SIFA 2019: Frogman by curious directive (Review)

Red herring is the catch of the day in this deep dive into childhood trauma.  As technology continues to develop year on year, it seems inevitable that various facets of the arts wind up attempting to incorporate them into new works, pushing the limits of what one can experience with each production, to varying degrees of success. With curious directive’s Frogman, it is Virtual Reality (VR) technology … Continue reading SIFA 2019: Frogman by curious directive (Review)

SIFA 2019: Bedtime Stories by URLAND (Review)

Let the power of stories map your dreams. One of the fondest memories of our childhoods is listening to our parents tell us a story before tucking us in to bed. Falling asleep, our dreams would be filled with gallant knights and life changing adventures, dreams we’d rarely want to wake up from. With reality often being far more droll than the world of fantasy … Continue reading SIFA 2019: Bedtime Stories by URLAND (Review)

Review: Colours by Split Theatrical Productions

Finding the answer to life in plane sight. Inspired by the theme of religion and reflection on time, the universe and the divine in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, Colours deviates from Split’s usual themes of education and adolescence to take on a far darker topic – airplane disasters. Written and directed by Split artistic director Darryl Lim, we enter the Centre 42 Blackbox and are greeted by a team of … Continue reading Review: Colours by Split Theatrical Productions

SIFA 2019: The Mysterious Lai Teck by Ho Tzu Nyen (Review)

A brief history of a fictitious communist acts as the starting point for which to deconstruct the very nature of truth itself. Far too often in the recording of history, tiny details get lost from simple descriptors, to entire accounts of people. The latter in particular is explored in full with Ho Tzu Nyen’s The Mysterious Lai Teck. Based off a former leader of the Malayan … Continue reading SIFA 2019: The Mysterious Lai Teck by Ho Tzu Nyen (Review)

SIFA 2019: Peter and the Wolf by Silo Theatre (Review)

Joyous, modern take on Prokofiev’s classic that will enchant any child with the magic of theatre. Every once in a while, amidst the darkness and grit that so much of today’s theatre is characterised by, there is a distinct need to lighten up the mood and find optimism in simple, yet powerful reminders of all that is good in the world. Presented by New Zealand’s … Continue reading SIFA 2019: Peter and the Wolf by Silo Theatre (Review)

SIFA 2019: Dionysus by Suzuki Company of Toga & Purnati Indonesia (Review)

Tadashi Suzuki draws out the wicked and the divine from a classic Greek tragedy . Staging a classic Greek tragedy has never been an easy feat for any theatre company – as enduring as these stories are, the true challenge lies in having a production simultaneously bring something new to the tale, while still preserving the essence of message of the original tale. In the … Continue reading SIFA 2019: Dionysus by Suzuki Company of Toga & Purnati Indonesia (Review)

Review: Ghost Call by RAW Moves

A call to reduce the distance technology has created. In the age of Tinder, WhatsApp, and other social media applications, the need to ever meet someone else in person for the sake of conversation has rapidly decreased. But is there still value in that face to face interaction that we’ve forgotten? That’s the crux of contemporary dance company RAW Moves’ latest production, as Ghost Call explores … Continue reading Review: Ghost Call by RAW Moves

SIFA 2019: Beware of Pity by Schaubühne Berlin & Complicité (Review)

Crippling guilt is the driving force of tragedy in this co-production between Schaubühne Berlin and Simon McBurney After closing SIFA 2018 with An Enemy of the People, Germany’s Schaubühne Berlin has now returned to open SIFA 2019 in an almost poetic act of programming continuity. In a similar vein to their production last year, Beware of Pity is a scathing, pointed look at the darkness of the human … Continue reading SIFA 2019: Beware of Pity by Schaubühne Berlin & Complicité (Review)

Review: Civilised by The Necessary Stage

An audacious celebration of the Singapore Bicentennial and our post-colonial hangups in true TNS fashion.  From the very moment the Singapore Bicentennial was announced, fiery controversy was sparked as the sheer audacity of such an event was called into question. After all, which country actually celebrates the anniversary of their colonisation? It is from this central question that The Necessary Stage’s newest production seems to be … Continue reading Review: Civilised by The Necessary Stage

Review: SIDES 2019 by Frontier Danceland

A double bill of work to mark Frontier Danceland’s latest mid-year production. Once again presenting their annual mid-year production, Frontier Danceland’s latest edition of SIDES features a double bill of work, choreographed by renowned choreographers Edouard Hue and Shahar Binyamini for the company’s artists. SIDES began with Edouard Hue’s Into Outside, previously performed for the Ecole de Danse Contemporaine of Montreal in 2018. Exploring the concept of wanting … Continue reading Review: SIDES 2019 by Frontier Danceland