★★★☆☆ Review: Three Sisters by Nine Years Theatre and SITI Company (SIFA 2021)

Cross-continent, multilingual hybrid adaptation of Chekhov a valiant effort but flawed in execution. Ideally, collaborations between arts companies should produce work that take the very best of each company’s style and elevate the final production to new heights. It is especially exciting to see cross-border collaborations, where the contrasts in artistic philosophy and culture may lead to surprising results. But collaborations are by no means … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Three Sisters by Nine Years Theatre and SITI Company (SIFA 2021)

★★★★☆ Review: First Fleet (2021) by Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Journey to a brave new world with the power of art.  While most often seen by the general public as a means for entertainment, we often forget about that the arts also has a therapeutic effects on both participant and audience, a theme that’s at the forefront of Nine Years Theatre’s (NYT) First Fleet, restaged at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre this week. Directed by … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: First Fleet (2021) by Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Review: Dear Elena (青春禁忌游戏) by Nine Years Theatre

Worst birthday ever makes for one of the best shows of 2019. Growing up in Singapore, the hard and fast path to ‘success’ has always been made abundantly clear to each and every child: study hard, get into a good school, rinse and repeat, and you’ll lead a happy life. But for those who don’t follow exactly as the system dictates, the consequences could be … Continue reading Review: Dear Elena (青春禁忌游戏) by Nine Years Theatre

Nine Years Theatre’s Dear Elena: An Interview with Nelson Chia, Mia Chee and Timothy Wan

Near the start of 2019, local theatre company Nine Years Theatre (NYT) announced their new season, starting with FAUST/US in February, original play First Fleet in July, before rounding off with a restaging of SIFA 2017’s Art Studio in October. But midway through, due to unforeseen circumstances, Art Studio was unable to proceed as planned, and the team had to find an alternative production to round off their year. Enter Dear Elena … Continue reading Nine Years Theatre’s Dear Elena: An Interview with Nelson Chia, Mia Chee and Timothy Wan

Preview: Dear Elena (青春禁忌游戏) by Nine Years Theatre

Nine Years Theatre returns this October for their third and final production of the year. Following the premiere of brand new play First Fleet in July, the company returns to their roots with Dear Elena, with artistic director Nelson Chia adapting a Russian play into Mandarin. Originally written by Russian playwright Lyudmila Razumovskaya, Dear Elena Sergeevna, the original play, was first staged at the beginning of … Continue reading Preview: Dear Elena (青春禁忌游戏) by Nine Years Theatre

Review: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Steering audiences to believe in the redemptive power of art. Written and directed by Nelson Chia, First Fleet marks a bold move for the Nine Years Theatre artistic director, clearly differentiating them from the rest of the companies producing works relating to Singapore’ colonial history this year. Taking inspiration from both historical figures and Thomas Keneally’s novel The Playmaker, First Fleet instead focuses on Australia’s colonial history. And more specifically, the … Continue reading Review: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Nine Years Theatre’s First Fleet (第一舰队): An Interview with Director Nelson Chia

Following FAUST/US earlier this year, Nine Years Theatre returns this week for their second production of the year – an original work about the first British fleet to step foot onto what would eventually become Australia, aptly titled First Fleet. Written and directed by Nelson Chia, we posed a number of questions to the Nine Years Theatre Artistic Director to find out a little more about what we … Continue reading Nine Years Theatre’s First Fleet (第一舰队): An Interview with Director Nelson Chia

Preview: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre

Nine Years Theatre (NYT) is back for their second production of the year with the all new First Fleet. Written by NYT Artistic Director Nelson Chia, First Fleet draws inspiration from Thomas Keneally’s novel The Playmaker, and tells of the journey taken by British officers and convicts as they travelled towards what would become Australia, during the colonial era of convict transportation. Along the way, the Governor gives an unusual instruction … Continue reading Preview: First Fleet (第一舰队) by Nine Years Theatre

Review: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Lest the demons get to me. Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the early 1800s, there is a timelessness to the narrative and themes discussed in Faust that have led to it becoming an inspiration for countless other works of art, and its regard as one of the greatest works of German literature. To stage it in a new capacity then, is certainly a challenging … Continue reading Review: FAUST/US (浮世/德) by Nine Years Theatre

Dealing with the Devil: An Interview with Performer Mia Chee and Director Cherilyn Woo of Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US (浮世/德)

This March, Nine Years Theatre (NYT) opens their 2019 season with what is now their signature style of adapting a Western text into Mandarin, this time around having selected Goethe’s Faustus, the quintessential ‘deal with a devil’ story of a scholar who sells his soul in exchange for his wildest dreams. But in Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US, not only will protagonist Faust be receiving a gender swap; for … Continue reading Dealing with the Devil: An Interview with Performer Mia Chee and Director Cherilyn Woo of Nine Years Theatre’s FAUST/US (浮世/德)