The pitfalls of optimism are explored in Young & Wild 2020’s showcase performance. According to playwright Mark Ravenhill, the word ‘optimism’ had only been in use for about 20 years when Voltaire wrote his satirical novella Candide in 1759. And interestingly enough, beyond the idea of hope, the word ‘optimism’ was also born from the idea of the ‘optimal’, where one believes that whatever path one’s … Continue reading ★★☆☆☆ Review: Candide by Young & Wild
Beautiful scenery and strong performances can’t save the doomed romance between a paraplegic and university student. Pitched as a romance flick set to evoke tears, lush, gorgeous cinematography, a stirring soundtrack, and two incredibly charming stars in the leading roles, new Korean film Josée seems to have a recipe for success. A remake of Japanese flick Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2003) (coincidentally, an anime … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Josée dir. Kim Jong-Kwan
A useful compendium for all that went down in GE2020. The 2020 Singapore General Elections were an unprecedented one – who would ever have expected to vote during a pandemic? But as much as the results essentially maintained the status quo, there was still plenty of drama that emerged in the weeks leading up to it, and if you’d like to relive that chapter of … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Book Review: GE2020 – Fair or Foul? by Bertha Henson
A celebration of a literary pioneer in one book. Birthday parties are all about making the birthday boy feel good about himself. After all, it’s his special day. And in much the same vein, Robert Yeo at Eighty is exactly that, as it collects praise, tributes, memories, and even fan fiction inspired by his work into a single volume. Over the course of the book, … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Book Review: Robert Yeo at Eighty – A Celebration (edited by Dr Ismail S. Talib)
Ding Yi’s first live concert since circuit breaker reminds us how the arts keep hope alive. Taking place on a Sunday evening, it was raining heavily outside, but the music that kept us warm later on, as we settled into the Stamford Arts Centre black box for Ding Yi Music Company’s first live concert since the circuit breaker. Taking on a rather interesting format to … Continue reading Review: Together We Stand, Live Again! by Ding Yi Music Company
The absurd idea of controlling happiness is lost in this manmade pastel utopia. Touted as ‘Wes Anderson meets Black Mirror’, Tan Bee Thiam’s Tiong Bahru Social Club is a decidedly bolder film, both aesthetically and ideologically, compared to the usual Singaporean fare we’re used to seeing. Set in an alternate reality Singapore, the film’s title refers to a new initiative transforming the gentrified neighbourhood of Tiong Bahru into … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Tiong Bahru Social Club dir. Tan Bee Thiam
Love conquers all, but is that much more difficult when the odds are stacked against you. Taiwan has often been hailed as one of the most progressive Asian countries when it comes to LGBTQ rights, ranging from having an annual Pride parade, being a mecca for gay culture in Asia, and of course, legalising same-sex marriage since 2019. But as Cheng Yu-Chieh explores in his … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Dear Tenant dir. Cheng Yu-Chieh
Joel Tan’s purgatorial café gets a revival and feels more urgent than before in our very real crisis of 2020. In a year where countless F&B outlets have shut down amidst the coronavirus crisis, and the very real sense of doom continues to hang over our heads as the future remains uncertain, Joel Tan’s play Café seems more relevant than ever, as it receive a revival … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Café by Wild Rice
Much potential in this original performance about homesickness, identity and art. Life as a struggling artist is already hard enough. But for a young Singaporean artist, 6000 kilometres from home and all alone, that situation is enough to compound things to the point one would begin to question’s one’s choice to even pursue such a career choice, and wonder how differently life would have turned … Continue reading Arts Down Under 2020: 落叶归根 (Luò yè guī gēn) Getting Home by Cheryl Ho (Review)
Wild Rice opens their series of Director’s Residency programmes with a mother-daughter tale about hoarding. When you hear the term ‘hoarder’, the first image that comes to mind is likely a person dwarfed by heaps and heaps of paraphernalia in her own home, immediately labelled as having some sort of ‘problem’. But the truth is, it’s hard to tell a hoarder from a non-hoarder, often … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Mine by Wild Rice
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