Preview: Playwrights’ Cove 2024 by The Necessary Stage

Race and religion. Love and death. Community and loneliness. These are just some of the thought-provoking themes explored in a series of bold and promising works-in-progress by the participants of The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) Playwrights’ Cove 2024, to be presented as dramatised readings from 21 to 24 November 2024. This iteration of Playwrights’ Cove is the company’s third iteration of the much sought after playwriting … Continue reading Preview: Playwrights’ Cove 2024 by The Necessary Stage

Preview: White, All White by The Necessary Stage

This October, get ready as The Necessary Stage (TNS) presents White, All White, a new play by TNS Associate Artist Deonn Yang, who also directs. Marking TNS’ first main season production helmed entirely by Deonn, White, All White is a life-affirming play that delves into the joys and tensions of family and personal dreams, giving audiences a glimpse into the quiet lives of a family … Continue reading Preview: White, All White by The Necessary Stage

★★★★☆ Review: Hi, Can You Hear Me? by The Necessary Stage

Hell lies somewhere between a bar and a breakout room. Considering that we live in a world ravaged by war, beset by pandemics, and face unprecedented climate change that brings with it the assurance of disaster, it’s not entirely surprising that something eventually breaks inside us from how overwhelming it can all be. But when faced with such existential anxiety – do we end up … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: Hi, Can You Hear Me? by The Necessary Stage

Of Disasters and Carrying On: An Interview with co-directors A Yagnya and Alvin Tan on The Necessary Stage’s ‘Hi, Can You Hear Me?’

There are days the COVID-19 pandemic feels like a distant fever dream, a time where everyone was touting the ‘new normal’ when it seemed we would never wake from it. But as suddenly as it came, everything seemed to disappear again when we opened up to the world again, and we entered a new era of chaos. Previously glued to our phones, we saw countries … Continue reading Of Disasters and Carrying On: An Interview with co-directors A Yagnya and Alvin Tan on The Necessary Stage’s ‘Hi, Can You Hear Me?’

Preview: Hi, Can You Hear Me? by The Necessary Stage

A mysterious tiger who runs a bar in limbo. Guan Yin caught in a loop of death and rebirth. A man whose memory fails him while being taken care of by an AI. Post-traumatic boredom, and uncontrollable life within a hotel room. These are just some of the strange characters and phenomena that inhabit The Necessary Stage’s latest play, Hi, Can You Hear Me? Written … Continue reading Preview: Hi, Can You Hear Me? by The Necessary Stage

★★★★★ Review: Oo-Woo by The Necessary Stage

Love is sometimes about making difficult choices. Every Singaporean knows about the koel bird – even if you’ve never seen it, you’ve certainly heard it in the wee hours of the morning, crying ‘oo-woo!’ repeatedly at the top of its lungs. But what exactly is it trying to convey in those cries? From writer Raimi Safari and director Mohd Fared Jainal, the koel is the … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: Oo-Woo by The Necessary Stage

★★★☆☆ Review: Here Where You Were by Matter.Less

A forum theatre primer on how to begin processing suicide. The forum theatre format has long been used as a form of empowerment, giving audience members the power of choice to change the narrative of a play when invited to step in and make major decisions. Often, this has been used to address key social issues, and give ordinary viewers the realisation that they do … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Review: Here Where You Were by Matter.Less

★★☆☆☆ Review: Thom Paine (Based on Nothing) by Edith Podesta, Yarra Ileto, and NAFA

Expansion of one-man show into ensemble piece becomes confusing mess. When Thom Pain (based on nothing) premiered in 2004, the one-man show received rave reviews and was described to be unlike anything else at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that year. It’s a rather odd but endearing sounding script, wherein the long-suffering protagonist recounts the story of a bee sting, a boy with a dog that … Continue reading ★★☆☆☆ Review: Thom Paine (Based on Nothing) by Edith Podesta, Yarra Ileto, and NAFA

★★★★★ Review: SAME SAME by Dame de Pic/Cie Karine Ponties & Temporary Collective

But different. Modern day office work can be a slog – from the day to day commute to the facetious performance we put on in front of our colleagues, to the droll routines and the pressure of climbing the corporate ladder. As a result, burnout is almost always lurking around the corner, threatening to rear its head and bring us crashing down. But perhaps there … Continue reading ★★★★★ Review: SAME SAME by Dame de Pic/Cie Karine Ponties & Temporary Collective

★★★★☆ Review: aMoratorium by J’Sun Howard

Haunted by history and healing through community and care. Merely being a minority in a country can feel like a daily battle, constantly waking up and dreading the little microaggressions or worse one might face in the day. Not only that, but as a Black person in America, one also bears the gravity of Black history in one’s very existence, carrying it in the body, … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Review: aMoratorium by J’Sun Howard