Review: The Shadow Curriculum by Jelaine Ng (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
★☆☆☆☆ (Performance attended 11/1/20, 2pm) Attempt to satirise motivational speakers unclear in its motives and falls flat. In Singapore’s results-oriented society, success is everything. So it comes as no surprise that parents will try any ways and means necessary to give their children a leg up in the place that will most likely make or break their future: school. From countless tuition lessons to enrichment … Continue reading Review: The Shadow Curriculum by Jelaine Ng (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
foodXculture: Grand Shanghai Rings In The Year of the Rat with Chinese New Year Menu of Shanghainese Specialties and Elevated Reunion Classics
For any Chinese restaurant, the lead-up to Chinese New Year is always a busy one, with each establishment attempting to outdo the other with uniquely attractive menus the whole family can enjoy. Be it doing a classic well or reinventing them for the modern diner, it truly is the season of eating. In the case of the recently refurbished Grand Shanghai restaurant, they’ll be applying … Continue reading foodXculture: Grand Shanghai Rings In The Year of the Rat with Chinese New Year Menu of Shanghainese Specialties and Elevated Reunion Classics
Old School Chinese Charm and Showstopping Presentation as Grand Shanghai Re-Opens (Review)
The 20-year old Grand Shanghai restaurant has recently undergone a grand renovation befitting of its status as a mainstay of King’s Centre on on Havelock Road. Now looking like a Shanghainese restaurant straight out of a vintage film, Grand Shanghai gives off plenty of nostalgic vibes from the moment one steps into it, with a spacious main dining hall with crystal chandeliers hanging above, complete with … Continue reading Old School Chinese Charm and Showstopping Presentation as Grand Shanghai Re-Opens (Review)
London’s VAULT Festival 2020: APPLE by The Upsetters and Purple Moon Drama (Preview)
LONDON – Playing as part of the VAULT Festival 2020, APPLE charts the story of Rosemary Clark as she goes on a journey of self-discovery from slut-drops in the Trocadero back to rural Jamaica. Written and performed by Purple Moon Drama founder Cheryl Ndione, and directed by Simone Watson, APPLE is poised to be a darkly comic and introspective look at a less-than-rosy mother and … Continue reading London’s VAULT Festival 2020: APPLE by The Upsetters and Purple Moon Drama (Preview)
In London’s West End 2020: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella To World Premiere In London Late Summer 2020
LONDON – Musical theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber’s highly anticipated Cinderella will open at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London’s West End, with performances beginning in September 2020. The production, a complete reinvention of the classic fairytale, is based on an original idea by Emerald Fennell, the Emmy Award nominated lead scriptwriter of the second season of international smash hit Killing Eve, with a brand new score … Continue reading In London’s West End 2020: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella To World Premiere In London Late Summer 2020
Review: Beside Ourselves by .gif (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
★★☆☆☆ (Performance attended 10/1/20) Great songs from .gif stitched together with a premature theatre production unable to fully capture the theme of displacement with its form. While primarily known as darlings of the local music scene, local electronica duo .gif has also recently dabbled in mediums such as theatre, having provided the lush, trippy soundtrack to Checkpoint Theatre’s Displaced Persons Welcome Dinner (2019). Their iconic … Continue reading Review: Beside Ourselves by .gif (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
Music Is: Inner Worlds – Igor & Pei Sian in Concert with re:Sound (Preview)
Start 2020 off with a round of music as re:Sound Collective presents Inner Worlds – Igor & Pei Sian in Concert at the Victoria Concert Hall this January. Bringing together violinist Igor Yuzefovich, co-concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and SSO principal cello soloist Ng Pei-Sian, the concert is set to bring audience members on an exploration of the human spirit. The set will open … Continue reading Music Is: Inner Worlds – Igor & Pei Sian in Concert with re:Sound (Preview)
Review: Secretive Thing 215 by Secretive Thing (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
★★★★☆ (Performance attended 9/1/20) Intricate, introspective experience with only our phones and a mysterious communicator. Going in to a performance of a secretive nature, knowing absolutely nothing about what to expect, feels a little unnerving and very exciting. With Secretive Thing 215, the latest ‘show’ by mysterious collective Secretive Thing, all we know is that we are to come with a phone enabled with WhatsApp, and … Continue reading Review: Secretive Thing 215 by Secretive Thing (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
Review: Contemplating Kopitiam and Kampong Wa’Hassan by Oliver Chong and NAFA (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 9/1/20) Alfian Sa’at meets Kuo Pao Kun meets the Millennials in this well-directed but conceptually disjointed reflection on belonging and identity. There’s something incredibly audacious about splicing two unlike plays together in an attempt to better bring out their shared concerns. Where Kuo Pao Kun’s Kopitiam was a naturalistic, three-character work in Mandarin concerning itself with an elderly coffee shop owner struggling to understand … Continue reading Review: Contemplating Kopitiam and Kampong Wa’Hassan by Oliver Chong and NAFA (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
Review: A Tiny Country by ATTEMPTS (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 8/1/20) Gamification of a hypothetical nation’s destiny has the right idea in mind. While ATTEMPTS’ founder Rei Poh has always been interested in games, with their latest production, ATTEMPTS finally gets a chance to go full on into the genre, with participatory theatre piece and game A Tiny Country, playing as part of the 2020 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Directed and designed by … Continue reading Review: A Tiny Country by ATTEMPTS (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)
