The Paiseh Pieces: An Interview with writer/director Adeeb Fazah, composer Bennett Bay and lyricist Stephanie Phang

The paiseh piece – the very last item left on the plate people are afraid to take, for fear of offending everyone else, and looking like a selfish person. As a result, that paiseh piece remains untouched, the sole survivor that is left alone. Could there be such paiseh pieces living among us, in their own lonely existences? That’s the basis and inspiration behind The … Continue reading The Paiseh Pieces: An Interview with writer/director Adeeb Fazah, composer Bennett Bay and lyricist Stephanie Phang

Preview: Old Gaze by The Necessary Stage

After almost 20 years, The Necessary Stage brings back old friends to present brand new play Old Gaze. Brash, audacious and just rollicking good fun, Old Gaze is the third and final instalment following TNS’ seminal LGBTQ plays Mardi Gras (2003) and Top or Bottom (2004). “This final installment has been written 19 years later. The three main characters played by Hossan, Kumar and Rody … Continue reading Preview: Old Gaze by The Necessary Stage

Preview: The Paiseh Pieces by The Second Breakfast Company

The Second Breakfast Company (2BCo) is set to produce its first ever musical, The Paiseh Pieces, in February 2023 at Wisma Geylang Serai (WGS). This production, presented in collaboration with WGS, revolves around three young adults, Tobias, Rina and Sara navigating adulthood in Singapore. The three besties on the precipice of adulthood find themselves in difficult situations. Tobias, a struggling theatre actor, can’t seem to … Continue reading Preview: The Paiseh Pieces by The Second Breakfast Company

Huayi 2023: An Interview with Lee Yi-Hsiu and Hsu Shu-Hui of La Cie MaxMind

The most fragile of cultural heritage is often the intangible, lying in customs, traditions and art forms that need to be passed down from generation to generation for survival. And as time goes by, too many of these practices are lost. Taiwanese arts company La Cie MaxMind hopes to preserve at least one of these traditions with the shows they put on. This week, they’re … Continue reading Huayi 2023: An Interview with Lee Yi-Hsiu and Hsu Shu-Hui of La Cie MaxMind

Huayi 2023: 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Preview)

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is perhaps one of Taiwan’s most well-regarded contemporary arts companies, producing countless quality dance works since being founded in 1973. Combining a plethora of dance and movement forms, from qi gong to martial arts, modern dance to ballet, the company blends the traditional and contemporary as it brings its productions to the world. In their first performance in Singapore since the … Continue reading Huayi 2023: 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Preview)

Review: Foreign Bodies by Birds Migrant Theatre

Big-hearted, honest work about the plight of migrant workers in Singapore. Far too often, migrant workers in Singapore are seen only as cheap expendable labour or worst of all, subjects of crime articles splashed over newspapers. This act of othering migrant workers constantly demeans their humanity, and reduces them to mere statistics. At what point do we begin to treat them with respect as equals, … Continue reading Review: Foreign Bodies by Birds Migrant Theatre

★★★★★ Review: Kafka’s Ape by Phala O Phala and Tony Bonani Miyambo

Brilliant dramatic monologue shows ugliness of speciesism and tyranny of society. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Phala O Phala) 9 Script (Phala O Phala) 8 Performance (Tony Bonani Miyambo) 9 Total 26/30 (87%) Final Score: ★★★★★ A cursory glance at a single human and ape, and you’d swear we were worlds apart. Yet surprisingly, the two species share almost 99% of the same DNA. … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Kafka’s Ape by Phala O Phala and Tony Bonani Miyambo

★★★☆☆ Review: Why Be Good When You Can Be The Best? by Deonn Yang

Modern fable about the productivity trap of the endless rat race. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Deonn Yang) 7 Script (Deonn Yang 6 Performance (Chng Xin Xuan, Eve Voigtlander, Mitchell Fang, Sindhura Kalidas, Suhaili Safari) 7 Lighting Design (Emanorwatty Salleh) 7 Set Design (Wong Chee Wai) 7 Total 34/50 (68%) Final Score: ★★★☆☆ Over the course of the pandemic, the idea of work has … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Why Be Good When You Can Be The Best? by Deonn Yang

★★★☆☆ Review: Never The Bride by The Necessary Stage

Searching for meaning beyond marriage as the endgame. Category Score (out of 10) Direction (Alvin Tan) 6 Script (Rajkumar Thiagaras, Ryan Ang, Fadhil Daud) 6 Performance (Rajkumar Thiagaras, Ryan Ang, Fadhil Daud) 6 Composition / Sound Design (Emily Wong Ng Jing) 7 Scenography (Petrina Dawn Tan) 6 Multimedia /Film (Genevieve Peck / Tan Wei Ting) 8 Choreography (Ryan Ang) 7 Total 46/70 (66%) Final Score: … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Never The Bride by The Necessary Stage

Huayi 2023: An Interview with Liang Chi-Ming, director of Godot Theatre Company’s ‘ART’

Over this first weekend of the Esplanade’s 2023 Huayi- Chinese Festival of Arts, the ongoing theme seems to be friendship, with headliner shows Two men, ten years later and Godot Theatre Company’s ART both dealing with the difficulties and nuances of navigating long-term friendships. And it makes perfect sense too – after all, in a world fraught with conflict, we need more friendships built on … Continue reading Huayi 2023: An Interview with Liang Chi-Ming, director of Godot Theatre Company’s ‘ART’