Contributors

Corrie Tan 陳霖靈 is an arts practitioner and researcher from Singapore. She is interested in and works at the intersection of care ethics, collaborative performance practices, and new articulations of arts criticism and writing in Southeast Asia. Her roles shapeshift depending on the context, but she is often an archivist, facilitator and companion to the artists and projects she works with and on. Corrie is completing her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies on the joint degree programme between King’s College London and the National University of Singapore on a President’s Graduate Fellowship. She is associate editor and resident critic with ArtsEquator, assistant editor with independent academic collective AcademiaSG, and is serving on the Future Advisory Board (FAB) of Performance Studies international (PSi). www.corrie-tan.com

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Courtesy of The Finger Players

Citizen X marks the spot for a family treasure none of us can find

By Corrie Tan (2,050 words, 10-minute read) Over the course of Citizen X, my father nudges me in the arm several times, whispering loudly and theatrically: “It’s so similar leh!” All throughout the 75 minutes, he wiggles around in his seat, emitting sighs, laughter, tsk-tsks, and the occasional “wow”. My father – a stoic and …

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Rueyloon from Wild Rice

Podcast 68: Critics Live! Wild Rice’s Merdeka

Theatre critics Corrie Tan, Nabilah Said, Carolyn Oei and Kathy Rowland discuss the recent production of WILD RICE’s Merdeka / 獨立 /சுதந்திரம், in a critics-led post-show conversation held in front of an audience on 19 October 2019 at WILD RICE’s Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre. The Critics Live session is organised by ArtsEquator. The transcript below …

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Photo courtesy of the artist

Transgression, triggers, and the thousand cuts of “Blunt Knife”

By Corrie Tan (2,700 words, 13-minute read) Content Warning: Mentions of a sexual relationship involving a teenager This response contains major spoilers for Blunt Knife by Eng Kai Er and A Doll’s House by Theatre of Europe.   Dear Kai, You invited us to write to you after the performance. So here I am, writing.  …

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Crispian Chan

Podcast 54: “FOUR FOUR EIGHT” by Emergency Stairs

Duration: 41 min As part of ArtsEquator’s Critics Reading Group programme, we got together three arts writers – Corrie Tan, Jocelyn Chng and Loo Zihan – to discuss FOUR FOUR EIGHT by Emergency Stairs. Corrie, Jocelyn and Zihan’s conversation sets the work within the context of Liu Xiaoyi’s experimental oeuvre, and reveals their personal, unique encounters with …

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Tuckys Photography

A surreal “Citizen Dog” sinks its teeth into your soul

By Corrie Tan  (1,540 words, eight-minute read) Halfway through The Finger Players’ trippy, darkly comic Citizen Dog, I pause to consider the philosopher Zhuangzi’s anecdote on how we construct our realities: Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was …

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Tuckys Photography

“Underclass” twists the knife in your middle-class guilt

Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to watch Underclass, please note that this review discusses certain plot points. By Corrie Tan (2,200 words, 11-minute read) You know that auntie. You’ve waved her off at the hawker centre, or maybe you’ve apologised, under your breath, because “I already have tissue”. You’ve plotted paths of avoidance around her …

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Crispian Chan

Podcast 38: “Underclass《贱民》” Interview with Alvin Tan, Kok Heng Leun, and Teo You Yenn

Duration: 43 min The latest collaborative production between Singapore theatre companies Drama Box and The Necessary Stage is Underclass 《贱民》, which explores poverty, inequality and human dignity in Singapore. It runs from 16 May to 3 June 2018. In this podcast interview, Corrie Tan convenes Alvin Tan, artistic director of The Necessary Stage, Kok Heng Leun, …

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Courtesy of Objectifs

Art That Moves: Burmese Photojournalist Minzayar Oo

By Corrie Tan (2,400 words, 12-minute read) Art that Moves is an occasional series where we ask artists and other creative workers to reflect on artworks, performances or events that were personally important to them. Minzayar Oo is a Burmese photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Yangon, Myanmar, and represented by Panos Pictures. He studied …

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Photos by Tuckys Photography, Courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Life isn’t a beach in “Einstein in the Carpark”

By Corrie Tan (1,300 words, eight-minute read) This review has been translated into Mandarin by Liu Xiaoyi, artistic director of Emergency Stairs. Read his translation here. If the avant garde director Robert Wilson died and went to purgatory, Einstein in the Carpark is probably where he’d end up. Part performance, part installation, part misshapen creature stitched together …

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Courtesy of Sarah and Schooling

“Out of Print”: classic Singaporean texts get a contemporary makeover

By Corrie Tan (1,300 words, eight-minute read) We’ve all met the gaze of this pair of narrow, red-pupilled eyes – whether with a torchlight under the bedcovers, or in school, snuck into class beneath a desk. The predatory stare on the cover of Russell Lee’s True Singapore Ghost Stories still follows us from the shelves …

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