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’

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

★★★☆☆ Review: Why Be Good When You Can Be The Best? by Deonn Yang

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

★★★☆☆ Review: Never The Bride by The Necessary Stage

Searching for meaning beyond marriage as the endgame. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Alvin Tan) 6 Script (Rajkumar Thiagaras, Ryan Ang, Fadhil Daud) 6 Performance (Rajkumar Thiagaras, Ryan Ang, Fadhil Daud) 6 Composition / Sound Design (Emily Wong Ng Jing) 7 Scenography (Petrina Dawn Tan) 6 Multimedia /Film (Genevieve Peck / Tan Wei Ting) 8 Choreography (Ryan Ang) 7 Total 46/70 (66%) Final Score: … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Never The Bride by The Necessary Stage

★★★☆☆ Review: Less Than Half by Adib Kosnan, Yarra Ileto & Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Glass half empty perspective towards how a nation cares for its minorities. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Adib Kosnan, Yarra Ileto) 7 Script (Aswani Aswath, NAFA students) 6 Performance (NAFA students) 7 Sound Design (Alif Danial Ahmad) 7 Lighting (Tai Zi Feng) 7 Total 34/50 (68%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ In a world where appearances are everything, it is far too often that we try … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Less Than Half by Adib Kosnan, Yarra Ileto & Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

★★★☆☆ Review: Mother of Compost by Noémie Huttner-Koros

An invitation to ponder over the future of families in the anthropocene. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Andrew Sutherland) 7 Script (Noémie Huttner-Koros) 7 Performance (Noémie Huttner-Koros) 8 Audiovisual Design (Edwin Sitt) 6 Lighting Design (Jasmine Lifford) 7 Costume Design (Molly Werner) 7 Stage Design (Molly Werner) 6 Sound Design (Lyndon Blue) 8 Total 54/80 (68%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Noémie Huttner-Koros loves babies. But … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Mother of Compost by Noémie Huttner-Koros

★★★☆☆ Review: Tree Confessions by This Is Not A Theatre Company

The hidden life of trees, revealed. Written by Jenny Lyn Bader and directed by Erin B Mee, in This Is Not A Theatre Company’s Tree Confessions, audience members get to hear from a character they’d never have imagined ever hearing the voice of: a tree. The mechanics of the show are simple – audience members are required to find a tree of their choosing, sit … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Tree Confessions by This Is Not A Theatre Company

★★★★☆ Review: Django In Pain by Por Piedad Teatro & The Play Company

Darkly comic fairytale about seeking help, told through a surreal puppet show. It’s not often a puppet show opens with a scene of its protagonist attempting to hang himself. But that is precisely how homemade puppet theatre show Django In Pain begins, and only goes down an increasingly surreal narrative that will surprise you at every turn. Co-created by husband and wife theatremaking duo Antonio … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Django In Pain by Por Piedad Teatro & The Play Company

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2023: An Interview with Birds Migrant Theatre members Wiwi Tri and Ak Zilani, co-devisors and performers of ‘Foreign Bodies’

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’