Duration: 45 minutes Theatre practitioner, manager, educator Noorlinah Mohamed joins podcast co-hosts Kathy Rowland and Matthew Lyon in a discussion about their favourite shows of 2016. Listen in to find out which productions and performances caught their attention and why. Stream Podcast 9: Download Podcast 9 here. (right-click and select ‘Save Link As’ on Windows; […]
Podcast 9: 2016 in Theatre Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (1200 words, 12-minute read) 2016 has seen a few biennales taking place in Southeast Asia. While we didn’t manage to attend each and every one of them, we’ve been reading all we could find about them. Here is a round-up of what we’ve come across. 1. Visayas Island Visual Artists Exhibition and Conference
An Atlas of Biennales: International Art Festivals in Asia Pacific 2016 Read More »
By Wei Er Xun, Finalist, Best Essay by an Emerging Art Writer Competition* (2700 words, 30-minute read) Introduction The stakes of exhibitions have always been high. Before the advent of the cinema, television and other mass media, large-scale exhibitions and world expos were primary sites for cultural exchange. As Maria Lind explains in a text
Singapore Biennale 2016: A/political Performance – Atlas of Mirrors in Context Read More »
Duration: 50 minutes Podcast co-hosts Kathy Rowland and Matt Lyon are joined by LASALLE School of Dance programme leader Melissa Quek, dance critic and educator Stephanie Burridge, and alumni of LASALLE’s School of Dance, Meta Setiawan, as they recap the past year in dance productions: their favourite shows of 2016, how Singapore audiences have received them, the
Podcast 8: 2016 in Dance Read More »
RICHARD III 《理查三世》by The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat 22 – 25 Dec Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre In Mandarin with English and Mandarin surtitles, this rendition of Shakespeare’s historical classic about the ruthless and ambitious Richard III celebrates the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. It marks the concluding production of the Shakespeare 400
19 – 25 Dec: Malaysia Read More »
Mulan the Musical at Resorts World Sentosa Runs until 5 Feb 2017 In Mandarin with English surtitles, this rendition of the legend of Hua Mulan is a musical comedy from Taiwan that is quite different from the more popular Disney version. Features “Singapore-inspired” songs, local performers Pierre Png and Ann Kok, and Taiwanese vocalists Zhou Ding
19 – 25 Dec 2016: Singapore Read More »
Tags: Malaysian literature Speculative Fiction Zen Cho
Interview with Zen Cho, Malaysian speculative fiction novelist Read More »
By Akanksha Raja and Kathy Rowland (1010 words, 15-minute read) There was a distinct absence of PowerPoint presentations at the Asia Pacific Network for Cultural Education and Research (ANCER) 2016 Research Camp, held at LASALLE College of the Arts from 18 – 20 November 2016. The opening speaker, Antariksa, co-founder of KUNCI Cultural Studies Centre from Yogyakarta,
ANCER Research Camp 2016: Collective Creative Practices in Southeast Asia Read More »
Tags: Migrant Worker Poetry Competition The Straits Times
Winning Poems of Migrants Read More »
In Search of Salt by Passerby Projects at Centre 42, 16 – 17 Dec This original play staged by performance collective Passerby Projects was written to pass the Bechdel Test and will be performed in a theatre-in-the-round setting. It’s a mystery-thriller story revolving around a girl trying to uncover the meaning behind messages she receives from
12 – 18 Dec 2016: Singapore Read More »
Tags: Kampot Writers and Readers Festival Literary Festivals
Phnom Penh Post reviews Kampot Writers and Readers Festival 2016 Read More »
Axiomatic by Asia Duo Dance Company Damansara Performing Arts Centre, 16 – 18 Dec Two award winning dancer-choreographers Fairul Zahid (from KL, Malaysia) & Yachao Zhu (from Beijing, China) show their work together on this night of contemporary dance. More information. Afterwork, group exhibition at Ilham Gallery 18 Dec 2016 – 16 Apr 2017 Afterwork
12 – 18 Dec 2016: Malaysia Read More »
Tags: LGBT M1 Singapore Fringe Festival Tan Liting
