Big-hearted, honest work about the plight of migrant workers in Singapore. Far too often, migrant workers in Singapore are seen only as cheap expendable labour or worst of all, subjects of crime articles splashed over newspapers. This act of othering migrant workers constantly demeans their humanity, and reduces them to mere statistics. At what point do we begin to treat them with respect as equals, … Continue reading Review: Foreign Bodies by Birds Migrant Theatre

Modern fable about the productivity trap of the endless rat race. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Deonn Yang) 7 Script (Deonn Yang 6 Performance (Chng Xin Xuan, Eve Voigtlander, Mitchell Fang, Sindhura Kalidas, Suhaili Safari) 7 Lighting Design (Emanorwatty Salleh) 7 Set Design (Wong Chee Wai) 7 Total 34/50 (68%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Over the course of the pandemic, the idea of work has … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Why Be Good When You Can Be The Best? by Deonn Yang

Singapore has about 1 million migrant workers. But at what point do we think of migrant workers beyond their jobs, and see them as full-fledged human beings with their own lives and desires? Birds Migrant Theatre, a group of migrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines united by their love for theatre, are here to deepen that understanding, and show that migrant workers can … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023: An Interview with Birds Migrant Theatre members Wiwi Tri and Ak Zilani, co-devisors and performers of ‘Foreign Bodies’

What does a 20th century Czech writer’s short story about an ape in captivity have to do with post-apartheid South Africa? As it turns out, a surprisingly powerful parallel that leads to questions of identity, otherness and humanity, as presented in Phala O. Phala and Tony Bonani Miyambo’s Kafka’s Ape. Adapted from Franz Kafka’s A Report to an Academy, Kafka’s Ape makes its Singapore debut at the 2023 M1 … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023: An Interview with ‘Kafka’s Ape’ performer Tony Bonani Miyambo

The idea that trees can talk may not be as far-fetched an idea as it may seem – Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard has spent most of her life dedicated to the study of trees, and discovered that they may in fact, possess their own form of communication and society. What if we could hear what they said? That’s the basis for Tree Confessions, the world’s … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023: An Interview with ‘Tree Confessions’ director Erin B Mee and writer Jenny Lyn Bader

Puppetry is often thought of as a child-focused art form, often bringing to mind magic, whimsy and happy endings. But in Por Piedad Teatro & The Play Company’s Django In Pain, its title alone already suggests a degree of suffering that will be experienced upon viewing, with a character struggling with depression and suicide ideation. Created by Mexican theatremaker Antonio Vega, Django In Pain is … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023: An Interview with ‘Django In Pain’ creator Antonio Vega

In Singapore, those of us brought up in strict households were brought up with the idea that anything less than number one is as good as failing, or that we we are simply never meant to be satisfied with what we have. But at the risk of our mental and physical health and so many more sacrifices, at what point should we stop ourselves from … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023: An Interview with Deonn Yang, writer/director of ‘Why Be Good When You Can Be The Best?’