Esplanade’s The Studios 2022: An Interview with Teater Ekamatra’s Mohd Fared Jainal and Zulfadli Rashid on ‘Berak’

When Chong Tze Chien’s Poop was first staged back in 2010, the new play was a tour de force that firmly cemented The Finger Players (TFP) as a company to watch, with a heartbreaking story about love and loss, told through evocative music, effective lighting, and of course, whimsical puppetry. 12 years on and several restagings later, the contemporary classic is getting a brand new … Continue reading Esplanade’s The Studios 2022: An Interview with Teater Ekamatra’s Mohd Fared Jainal and Zulfadli Rashid on ‘Berak’

Preview: In New Light – A Season of Commissions by Esplanade – Theatres by the Bay

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is reaching a grand milestone of 20 years this October. While the full line-up of celebratory events is still to be revealed, one of the biggest reveals to happen is the long-awaited opening of the brand new Singtel Waterfront Theatre. First announced in 2018 and beginning works in 2019, the Singtel Waterfront Theatre is intended as a way to … Continue reading Preview: In New Light – A Season of Commissions by Esplanade – Theatres by the Bay

Esplanade’s The Studios 2022: An Interview with ‘Acting Mad’ playwright/director Haresh Sharma

Originally staged at The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) Black Box space in 2019 as part of their Orange Production programme, Haresh Sharma’s verbatim play Acting Mad makes a return this August, in a new staging at the Esplanade Theatre Studio, as part of this year’s The Studios programme. Written and directed by Haresh Sharma, Acting Mad was crafted from interviews with 20 actors who have experienced … Continue reading Esplanade’s The Studios 2022: An Interview with ‘Acting Mad’ playwright/director Haresh Sharma

Finding the light: An Interview with Dimitris Papaioannou, creator of Transverse Orientation

This August, Greek theatre stage director, choreographer and visual artist Dimitris Papaioannou is set to return to Singapore with his latest work, Transverse Orientation, playing at the Esplanade Theatre from 26th to 27th August. Known for his visually spectacular choreographies and theatrical design, it is hard to pin down exactly what Dimitris’ works are about, as he goes into them without a specific message he … Continue reading Finding the light: An Interview with Dimitris Papaioannou, creator of Transverse Orientation

★★★☆☆ Review: Inconsequential Goddess by Edith Podesta (The Studios 2022)

Weaving a tangled web of shame. Across the pantheon of Greek myths, the stories that have always stood out are the ones that deal with mortally unfair punishment from the gods, often taking the form of metamorphosis and the resulting body horror that follows. In the tale of Arachne for example, a talented but proud weaver is cursed by Athena after proving to be more … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Inconsequential Goddess by Edith Podesta (The Studios 2022)

Esplanade’s The Studios 2022: An Interview with Edith Podesta on ‘Inconsequential Goddess’

In the face of an overwhelmingly, unthinkably chaotic world, where those in power and age-old systems show no sign of ever changing, it’s easy to sink into a feeling of eternal dread, where it feels as if anything and everything we do is futile and ultimately, inconsequential. How then do we push on and finding meaning in our actions? For theatremaker Edith Podesta, that’s a … Continue reading Esplanade’s The Studios 2022: An Interview with Edith Podesta on ‘Inconsequential Goddess’

Music Is: Mosaic Music Series 2022 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

With live music and concerts back in full swing, along with international flights and travel, it’s a warm welcome to normalcy, as the Esplanade’s Mosaic Music Series returns to our shores. Kicking off in July, local band Forests takes to the stage with Forests FUN RAISER. Receiving critical acclaim for their sophomore album Spending Eternity In A Japanese Convenience Store and their latest release Get In Losers, … Continue reading Music Is: Mosaic Music Series 2022 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

★★★★☆ Review: Vilangkuppannai (Animal Farm) by Agam Theatre Lab

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Since it was first published in 1945, George Orwell’s Animal Farm has become one of the most renowned allegories in the English language, still studied in schools to this day, and ever relevant with its hard-hitting truths about the fallibility of humans and the difficulty of subverting established power systems. Receiving countless stage adaptations, the … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Vilangkuppannai (Animal Farm) by Agam Theatre Lab

Preview: The Studios 2022 – Nervous System by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Change is coming to the Esplanade, and before that happens, the the final season of The Studios in its current format will be taking its last bow. Themed Nervous System, The Studios 2022 is a product of reflecting on the past, as it examines how it relates to the strange “new” world we find ourselves in. Perhaps it is similar to how our nervous systems respond to … Continue reading Preview: The Studios 2022 – Nervous System by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

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