★★★☆☆ Review: Request Programme at Singapore Art Museum

A meditative act on how the innocuous daily routine can be made strange and even a little disturbing. In Singapore, life can feel like a chore. Settling into a daily routine can be comfortable, but its banality can also become utterly depressing in a city that keeps on keeping on. Meaning and connection can seem elusive, drowned out by the sameness of each night. It’s … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Request Programme at Singapore Art Museum

Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (Cantonese versions, performed by Tan Cher Kian and Gary Tang)

Two ways to tell a poignant story of growing up in Cantonese.  First written as a book, in My Grandfather’s Road, Neo Kim Seng explores his familial history through the lens and geography of a bygone Singapore, thinking of his childhood growing up on what is literally his grandfather’s road (Neo Pee Teck Lane) and told through personal memories and anecdotes. While we previously watched the full … Continue reading Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (Cantonese versions, performed by Tan Cher Kian and Gary Tang)

Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (English version, performed by Karen Tan)

Put on your nostalgia goggles for this monologue about people and places past, laced with a pinch of death and loss.  To call a stretch of land your grandfather’s road sounds like an audacious claim. But for theatremaker Neo Kim Seng, that claim is rooted in truth, with Neo Pee Teck Lane quite literally named after his paternal grandfather. My Grandfather’s Road is adapted from … Continue reading Review: My Grandfather’s Road by Neo Kim Seng (English version, performed by Karen Tan)

An Interview with the Cast and Creatives of My Grandfather’s Road

“Eh, you think this one your grandfather’s road ah?” Is a common retort to careless drivers or pedestrians acting as if they own the roads. But in the case of Neo Kim Seng, it can be taken quite literally if you ever find him walking down Neo Pee Teck Lane, named after his grandfather. First presented in 2015 as an English-language monologue, a photo exhibition … Continue reading An Interview with the Cast and Creatives of My Grandfather’s Road