Theatre Review: Temporary Chinese Theatres《当场》by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Wild, absurd work that attempts to make sense of what it means to enter the contemporary Chinese Theatre scene in 2025 and beyond. What does it mean to be a maker of “contemporary Chinese theatre”? Confronting this sharp question head-on, the pioneer cohort of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ (NAFA) BA (Hons) Contemporary Chinese Theatres programme grapples with the industry they are about to enter, … Continue reading Theatre Review: Temporary Chinese Theatres《当场》by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Preview: Temporary Chinese Theatres by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

If Chinese-language theatre were to die on the spot before our very eyes, should we scatter flowers or burn incense? With this sharp question, acclaimed local director Liu Xiaoyi joins forces with the inaugural graduating cohort of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ (NAFA) BA (Hons) in Contemporary Chinese Theatres to present their latest work, Temporary Chinese Theatres, from 20 to 23 November at the … Continue reading Preview: Temporary Chinese Theatres by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Review: Fake Performance Is (Real) Performance by Emergency Stairs and NAFA

A bold experiment that questions how we co-create performance through the deconstruction of process. In newly devised work Fake Performance is (Real) Performance, directed by Hong Kong’s Melissa Leung Hiu Tuen, the graduating students of NAFA’s Diploma in Theatre (Mandarin) program join forces with Emergency Stairs in an industry project that boldly defies convention. The result is a daring, unpredictable Mandarin-language performance that unravels traditional … Continue reading Review: Fake Performance Is (Real) Performance by Emergency Stairs and NAFA

Review: My Body is (Not) My Body by Emergency Stairs and NAFA

Promenade theatre piece exploring the horror of being and existence within the rules and regulations of society. As part of their Industry Project initiative, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) is once again collaborating with local theatre company Emergency Stairs to give the graduating students of their Diploma in Theatre (English Drama) programme a chance to work with professionals in the theatre industry. This time … Continue reading Review: My Body is (Not) My Body by Emergency Stairs and NAFA

Preview: Industry Project 2025 – NAFA collaborates with Emergency Stairs on two new works by international directors

Where do the boundaries of the body lie? Where does the truth of the stage reside? In the Industry Project 2025, graduating students from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) Diploma in Theatre (English Drama & Mandarin) will present two productions – My Body is (Not) My Body and Fake Performance is (Real) Performance – to explore these thought-provoking questions. Presented by Emergency Stairs, in … Continue reading Preview: Industry Project 2025 – NAFA collaborates with Emergency Stairs on two new works by international directors

Singaporean artist Liu Xiaoyi awarded the “Global Outstanding Young Leader” Award by Yazhou Zhoukan

Liu Xiaoyi, Artistic Director of Emergency Stairs, has been honoured with the “Global Outstanding Young Leader” award by Yazhou Zhoukan (Asiaweek). He received the award at Yazhou Zhoukan’s 36th Anniversary Gala held on 9th August 2024. “In 1995, contemporary artist Tang Da Wu created a renowned piece of performance art. During the opening of an exhibition, he presented a card to then-President Ong Teng Cheong … Continue reading Singaporean artist Liu Xiaoyi awarded the “Global Outstanding Young Leader” Award by Yazhou Zhoukan

★★★☆☆ Review: Offending The Audience by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Flawed revival of Handke’s classic fails to find a place in the contemporary world. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Ang Gey Pin) 6 Script (Peter Handke and devised parts by cast) 6 Performance 7 Lighting Design (David Li) 7 Total 26/40 (65%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Since premiering in Germany in 1966, Peter Handke’s Offending The Audience has gained a reputation for being a quintessential … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Offending The Audience by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

★★★☆☆ Review: Dream School by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Oversimplification of problems in arts education makes this less of a forum than it is another angry shout into the void against the system. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Li Xie) 5 Script (Devised by Li Xie and Cast) 5 Performance 7 Lighting Design (David Li) 7 Total 24/40 (60%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Presented as part of Emergency Stairs and NAFA’s Industry Project 2022, … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Dream School by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Preview: Offending The Audience and Dream School by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Curated and produced by Emergency Stairs Artistic Director Liu Xiaoyi, in association with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, this November, watch as two productions question the very nature of the various artistic disciplines we practise, learn, and teach, as Singapore prepares itself to welcome the newly founded University of the Arts in 2024. Directed by Ang Gey Pin, with performers from NAFA Diploma in Theatre … Continue reading Preview: Offending The Audience and Dream School by Emergency Stairs and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Review: Journey to a Dream by Emergency Stairs and Zuni Icosahedron (Southernmost 2019)

★★★☆☆ (Attended 8/11/19) Intercultural presentation driving home the fact that no dream is achieved without sacrifice, while commenting on the cultural violence of colonialism and orientalism.  What does it take to achieve a dream? And for that matter, what happens when that dream necessitates the destruction of someone else’s? As the culmination of the 2019 Southernmost Festival, Journey to a Dream asks all these questions and more, … Continue reading Review: Journey to a Dream by Emergency Stairs and Zuni Icosahedron (Southernmost 2019)