingly relevant now as it was then. There’s good reason why Off Centre is considered one of the most important works of the Singapore literary canon; the hallmark of a classic play lies primarily in its ability for both story and characters to transcend time, and Off Centre achieves all of these in spades, triumphantly returning to the stage as bold as it … Continue reading Review: Off Centre (2019) by The Necessary Stage

Toy Factory’s The Transition Room: An Interview with Stanley Seah and Goh Boon Teck

This February, Toy Factory opens their 2019 season with a brand new production. Written and directed by Toy Factory Associate Artistic Director Stanley Seah, The Transition Room will be making its premiere at the Drama Centre Black Box, after previously having had a dramatized reading held at Toy Factory’s space at NOWplaying@17. Originating about 4 years ago as a school play, Stanley elaborates more on how The Transition … Continue reading Toy Factory’s The Transition Room: An Interview with Stanley Seah and Goh Boon Teck

Preview: Off Centre (2019) by The Necessary Stage

26 years since its premiere in 1993, The Necessary Stage (TNS) is once more bringing back one of their most well known plays to the stage in 2019 – Off Centre. Written by TNS Resident Playwright Haresh Sharma and directed by TNS artistic director Alvin Tan, Off Centre was a bold new step forward for Singapore theatre as it cast an honest and unflinching spotlight on the stigma of … Continue reading Preview: Off Centre (2019) by The Necessary Stage

Preview: The Transition Room by Toy Factory

Besides the announcement of the second part of their theatrical trilogy at SIFA 2019, Toy Factory will be opening their 2019 season with their all new production The Transition Room. Making the bold transition from experimental to mainstage, The Transition Room originated as a dramatized reading held at Toy Factory’s space at NOWplaying@17, and will receive a full theatrical adaptation next February at the Drama Centre Black Box. Directed and … Continue reading Preview: The Transition Room by Toy Factory

Preview: The Severing Sword (情断昆吾剑) by Nam Hwa Opera

Nam Hwa Opera rounds off its 55th anniversary celebrations with the world premiere of a brand new Wuxia Teochew Opera! Titled The Severing Sword, the opera will premiere in March 2019, and be directed by Toy Factory artistic direction Goh Boon Teck. Based on a popular wuxia novel by genre master Liang Yu Sheng, The Severing Sword follows a series of unfortunate events set into motion … Continue reading Preview: The Severing Sword (情断昆吾剑) by Nam Hwa Opera

Review: Watching by Toy Factory

Apprehension towards NS hints at deeper family matters. Have you ever sat on the couch and gone on a TV marathon that lasts for so long that your vision gets blurry, your body goes limp, and it begins to become hard to tell reality from fiction? Toy Factory’s Watching covers precisely that feeling. Written and directed by Toy Factory associate artistic director Stanley Seah, Watching follows teenaged Tony … Continue reading Review: Watching by Toy Factory

Toy Factory’s Lab Projects 2018: An Interview with Playwright/Director Stanley Seah and Actor Jon Cancio of Watching

  As part of the 2018 edition of the Lab Projects, Toy Factory presents Watching, the second new play to be staged in their home in Chinatown at NOWPlaying@17. Written and directed by Toy Factoy associate artistic director Stanley Seah, Watching follows Tony, a boy still waiting to enlist for the dreaded National Service. But instead of making ‘the most of his time’ doing part time work or learning … Continue reading Toy Factory’s Lab Projects 2018: An Interview with Playwright/Director Stanley Seah and Actor Jon Cancio of Watching

Review: Oedipus (鞭爱) by Toy Factory

An innovative staging turns this twisted police procedural into a living nightmare.  If there’s one play this year that should come with a warning for the faint of heart, it’s Toy Factory’s Oedipus. Directed by Toy Factory artistic director Goh Boon Teck and written by Zhu Xin Chen, Oedipus, much like its title suggests, concerns itself with socially and sexually perverse themes that push the boundaries of what is … Continue reading Review: Oedipus (鞭爱) by Toy Factory