★★★★☆ (Performance attended 15/1/20) Irreverent trip down TNS’ past works featuring two of their best collaborators. The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) most well-known works aren’t always something you’d readily call ‘fun’, with topics such as poverty, nationhood, climate change and political detainees just a few of the issues they’ve covered across the years. So when they do get a chance to take a lighter concept and … Continue reading Review: Kebaya Homies by The Necessary Stage (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

★★★☆☆ (Performance attended 14/1/20) Likeable performance about the making of legends gets a little lost in space. As a fiercely competitive nation, Singapore has shown time and time again that it will continue to vie for the position of ‘first’ or ‘greatest’, constantly trying to prove ourselves in spite of our small size. But if there’s one place where to go boldly where no Singaporean … Continue reading Review: The Utama Spaceship by Spacebar Theatre (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020)

Who exactly are the Mak-Mak Menari and why should we care about Bhumi Collective’s latest show of the same name? In short, the 23-member group of veteran Malay dancers have been around since the early 2010s, and by virtue of their very existence, are pushing boundaries and subverting expectations of the middle-aged Malay woman. Premiering at the 2020 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, Mak-Mak Menari is … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020: An Interview with Soultari Amin Farid and Grace Lee-Khoo (Mak-Mak Menari)

In the not so distant future of 2075, the world is at its end. Three people – a political exile, a former radical and a climate refugee go in search of a virtual utopia, in the hopes that they find some form of shelter away from everything else. But what results is an absurd game, as Square One Collective’s No Place emerges as a social experiment that … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020: An Interview with Square One Collective (No Place)

Female, Jewish and an Israeli living in Germany, Reut Shemesh’s background is certainly one that offers up a myriad of perspectives by which to see the world. At the 2020 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, Reut will be bringing in her work ATARA – For you, who has not yet found the one, investigating femininity, religion and personhood with a mixed cast of Orthodox and secular dancers. … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020: An Interview with Reut Shemesh (ATARA – For you, who has not yet found the one)

If there’s one thing Singapore theatre seems to lack, it’s more companies willing to go down the irreverent route, having fun with their craft and taking theatre to its extremes. For Spacebar Theatre, comprising Eugene Koh and Lee Shu Yu, the NUS Theatre Studies graduates are about to do just that with The Utama Spaceship, playing this January as part of the 2020 M1 Singapore Fringe … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020: An Interview with Spacebar Theatre (The Utama Spaceship)