★★★★★ Theatre Review: Legally Blonde – The Musical by Singapore Repertory Theatre

Led by a sensational Nathania Ong, SRT’s all-Singaporean cast delivers on big vocals, demanding choreography, sharp comedy and an emotional payoff that leaves the audience believing that anything is possible. Performance watched on 31 July, 8pmDuration: 150 minutes (including 20 minute intermission) For all its hot-pink glamour, heels and sorority energy, Legally Blonde – The Musical has always been a show about being underestimated. Elle … Continue reading ★★★★★ Theatre Review: Legally Blonde – The Musical by Singapore Repertory Theatre

★★★★★ Theatre Review: Blind Runner by Mehr Theatre Group and Amir Reza Koohestani

A deceptively simple premise of a husband and wife’s relationship torn apart by imprisonment turns into something much more devastating in the face of political activism. Performance watched on 1 August, 8pmDuration: 60 minutes In Iran, where dissent can turn an ordinary life into one shaped by surveillance, imprisonment and separation, freedom is never simply an abstract ideal. In Iranian theatremaker’s Amir Reza Koohestani’s Blind … Continue reading ★★★★★ Theatre Review: Blind Runner by Mehr Theatre Group and Amir Reza Koohestani

★★★★★ Theatre Review: Fragments of Tuah by Mark Teh and Five Arts Centre

Mesmerising docutheatre production delves into the myth of Malayan national hero Hang Tuah while asking who gets to shape history, and why we continue to believe the stories we inherit. Duration: 90min Mythological figures have long served as vessels for morality, identity and national aspiration. Their stories are repeated until they begin to feel inseparable from the societies that tell them, their contradictions smoothed over … Continue reading ★★★★★ Theatre Review: Fragments of Tuah by Mark Teh and Five Arts Centre

★★★★★ Theatre Review: Charged (2026) by Teater Ekamatra

Haunting revival interrogates the fragile foundations of Singapore’s racial harmony with unsettling force. Duration: 105min Singapore likes to tell itself a comforting story: that we are a multiracial nation where harmony is one of our greatest achievements. And while that may be true to a large extent, beneath the familiar choreography of Racial Harmony Day celebrations, bilingual policies and shared national rituals lies the assumption … Continue reading ★★★★★ Theatre Review: Charged (2026) by Teater Ekamatra

Design: Award-winning Prototype Island exhibition comes home to ArtScience Museum to showcase Singapore design identity

The award-winning exhibition returns from Milan Design Week, revealing that Singapore’s greatest design export isn’t an aesthetic but a relentless culture of questioning, prototyping and care. If you walk into Prototype Island expecting just another typical national design showcase, often stereotyped to a parade of beautifully crafted furniture, sleek consumer products or impeccably finished objects, you’ll probably miss the point. “My curatorial intent was not … Continue reading Design: Award-winning Prototype Island exhibition comes home to ArtScience Museum to showcase Singapore design identity

Esplanade’s The Studios 2026: An Interview with Iranian theatremaker Amir Reza Koohestani on surveillance, solidarity and the power of ‘Blind Runner’

Surveillance cameras watch every interaction. A husband visits his imprisoned wife once a week, their conversations becoming increasingly strained under the weight of constant observation. Elsewhere, he agrees to guide a young blind marathon runner through the streets of Paris, discovering that trust, like freedom, is something built one careful step at a time. In Blind Runner, acclaimed Iranian playwright and director Amir Reza Koohestani … Continue reading Esplanade’s The Studios 2026: An Interview with Iranian theatremaker Amir Reza Koohestani on surveillance, solidarity and the power of ‘Blind Runner’

Art: Maria Taniguchi – Afterimage at Singapore Art Museum

There is a temptation to describe Maria Taniguchi’s work as meditative. For nearly two decades, the Filipino artist has devoted herself to painting what appears, at first glance, to be the same image: vast fields of carefully hand-painted rectangles, meticulously built one brushstroke at a time until they resemble endless brick walls. Their monumental scale, subdued palettes and rigorous repetition have often led viewers to … Continue reading Art: Maria Taniguchi – Afterimage at Singapore Art Museum

Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest: Joel Burke on reimagining Stoker’s classic and the rise of contemporary dance

Following its sold-out West End run, Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest arrived in Singapore with a bold reimagining of Bram Stoker’s gothic classic. Under the artistic direction and choreography of Joel Burke, the production traded traditional ballet conventions for cinematic storytelling, psychological tension and an evocative score featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Liszt and Debussy, inviting audiences into a haunting world where love, grief … Continue reading Dracula – Ballet at its Darkest: Joel Burke on reimagining Stoker’s classic and the rise of contemporary dance

★★★☆☆ Theatre Review: Common Room by Checkpoint Theatre

Checkpoint Theatre tackles queer themes by presenting an honest depiction of queer co-living that succeeds more as an act of representation than a piece of theatre. Duration: 90min Although Singapore has made significant strides towards LGBTQ+ acceptance, many queer Singaporeans continue to negotiate conservative workplaces, families and social expectations. For those unable to live fully out in public, chosen family and queer kinship become not … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Theatre Review: Common Room by Checkpoint Theatre

Legally Blonde: Breaking stereotypes with stars Vanessa Kee, Sandra Riley Tang and Siti Khalijah Zainal

For a musical that’s become synonymous with pink outfits, pop anthems and perfectly coiffed hair, Legally Blonde spends surprisingly little time asking audiences to admire appearances. Instead, it focuses on dismantling them. Nearly every major woman in the show enters the story wearing a label. Protagonist Elle Woods is the most obvious example, quickly dismissed as the ditzy blonde. But while she may be the … Continue reading Legally Blonde: Breaking stereotypes with stars Vanessa Kee, Sandra Riley Tang and Siti Khalijah Zainal