M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with the creators of Matter.Less’ forum theatre show ‘Here Where You Were’

In the 2020s, suicide rates in Singapore rose to an all-time high. Is it because we live in a fast-paced, high stress nation? Is it that it often feels like there is no way out? And even when a suicide is completed, can we summon up enough courage to go past the shame and guilt surrounding it to talk about the aftermath, and how we … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with the creators of Matter.Less’ forum theatre show ‘Here Where You Were’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with creator Noor Effendy Ibrahim on ‘Motherland’

Amidst even the most brutal of wars, there exists the possibility of love that can be kindled. That’s the central plot point at the heart of Noor Effendy Ibrahim’s Motherland, where two unknown soldiers on opposing sides of a violent war find themselves in love. Unable to do anything beyond hugging tightly at the border, how does one then navigate loyalty to one’s country and … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with creator Noor Effendy Ibrahim on ‘Motherland’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with Karine Ponties, choreographer of absurdist dance ‘SAME SAME’

Does work set us free, or does it chain us? For far too many people, between being bored to death or burnt out, it’s the latter, and the very concept of labour for survival brings to mind questions about absurd routines and the complex relationship colleagues have with each other, from resemblance and dissemblance, domination and submission, superficiality and depth. From Belgian dance company Dame … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with Karine Ponties, choreographer of absurdist dance ‘SAME SAME’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with director Edith Podesta and choreographer Yarra Illeto on ‘THOM PAIN (based on nothing)’

To span the length of the human experience in a single production sounds like an impossibility, but when THOM PAIN (based on nothing) premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004, critics remarked that the deceptively simple one-man show about a man and his suffering in life. Now, that show will be performed in Singapore, by students of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ BA (Hons) … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with director Edith Podesta and choreographer Yarra Illeto on ‘THOM PAIN (based on nothing)’

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with choreographer J’Sun Howard on ‘aMoratorium’

Starting its journey as a commission by the Art Institute of Chicago, in response to the work of visual artist Charles Wilbert White, Chicago-based dancemaker, poet, writer, curator, and all-around Renaissance artist J’Sun Howard, aMoratorium was born as a way to coalesce White’s exploration of African American history, culture, and lives. Through the dance-theatre piece, Howard explores Black male identity, visibility, temporality, and its absence, and … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024: An Interview with choreographer J’Sun Howard on ‘aMoratorium’

Preview: Christmas Wonderland returns to Gardens by the Bay for 10th edition

Ring in the festive cheer this December as Christmas Wonderland celebrates a decade of wonder as it returns to Gardens by the Bay from 1st December 2023 to 1st January 2024. Presented by Trip.com, the 10th edition of Singapore’s biggest yuletide fair features a supersized fairground with a sensational array of light displays, new carnival rides and more festive activities. With more than 27,000 square metres to cover, … Continue reading Preview: Christmas Wonderland returns to Gardens by the Bay for 10th edition

Art What!: Art fair ART SG returns for second edition in January 2024

UBS presents the second edition of ART SG, bringing together collectors, artists, galleries, institutions, and curators from Singapore, Southeast Asia and around the world in a week-long celebration of contemporary art. The Fair will present an exceptional line-up of over 100 leading international and regional galleries alongside a thoughtfully curated program of insightful conversations, dynamic, large-scale installations, film presentations, and expansive city-wide activations in close collaboration … Continue reading Art What!: Art fair ART SG returns for second edition in January 2024

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024 explores pressing social issues and the ways we relate and connect to each other

Over the years, the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival (M1SFF), organised by The Necessary Stage (TNS), has undergone a variety of changes to the way it’s been run, from taking on specific themes and topics, to responding to art work. But at its heart, M1SFF has always been about one key goal – to present small scale local and international work that address key social issues, … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2024 explores pressing social issues and the ways we relate and connect to each other

Review: Foreign Bodies by Birds Migrant Theatre

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

★★★★★ Review: Kafka’s Ape by Phala O Phala and Tony Bonani Miyambo

Brilliant dramatic monologue shows ugliness of speciesism and tyranny of society. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Phala O Phala) 9 Script (Phala O Phala) 8 Performance (Tony Bonani Miyambo) 9 Total 26/30 (87%) Final Score: ★★★★★ A cursory glance at a single human and ape, and you’d swear we were worlds apart. Yet surprisingly, the two species share almost 99% of the same DNA. … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Kafka’s Ape by Phala O Phala and Tony Bonani Miyambo