★★★★★ Review: Two men, ten years later (两男常罩) by HORSE

30 years of growing together as friends and artists. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Edward Lam) 9 Performance (Chen Wu-kang and Su Wei-chia) 9 Choreography (Chen Wu-kang and Su Wei-chia) 9 Music (Lee Shih-yang) 9 Lighting Design (Chen Chao-chun) 8 Video Design (Sun Ruey-horng) 8 Stage Design (Liao Yin-chiao) 8 Costume Design (Yu-fang Teng) 8 Total 68/80 (85%) Final Score: ★★★★★ After meeting as … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Two men, ten years later (两男常罩) by HORSE

★★★★★ Review: ART by Godot Theatre Company

Fragile friendship torn asunder by abstract art. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Liang Chi-Ming) 10 Script (Yasmina Reza) 9 Performance (Pu Hsueh-Liang, Chu Chung Heng and Tseng Kuo Chen) 10 Stage Design (Nieh Kuang-Yen) 8 Costume Design (Chin Ping-Ping) 8 Lighting Design (Tsao An-Huei) 8 Music Composition/Arrangement (Chen Kao-Hwa) 8 Total 61/70 (87%) Final Score: ★★★★★ No matter how many times we’ve watched ART, … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: ART by Godot Theatre Company

Huayi 2023: An Interview with Lee Yi-Hsiu and Hsu Shu-Hui of La Cie MaxMind

The most fragile of cultural heritage is often the intangible, lying in customs, traditions and art forms that need to be passed down from generation to generation for survival. And as time goes by, too many of these practices are lost. Taiwanese arts company La Cie MaxMind hopes to preserve at least one of these traditions with the shows they put on. This week, they’re … Continue reading Huayi 2023: An Interview with Lee Yi-Hsiu and Hsu Shu-Hui of La Cie MaxMind

Huayi 2023: 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Preview)

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is perhaps one of Taiwan’s most well-regarded contemporary arts companies, producing countless quality dance works since being founded in 1973. Combining a plethora of dance and movement forms, from qi gong to martial arts, modern dance to ballet, the company blends the traditional and contemporary as it brings its productions to the world. In their first performance in Singapore since the … Continue reading Huayi 2023: 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Preview)

Huayi 2023: An Interview with Liang Chi-Ming, director of Godot Theatre Company’s ‘ART’

Over this first weekend of the Esplanade’s 2023 Huayi- Chinese Festival of Arts, the ongoing theme seems to be friendship, with headliner shows Two men, ten years later and Godot Theatre Company’s ART both dealing with the difficulties and nuances of navigating long-term friendships. And it makes perfect sense too – after all, in a world fraught with conflict, we need more friendships built on … Continue reading Huayi 2023: An Interview with Liang Chi-Ming, director of Godot Theatre Company’s ‘ART’

Huayi 2023: An Interview with best friends Chen Wu-kang and Su Wei-chia, co-creators of ‘Two men, ten years later’ (两男常罩)

In spite of countless life events, in spite of differing artistic directions and career trajectories, in spite of battling a global pandemic and even life-threatening illness, Taiwanese dancers Chen Wu-kang and Su Wei-chia have remained best friends for 30 years now. Ever since co-founding the company HORSE in 2004, the two have also collaborated on numerous projects, including the experimental work 2 men (2012), which … Continue reading Huayi 2023: An Interview with best friends Chen Wu-kang and Su Wei-chia, co-creators of ‘Two men, ten years later’ (两男常罩)

★★★★☆ Review: almost home《我以为家》by The Theatre Practice

Ng Mun Poh considers what home means to her in a one woman show. Born in Kuala Lumpur and based in Singapore, theatremaker Ng Mun Poh has spent the last 18 years of her life travelling between her two “homes”. But over the last few years, Mun Poh suddenly found herself caught in two minds as she wondered to herself – does she really belong … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: almost home《我以为家》by The Theatre Practice

★★★★☆ Review: Caino e Abele #1 (Corpo a Corpo) by Compagnia Zappala Danza (cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival 2022)

A history of violence, and the start of forgiveness.  William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s painting The First Mourning is so named for its depiction of Adam and Eve discovering the body of their son Abel, slain by his own brother Cain, and marking the first human death in the Bible. What is striking about this image is to see Abel arched over in death, completely vulnerable and stretched … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Caino e Abele #1 (Corpo a Corpo) by Compagnia Zappala Danza (cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival 2022)

Review: Open Stage 2022 (cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival 2022)

Diverse line-up of international work join local artists for Open Stage 2022. One of the highlights and mainstays of every edition of T.H.E Dance Company’s cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival is Open Stage, where local and international artists are curated from a global open call, and only the best and most exciting work is chosen to perform. With seven works spread over two programmes performed over … Continue reading Review: Open Stage 2022 (cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival 2022)

Preview: Kwa Geok Choo by Toy Factory Productions

Everyone knows her as the wife of Lee Kuan Yew and mother of Lee Hsien Loong. But what do we know about Kwa Geok Choo? This monologue follows her from girlhood and early romance to life as political wife and mother; and top conveyancing lawyer and main breadwinner of the Lee Family. It explores how it might have felt to be, as Lee Kuan Yew … Continue reading Preview: Kwa Geok Choo by Toy Factory Productions