★★★★☆ Review: The Essential Playlist by The Second Breakfast Company

Who will help the helpers? The term ‘essential workers’ has become something of a buzzword over the course of the pandemic. Not only was there initial furore over who should be considered ‘essential’ or not, but as the pandemic reached its peak, stories of burnout, quitting en masse, and the paltry efforts at celebrating them (clapping at our windows) swarmed our social media feeds. How … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: The Essential Playlist by The Second Breakfast Company

Review: The Secret Life of Haw Par Villa by Strawberries Inc.

Hell hath no story like Haw Par Villa after hours. Spoilers ahead. Haw Par Villa used to haunt me when my grandmother took me there as a child, with images of King Yama and tortured souls filling my worst nightmares. Coming back as an adult though, Singapore’s most unusual theme park has become something of a contemporary surreal trip, feasting our eyes on the grotesque sculptures … Continue reading Review: The Secret Life of Haw Par Villa by Strawberries Inc.

★★★★☆ Review: 0.01 by Goh Shou Yi, Rei Poh & Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Mind the gap – you might find a surprising connection. In Wong Kar-Wai’s 1994 film Chungking Express, Takeshi Kaneshiro considers his character’s relationship with Brigitte Lin, where at the highest point, they were a mere 0.01cm apart. With how tight-knit our city structure is, this could also apply to our everyday interactions, where 0.01cm represents the tiny distance between ourselves and others, the space and … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: 0.01 by Goh Shou Yi, Rei Poh & Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Adib Kosnan and Raimi Safari on adoption in ‘Rindu di Bulan’

From their very first production, Rupa co.lab has always delivered on arresting scripts about the intricacies of Malay culture, homing in on familial bonds of unusual household structures, and winning Best Original Script at our Bakchormeeboy Awards in 2019 for Nessa Anwar’s Rumah Dayak and 2021 for Hazwan Norly’s Pandan. Now, a third member of Rupa co.lab will be making his debut with the company, … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Adib Kosnan and Raimi Safari on adoption in ‘Rindu di Bulan’

M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Bound Theatre on the age of the Internet in ‘Screen. Shot.’

In this Internet age, cybersecurity is no longer limited to keeping your devices and accounts protected by a well-devised password. With fake news on the rise, angry mobs arising from social media, and a single comment can spark a wildfire, even a simple look at someone’s Instagram stories without response can label you a degenerate of society. How do we survive the sheer madness of … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Bound Theatre on the age of the Internet in ‘Screen. Shot.’

Preview: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2022 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

With Christmas now over, our next major event on the horizon is without a doubt – Chinese New Year. And as with every Chinese New Year, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is back with the 20th edition of Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts, to ring in the new Lunar New Year. This time around, the festival kicks off on 11th February, with five … Continue reading Preview: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2022 by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

★★★☆☆ Review: The Good Citizen by Singapore Youth Theatre

Play by the rules or get left behind, in this bleak interpretation of Singaporean life. What happens in life can sometimes feel like it’s left completely up to chance, perhaps with the roll of a die. With the Singapore Youth Theatre’s The Good Citizen, Wild Rice’s youth theatre wing takes that thought and runs with it, as it imagines the only way to get ahead … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: The Good Citizen by Singapore Youth Theatre

M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with 微 Wei Collective on breath and co-existence in ‘Being 息在’

We’ve always called the concrete jungle our home, existing in a thriving metropolis with fast-paced living, a thousand and one things on our to-do list, and the nagging feeling that we can’t stop, won’t stop. But when COVID-19 struck and we were sent into a lockdown, everything in the world seemed to come to a complete standstill for a moment in time, as we took … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with 微 Wei Collective on breath and co-existence in ‘Being 息在’

Singapore Art Week 2022: Art Takes Over DECK + Tanjong Pagar Distripark + Hawker! Hawker!

This week, Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2022 makes a triumphant return with its milestone tenth edition, as Art Takes Over Singapore once again. Beyond activating arts spaces, from museums to galleries, this year’s edition is all about making even retail, industrial spaces and hawker centres come alive with art. Look forward to mukbang at Singapore’s iconic Lau Pa Sat, or an industrial ‘artventure’ at Tanjong … Continue reading Singapore Art Week 2022: Art Takes Over DECK + Tanjong Pagar Distripark + Hawker! Hawker!

M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Adeeb Fazah and Zulfiqar Izzudin on ‘The Essential Playlist’

Increasingly, theatre and the arts are becoming upper-middle class affairs, where ticket prices are skyrocketing, and the very act of attending a show can be seen as ‘atas’ So when a company creates a show about essential workers, who exactly is the intended audience, and what do they hope to achieve? For The Second Breakfast Company (2BCo), these were some of the questions and issues … Continue reading M1 Singapore Fringe 2022: An Interview with Adeeb Fazah and Zulfiqar Izzudin on ‘The Essential Playlist’