Part memoir and part epic, Titoudao is a portrait of celebration and grief for the fading wayang scene. How many of us have had a chance to catch a wayang performance in real life, on the streets as originally intended? With the amount of progress and modernisation Singapore has undergone over the years, wayang is but a lost art one can only experience in the … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Titoudao (2024) by Toy Factory
Skilful mask work turning actors into living puppets amidst pseudo-poetic translation of Chinese classic. Cao Xueqin’s Dream of the Red Chamber has long been considered one of the greatest works of Chinese literature, as the novel passes social commentary, criticism, and philosophy over power, hierarchy and morality, as it follows the rise and fall in a family’s fortunes. Adapted countless times for stage and screen … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Dream of the Red Chamber by The Finger Players
The story of Titoudao was first brought to light in 1994, when Toy Factory artistic director Goh Boon Teck wrote the iconic play and premiered it at the Jubilee Hall at the Raffles Hotel. In the three decades since, the play, which is based off the true life story of Singaporean Wayang star Madam Oon Ah Chiam, has been restaged multiple times, and even received … Continue reading Titoudao 2024: An Interview with director/playwright Goh Boon Teck and star Tan Rui Shan
Dream Academy highlights the power of a good laugh in latest edition of Happy Ever Laughter. By now, Dream Academy’s Happy Ever Laughter had made quite a name for itself. Each time the stand-up comedy revue makes a return, there’s strong anticipation as the crowds gather for a night of letting go, and allowing themselves to just kick back, relax and well, laugh. This time … Continue reading Review: Happy Ever Laughter 2024 by Dream Academy
Bringing this year’s cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival to a close is Elusive — a double bill by T.H.E Dance Company. Playing at the DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre, the work comprises two brand new choreographies from acclaimed international artists. The first of these is Chorales by Kim Jae Duk (South Korea), who is also T.H.E’s Resident Choreographer. Chorales focuses on Kim’s perspective of the body and its beauty, while … Continue reading Preview: Elusive — a double bill by T.H.E Dance Company
Dream Academy’s evergreen Happy Ever Laughter lineup of stand-up comedians are back to tickle your funny bone this June, each with a short set of laugh out loud jokes to bring a smile and more to your face. This time around, a grand total of twelve comedians, from both Singapore AND Malaysia, will grace the Capitol Theatre, including veterans Fakkah Fuzz and Dr. Jason Leong, … Continue reading Happy Ever Laughter 2024: An Interview with comedians Dr Jason Leong and Noah Yap
Back in 2018, new theatre company Autopoetics, founded by Chelsea Crothers, Laura Hayes and Maiya Murphy, made their professional stage debut as a company with original script Provenance, showing off core tents of what the company stood for – rich visuals, a tight script, and powerful physical theatre. Six years on, and the company are back with another new work, this time focusing on the … Continue reading Preview: no there there by Autopoetics
Intrusive thoughts during a beach holiday at the end of the world. In our modern world of stresses and being constantly online, how much can we say we can truly detach ourselves from work and take a relaxing holiday? For Lithuanian artists Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė, it seems that any vacation will be bound to be filled with intrusive thoughts, and unexpectedly, … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Sun & Sea by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė & Lina Lapelytė
Multisensory journey transporting audiences to Perak’s Lenggong Valley, in all its natural and mystical beauty. Modern Singapore rarely leaves much space or opportunity for truly connecting with nature. As much as we tout ourselves as a garden city, green spaces are often integrated into the urban landscape, rather than allowed to simply grow amok, or we lack older geological formations teeming with life. So if … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: REFUGE by The Observatory
The world today is a fractured, volatile place, with rising tension, isolationism and unrest all about, whether it’s in terms of wars, the climate crisis, or simply the growing stresses of everyday living. One could even say it’s the emergence of new fault lines that seem to be increasingly determining the way we live and interact with each other – why then do we continue … Continue reading Preview: Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s The Studios 2024 – Fault Lines
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