From their very first production, Rupa co.lab has always delivered on arresting scripts about the intricacies of Malay culture, homing in on familial bonds of unusual household structures, and winning Best Original Script at our Bakchormeeboy Awards in 2019 for Nessa Anwar’s Rumah Dayak and 2021 for Hazwan Norly’s Pandan. Now, a third member of Rupa co.lab will be making his debut with the company, … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Adib Kosnan and Raimi Safari on adoption in ‘Rindu di Bulan’

In this Internet age, cybersecurity is no longer limited to keeping your devices and accounts protected by a well-devised password. With fake news on the rise, angry mobs arising from social media, and a single comment can spark a wildfire, even a simple look at someone’s Instagram stories without response can label you a degenerate of society. How do we survive the sheer madness of … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Bound Theatre on the age of the Internet in ‘Screen. Shot.’

We’ve always called the concrete jungle our home, existing in a thriving metropolis with fast-paced living, a thousand and one things on our to-do list, and the nagging feeling that we can’t stop, won’t stop. But when COVID-19 struck and we were sent into a lockdown, everything in the world seemed to come to a complete standstill for a moment in time, as we took … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with 微 Wei Collective on breath and co-existence in ‘Being 息在’

Increasingly, theatre and the arts are becoming upper-middle class affairs, where ticket prices are skyrocketing, and the very act of attending a show can be seen as ‘atas’ So when a company creates a show about essential workers, who exactly is the intended audience, and what do they hope to achieve? For The Second Breakfast Company (2BCo), these were some of the questions and issues … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Adeeb Fazah and Zulfiqar Izzudin on ‘The Essential Playlist’

In the span of two years, COVID-19 may have disrupted the world as we knew it, but perhaps, has also been necessary for unveiling some deep-seated, undiscussed issues within our society. In remaining cooped up at home, in social distancing and covering up with masks, and in choosing to put ourselves before others, our innate sense of urban loneliness in the big city has been … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Goh Shou Yi on urban loneliness in ‘0.01’

Thanks to how often its citizens flash a grin, Thailand has been nicknamed as the ‘Land of Smiles’. But particularly over the last few years, we’ve seen how the country has begun to experience greater unrest among its people, over problematic government policies, and disillusionment amongst its youth. Is everything really OK? All that and more comes into question in OK Land, a production by … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Circle Theatre on Thai theatre and ‘OK Land’

Psychotherapist, playwright and theatre director Sophie Besse isn’t here to create theatre. Rather, theatre seems to be a natural byproduct of the method she uses to help her collaborators tell their stories through drama, and in the process, perhaps even assist in their healing. All of this is done under her theatre company PSYCHEdelight, which uses drama as a platform to help people express themselves … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Sophie Besse on co-creating theatre in ‘Borderline’

Some people call it the honeymoon phase – that point at the start of a relationship where nothing can possibly go wrong, your partner is perfect in every way, and all those little tics that would ordinarily annoy you? Nah, you can put those aside for now. But fast forward a few months, and it’s not long before things change. And perhaps worst of all, … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Travis Clausen-Knight and James Pett on presenting toxicity and perspective in ‘IMAGO’

This week, the annual M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is returning to our shores. Organised by The Necessary Stage, this year’s festival marks the second since the pandemic began, and is a spiritual follow-up to the previous Fringe’s theme of Quiet Riot, which featured works that zoomed in on individuals and groups finding new ways of agitating for change from within. Change remains a subtle focus … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with organisers The Necessary Stage