★★★★☆ Review: Told By My Mother by Ali Chahrour

Personal tragedy against international conflict highlights the inconceivable human losses sustained in war. Personal tragedy set against the backdrop of national collapse — Told By My Mother, by Lebanese choreographer Ali Chahrour, is an aching testament to the unimaginable losses endured in times of war. No parent should ever have to bury a child. Yet in conflict, this reversal of nature becomes grotesquely common, and … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Told By My Mother by Ali Chahrour

★★★★☆ Review: Umbilical by Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem

The birth, merger, separation, independence and future of Singapore are told through immersive video, sound and absurdly arresting performance. The title Umbilical brings to mind the most primal of bonds: a baby’s connection to its mother before the cord is cut. And in this multi-sensory, deeply symbolic performance by artists Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod, and thesupersystem, that connection becomes a potent metaphor for Singapore’s own … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Umbilical by Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem

★★☆☆☆ Review: Animal Farm by The Finger Players

All puppets are equal, but some are more equal than others, in The Finger Players’ messy adaptation of Orwell’s classic. Ever since it hit bookstores, George Orwell’s Animal Farm has risen to fame as a ferocious allegory of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism, now studied across schools and touted as a timeless, universal cautionary tale about how revolutions may lead to the … Continue reading ★★☆☆☆ Review: Animal Farm by The Finger Players

SIFA 2025: An Interview with creator Manuela Infante on ‘Vampyr’

Previously in Singapore in 2017, Chilean playwright and director Manuela Infante returns for the 2025 edition of the Singapore International Festival of Arts with Vampyr, the third part of her trilogy exploring the non-human that started with Estado Vegetal and How to Turn to Stone. Where the two previous shows explored plant consciousness and geology respectively, Vampyr instead turns its attention to something that seems … Continue reading SIFA 2025: An Interview with creator Manuela Infante on ‘Vampyr’

SIFA 2025: An Interview with co-creators Alan Oei and Kaylene Tan on ‘A Thousand Stitches’

In A Thousand Stitches, a portrait of a Japanese woman, Mizuki, becomes the heart of a haunting narrative about war, propaganda, and human connection. Emma, an art conservation student, restores the painting, and finds herself drawn into Mizuki’s story, enigmatic artist Huang Wei, and the turbulent years of Japanese-occupied Singapore (then Syonan-to). Premiering as part of the 2025 Singapore International Festival of Arts, A Thousand … Continue reading SIFA 2025: An Interview with co-creators Alan Oei and Kaylene Tan on ‘A Thousand Stitches’

SIFA 2025: An Interview with creator Geoff Sobelle on ‘HOME’

When does a house become a home? That is the central question in American theatremaker Geoff Sobelle’s HOME, an innovative, richly imaginative performance and act of theatrical spectacle that sees a house materialise before the audience, rising swiftly like a time-lapse sequence. Over time, the residents inhabit it, move in and out, build and break it, and leave behind traces of their past, present, and … Continue reading SIFA 2025: An Interview with creator Geoff Sobelle on ‘HOME’

Review: The Sea and the Neighbourhood by Singapore International Festival of Arts

Multidisciplinary performance in the heartlands marks a sweaty start to 2025 edition of SIFA, with little consideration for the spatial limitations of an outdoor venue and an ill-fated attempt to make art ‘accessible’. Bedok was one of the earliest documented places in Singapore, fast growing from its origins as a Malay and Orang Laut-inhabited fishing village, to becoming one of the most heavily populated heartland … Continue reading Review: The Sea and the Neighbourhood by Singapore International Festival of Arts

★★★★★ Review: The Phantom of the Opera by Base Entertainment Asia

40 years on, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best musical continues to haunt theatres with its spellbinding soundtrack and standout performances. After a six-year wait, The Phantom of the Opera is finally back in Singapore, and it proves that, even at 40 years old, this iconic musical continues to captivate new audiences. For many who have only ever heard of its greatness or watched videos on YouTube, … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: The Phantom of the Opera by Base Entertainment Asia

T:>Works launches new DnA Fest to celebrate 40th anniversary

Marking its 40th anniversary, Singapore’s independent international arts company T:>Works, presents DnA Fest. Conceived and directed by T:>Works Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen, DnA Fest cracks open Henry Purcell’s 1688 Dido and Aeneas, reinterpreting the baroque opera through a dialogue between opera, nightlife, cabaret, documentary film, and a live DJ score. Unfolding across two weekends, 16-19 and 23-26 July, DnA Fest is a thrilling triptych … Continue reading T:>Works launches new DnA Fest to celebrate 40th anniversary

SIFA 2025: An Interview with Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem on ‘Umbilical’

In an age of rapid progress, history can slip through our fingers. Premiering as part of the 2025 Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), Zul Mahmod, Rizman Putra, and thesupersystem (Heider Ismail) invite us to Umbilical, a multi-faceted performance that invites us into the depths of memory, identity, and the subtle violence of separation, excavating the history of the Causeway as Singapore turns 60. Umbilical … Continue reading SIFA 2025: An Interview with Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem on ‘Umbilical’