Pesta Raya 2018: Tarakucha! by Sean Ghazi and Ida Mariana (Review)

The Esplanade’s annual Pesta Raya festivities are always a joy to attend and witness. With a whole host of well-curated activities celebrating Malay culture, this year’s festival even feels like a massive party, as fireworks went off nearby at the National Day preview, and a mini pasar malam was in full swing at the Esplanade itself. As part of Pesta Raya 2018, Malaysian singer Sean … Continue reading Pesta Raya 2018: Tarakucha! by Sean Ghazi and Ida Mariana (Review)

Review: Love and Duty – Mozart’s Il Re Pastore by The Opera People

Mozart gets funky in this accessible new interpretation that sets Il Re Pastore in a nightclub. Opera often gets a bad rap for being stuffy and inaccessible to the general public. But in their debut production, The Opera People are pulling out all the stops to produce a show that anyone from any background would be more open to attend and be able to appreciate. … Continue reading Review: Love and Duty – Mozart’s Il Re Pastore by The Opera People

Review: ‘A Song of Life’ Concert by Sachiyo

There’s something about the Esplanade Recital Studio that is so special, given the intimacy it affords. This intimacy is what gives rise to the power of Japanese singer songwriter Sachiyo Nakagaki’s beautiful voice, crisp, sensual and chic as it wafted through the Recital Studio in her ‘A Song of Life’ concert last Wednesday (27th June). Sachiyo’s voice lends itself perfectly to the kind of music … Continue reading Review: ‘A Song of Life’ Concert by Sachiyo

Television Time: BBC’s The Split

There’s both tenderness amidst blood in the water as cutthroat divorce lawyers battle it out in court and at home.  Just as Alan Ball did with a family funeral business in Six Feet Under, Abi Morgan’s (Shame, The Iron Lady, Suffragette) new BBC series does with a family law firm, mining high drama as the professional meets the personal. In The Split, we follow divorce lawyer Hannah Defoe (Nicola Walker, best known … Continue reading Television Time: BBC’s The Split

Review: Framed, By Adolf by The Finger Players

Dark fairytale meets con-job for justice in this story-within-a-story about the holocaust and art. The art world is fickle and subjective, with the monetary worth of a painting determined by market forces and its value by its frame, specifically the way a backstory ‘frames’ and positions an artwork to give it legitimacy. But even the volatile art market is in agreement that a controversial work … Continue reading Review: Framed, By Adolf by The Finger Players

Review: Fourteen by SPLIT Theatrical Productions

An absurd look at the perils of being a teenager today.  Adolescence can be a trying time. Fourteen director Darryl Lim knows best – he’s an educator, and faces teenagers on a daily basis, going through a roller coaster of emotions as he observes them interact during recess, or the way the staff approach and address them. In Fourteen, these observations are brought to light in absurd extremes. We … Continue reading Review: Fourteen by SPLIT Theatrical Productions

Review: Citizen Dog by The Finger Players

The spirits are at play in both reality and fiction in this new work tackling issues of land ownership and the foibles of human desire. Pu Songling’s monstrous 18th century collection of over 400 supernatural stories Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi) has remained fascinating over the years, with its quirky supernatural characters from failed scholars to alluring fox spirits interwoven with a strong satirical edge. … Continue reading Review: Citizen Dog by The Finger Players

Review: Urashima Taro by Rouge28 Theatre (Flipside 2018)

A surreal, horror take on a classic Japanese legend. Growing up listening to various folktales and legends from around the world, the Japanese legend of Urashima Taro has never struck me as particularly haunting or horrific. In the legend, the eponymous Urashima Taro is a poor fisherman who saves a turtle in trouble. As a reward for his heroic deed, the turtle invites him for a journey … Continue reading Review: Urashima Taro by Rouge28 Theatre (Flipside 2018)

Review: OFF STAGE by Emergency Stairs

All the world’s a stage, and the theatre industry especially so.  Is an actor ever really just an actor, or does their work go far beyond their prescribed ‘role’? For Emergency Stairs’ training and experimental arm Emergency Shelter’s first production, led by artistic director Liu Xiaoyi, OFF STAGE is a challenge to its ensemble of nine actors (Chanel Chan, Chong Woon Yong, Darren Guo, Zachary Ho, WahWah Hung … Continue reading Review: OFF STAGE by Emergency Stairs

Preview: OFFSTAGE by Emergency Stairs

Following their production of new work Einstein in the Carpark at the Huayi festival earlier this year, experimental theatre company Emergency Stairs welcomes audiences into their home in an industrial estate in Mattar as they present OFFSTAGE. Staged by members of Emergency Stairs’ training arm, Emergency Shelter, OFFSTAGE is an all new work that examines the various roles behind the scenes of every theatre production. From the creative team of … Continue reading Preview: OFFSTAGE by Emergency Stairs