Interview: Tan Liting, “Pretty Butch” at M1 Fringe Festival 2017 Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (810 words, 8-minute read) First screened at the International Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 this summer, A Yellow Bird is K Rajagopal’s first feature film after many acclaimed, award-winning short films. His body of work shows a concern for the lives of Indians in Singapore, drawing from his experience
Outside Looking In: “A Yellow Bird” Read More »
Cheng Ran: In Course of the Miraculous (Southeast Asian premiere) by Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore Sunday 11 Dec 2016, 11am-9pm Following its world premiere at the 14th Istanbul Biennial in 2015, and screenings at Art Basel, K11 Art Foundation in Hong Kong and across China earlier this year, this 9-hour film will have its
5 – 11 Dec 2016: Singapore Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (1000 words, 8-minute read) When SRT Artistic Director Gaurav Kripalani revealed that the Media Development Authority approved of Disgraced without making any edits to the script, in answer to a question about censorship, there was an audible gasp from the audience at the post-show dialogue on 22 November. Regulatory authorities are known
Losing My Religion: “Disgraced” by SRT Read More »
Malaysian political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, known as Zunar, speaks with the New York Times about the dangers of self-censorship, and continuing make art in the face of possible imprisonment.
NYT: A Malaysian Political Cartoonist on Facing His Fears, and Prison, for Art Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (530 words, 5-minute read) Blue Bean Productions’ maiden show Dear Jay was spawned from a series of e-mail exchanges between producer and lead actor Benedict Leong and playwright Euginia Tan, about personal experiences coping with mental illness. They had met while working on the Twenty-Something Theatre Festival in June 2016, him as assistant producer of the
Preview: Dear Jay by Blue Bean Productions Read More »
Duration: 30 minutes Michael Ng, who reviewed the 20th Anniversary production of Family for bakchormeeboy joins podcast co-hosts Kathy Rowland and Matt Lyon in a discussion about the staging history of Family, and the relevance of the play today. Opening music by Caspar Productions. Stream Podcast 7: To download Podcast 7, right-click here and select ‘Save Link
Podcast 7: The Second Breakfast Company’s Family by Leow Puay Tin Read More »
Projek Suitcase 2016: Metamorphosis by Teater Ekamatra 30 Nov – 4 Dec, from 7:30pm In the latest edition of Teater Ekamatra, 16 performing artists or performance makers across disciplines and genres have been invited to stage 8 monologues over 2 days at Aliwal Arts Centre. Exploring a multitude of issues and themes, the festival is
28 Nov – 4 Dec 2016: Singapore Read More »
Thai art platform Onarto explores the late King’s prolific art practice, including sculpture, music and photography.
The Art of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej Read More »
Meta’s Top Picks in Bali, Jakarta, and Bandung from 28 November – 4 December Meta is a freelance arts administrator and a traveling yogi. She spent 16 years of her life as an art practitioner and the last few years as an arts administrator. Her first love in the arts is dance. She left her heart
28 Nov – 4 Dec 2016: Indonesia Read More »
By Matt Lyon (482 words, 6-minute read) Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, a modern tragedy about the fall of an apostate Muslim-American lawyer, is a notable inheritor of the realist theatrical tradition. Sadly, it inherits the worst traits: Ibsen’s machine-cut-jigsaw plotting and Shaw’s parliamentary-debate dialogue. To be fair, Akhtar recognises that his play might engender a “stilted
Low Octane: SRT’s Disgraced Read More »
Umapagan Ampikaipakan catches up with Lionel Shriver at the Singapore Writers Festival 2016 and together they discuss her controversial comments on cultural appropriation and the future of America under Trump.
BFM Malaysia: Podcast interview with Lionel Shriver Read More »
