Preview: The Necessary Stage presents showcases for Devising with Actors and Playwrights 2023

To round off the year, The Necessary Stage (TNS) is presenting an exciting lineup of works-in-progress by the latest batch of creatives from its Devising with Actors and Playwrights (DAP) workshops. Led by Resident Playwright and Cultural Medallion recipient Haresh Sharma, Devising with Actors and Playwrights 2023 is part of TNS’ devising platform and sees 20 theatre-makers undergo an intensive training programme over a six-month … Continue reading Preview: The Necessary Stage presents showcases for Devising with Actors and Playwrights 2023

★★★★★ Review: Cabaret by Sing’theatre

Love and survival in the Weimar Republic. In a country with strict rules and authoritarian government, where does one find peace, comfort and release? The answer to that lies in the freedom of a club, offering a safe space for self-expression, for entertainment at the end of a long day, and perhaps even to learn something new, as encapsulated in Kander and Ebb’s classic musical … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Cabaret by Sing’theatre

★★★☆☆ Review: Immortal Variables (八仙变数) by Nine Years Theatre and Hsing Legend Youth Theatre (Contemporary Legend Theatre)

Double crossing moles and a convoluted revenge plots weigh down this cross-country collaborative effort. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, international theatre collaborations are few and far between. But with things finally more or less back to normal, opportunities have risen once again for old friendships to be reignited, and projects once shelved to be put back on the production line once more. In the works since … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Immortal Variables (八仙变数) by Nine Years Theatre and Hsing Legend Youth Theatre (Contemporary Legend Theatre)

Zuni Icosahedron and NAFA co-present three shows in Singapore in association with new BA (Hons) Chinese Contemporary Theatres programme

Hong Kong’s renowned avant-garde theater company, Zuni Icosahedron, and Singapore’s pioneer arts institution, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), are set to co-present the triplebill production “One Table Two Chairs” to kick start a three-year strategic collaboration and endorse NAFA’s new programme, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Contemporary Chinese Theatres (BACCT). The degree is conferred by the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS), where NAFA is … Continue reading Zuni Icosahedron and NAFA co-present three shows in Singapore in association with new BA (Hons) Chinese Contemporary Theatres programme

Preview: Happy Indian Women by The Necessary Stage

Following a five-star performance in Wild Rice’s Psychobitch, theatremaker and The Necessary Stage (TNS) Associate Artist Sindhura Kalidas is back this November to wrap up her 2023 with a brand new show: Happy Indian Women. Written by Sindhura, and co-directed by Sindhura and TNS Resident Playwright Haresh Sharma, Happy Indian Women is a new verbatim theatre production that questions the assumptions made about the diverse … Continue reading Preview: Happy Indian Women by The Necessary Stage

Sing’theatre’s Cabaret: An Interview with stars Kimberly Chan, Dwayne Lau, and choreographer Lisa Keegan

“Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome.” Those would be the three immortal words that anyone who’s watched Cabaret will remember in its opening scene, as the Emcee invites the audience to the Kit Kat Club, a decadent underground venue in 1931 Berlin designed for all kinds of seedy entertainment performed under cover of darkness, a celebration of the queer and the outcasts of society. Coming to the Drama … Continue reading Sing’theatre’s Cabaret: An Interview with stars Kimberly Chan, Dwayne Lau, and choreographer Lisa Keegan

★★★☆☆ Review: The Prisoner by Toy Factory

Fast fashion conspiracy theory frames corporate greed as the ultimate evil. In this day and age, evil no longer looks like the devil himself, but often arises in much more innocuous, unexpected forms. And for most people, it might be staring you straight in the face, or in some cases, on your body. Bringing Toy Factory’s The Wright Stuff Festival to a close is Annie … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: The Prisoner by Toy Factory

★★★★☆ Review: Love and Information by SMU StageIt (SMU Arts Fest 2023)

Doomscrolling in pursuit of meaning. Playing as part of SMU Arts Fest 2023, theatre club SMU StageIt’s production of Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information corresponds perfectly well to the festival theme of ‘Post’. Comprising a series of short form vignettes, watching Love and Information feels akin to the flood of posts we’re greeted with each time we open TikTok or Instagram, every story a fleeting … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Love and Information by SMU StageIt (SMU Arts Fest 2023)

★★☆☆☆ Review: Anthropocene by Toy Factory

Heavy-handed messaging about holding on to hope at the end of the world. The anthropocene refers to a time in which human activity has become the primary influence on climate and the environment, where man has fully established control and dominance, as we shape the world in our image. Naturally, playing god when we’re mere mortals has its consequences, something that is explored in new … Continue reading ★★☆☆☆ Review: Anthropocene by Toy Factory

An Interview with writer/director Nelson Chia, and actors Mia Chee and Howie Chu Po-Cheng, on Nine Years Theatre cross-country collaboration ‘Immortal Variables’

In a post-pandemic world slowly but surely finding its way back to the norm, international theatre collaborations are still a rarity, with the strong relationships and high costs that go into such productions. For local theatre company Nine Years Theatre (NYT) however, they’re leading the charge with their upcoming collaborative work – Immortal Variables, an original play co-produced with Hsing Legend Youth Theatre, the youth … Continue reading An Interview with writer/director Nelson Chia, and actors Mia Chee and Howie Chu Po-Cheng, on Nine Years Theatre cross-country collaboration ‘Immortal Variables’