Preview: Singapore International Festival of Arts 2019

In 2018, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) saw the arrival of Gaurav Kripalani, taking on the mantle of Festival Director for the next three editions along with his capable team. Aiming to use this new edition of SIFA to act as the cornerstone and building blocks for future festivals to come, seeing an attendance of over 55,000 audience members, 84% of ticket sales … Continue reading Preview: Singapore International Festival of Arts 2019

Preview: SIFA 2019 To Present Suzuki Company’s Dionysus and Premiere Lineup of Brand New Singaporean Productions

Following an electrifying first year from new Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) is set to stun for its 2019 edition, cementing its new place in the arts calendar with an 18-day festival come May. In lieu of its release, the Festival has now officially revealed the first wave of productions audiences can expect, with the Singaporean premiere of a … Continue reading Preview: SIFA 2019 To Present Suzuki Company’s Dionysus and Premiere Lineup of Brand New Singaporean Productions

SIFA 2019 Preview: Tadashi Suzuki’s Dionysus In Rehearsal

In 2019, the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) will return for 18 days in May and June. Marking the second festival helmed by Festival Director Gaurav Kripalani, 2019 promises an even tighter programme of international works and brand new local commissioned works, and perhaps the one show that audiences should save a date for already is none other than SIFA 2019 opening show Dionysus. Presented … Continue reading SIFA 2019 Preview: Tadashi Suzuki’s Dionysus In Rehearsal

SIFA 2018: Concluding Thoughts on A New Director and A New Festival

Nobody likes change. Humans are very much creatures of habit, and when things get shaken up, we naturally feel a little uncomfortable. So it comes as no surprise that when Gaurav Kripalani was first announced to take over as the new Festival Director of the Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA) from 2018-2020, many reflected upon his appointment with a little hesitation and some … Continue reading SIFA 2018: Concluding Thoughts on A New Director and A New Festival

SIFA 2018: An Enemy of the People by Schaubühne Berlin (Review)

A contemporary version of Ibsen’s play effectively brings out its newfound urgency and relevance in our crazy, messed up modern world. Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People was initially considered one of his minor works in his lifetime. But in recent years, the play has seen an increasing number of stagings and new interpretations, and come to represent a disturbingly prescient rallying cry for the uncertain, messy … Continue reading SIFA 2018: An Enemy of the People by Schaubühne Berlin (Review)

SIFA 2018: An Enemy of the People by Schaubühne Berlin (Preview)

An Enemy of the People is perhaps one of Henrik Ibsen’s most recognizable plays, following the tale of Dr Stockmann, a man who discovers that the drinking water in his spa town has been contaminated by industrial waste. A classic story of one against the mob, Stockmann finds himself under fire for attempting to reveal the inconvenient truth, and put the town’s  and the persecution he faces … Continue reading SIFA 2018: An Enemy of the People by Schaubühne Berlin (Preview)

SIFA 2018: The Blues Project by Dorrance Dance (Review)

Tap meets blues in an unlikely but effective collaboration. Is tap dance merely all show and no soul? Or is it possible that given the right music, tap can be a genre catapulted far beyond its stereotypical impression, into a form that seethes with expression and aches with emotion? Furious, rhythmic tap and slowed down, soulful blues might appear to be strange bedfellows at first, … Continue reading SIFA 2018: The Blues Project by Dorrance Dance (Review)

SIFA 2018: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Review)

Afro-futurism is given a musical touch in a stirring work of speculative fiction. Toshi and Bernice Johnson Reagon’s Parable of the Sower is a genre defying work that, if it were to be summed up, would simply be a powerful musical adaptation of one of the most seminal works of Afro-futurism. Parable of the Sower was originally written as a novel by award-winning author Octavia E. Butler, and is … Continue reading SIFA 2018: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Review)

SIFA 2018: OCD Love by L-E-V Dance Company (Review)

Mesmerising, muscular bodies tangle with the simultaneous pain and allure of the mental condition.  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD for short, is characterised as a state by which a person’s mind is constantly occupied by cycles of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. It’s an invisible condition that only really becomes evident when you know someone, and is often a lifelong state an afflicted person finds … Continue reading SIFA 2018: OCD Love by L-E-V Dance Company (Review)

SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Review)

Deceptively simple, Amer Hlehel puts the power of words onstage with a tour de force performance as the eponymous Palestinian poet.  How does one go through countless losses and still come out an optimist? In the eyes and life of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali (1931-2011), one will find that it is completely possible. Directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, TAHA is a show with a simple set-up – writer … Continue reading SIFA 2018: TAHA by Amer Hlehel (Review)