(Episode 1) What’s in a Scene – 《大狗民》Citizen Dog by The Finger Players
In this episode, Liu Xiaoyi and Oliver Chong unpack a scene from The Finger Players 十指帮 ‘s 《大狗民》Citizen Dog and talk about the set design, costume design and more. Inspired by Liaozhai, Citizen Dog is an absurd tale of desires in their…
Harrowing and sublime: Topography of Breath 2.0 by Pat Toh
By Chan Sze-Wei (739 words, 4-minute read) In grainy close up, we see segmented views of one woman, fighting to breathe with every fibre of her sinewy body. She grunts, writhes, sweats, hyperventilates. Her body multiplies by video effect but…
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Nanyin
10 Things is a series of three short animated videos, each focusing on a lesser known traditional artform – Dikir Barat, Kavadi Attam and Nanyin. In the second part of this series, we share 10 things about Nanyin. The video…
Year-end SIFA Spotlight: 5 things you should catch
The unabashedly virtual edition of SIFA just launched its slate of year-end programmes, marked by dreamy and lush audioscapes, compelling narratives, and encounters with the audience in places both personal and private. We recommend five events to catch. A Bird…
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Dikir Barat
Most Singaporeans recognise traditional artforms such as Bharatanatyam, wayang kulit and wushu. However, there are many other interesting forms which may not be as known, especially to the younger generation. 10 Things is a series of three short…
Bird is the word: Peepbird by The Finger Players
By Nabilah Said (950 words, 4-minute read) If hope is a thing with feathers, then Peepbird, a 60-minute-long non-verbal show, would be it. This offering by The Finger Players was my first live theatre show since COVID – the one…
From Here On: Going to the theatre in the time of COVID
By Jocelyn Chng (1,550 words, 5-minute read) Attending From Here On, my first live performance since COVID hit, evoked a very strange mix of emotions in me. Unfortunately, before getting anywhere near the performance itself, the experience of attempting to…
Scene and Heard: Ritirong Jiwakanon, Theatre Designer
(1,350 words, 5-minute read) My name is Ritirong Jiwakanon. And my nickname – all Thai people have nicknames – is Hong. I live in Bangkok. I teach in Chulalongkorn University, in the Faculty of Arts. Actually originally I’m from Yala…
Podcast 81: King and The Book of Mothers
In this month’s theatre podcast, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss two plays from the Festival of Women: N.O.W. 2020: King, written and performed by Jo Tan and directed by Jasmine Ng; and The Book of Mothers, written…
Jatiwangi Art Factory: Cultural work that breaks the mould
By Nia Agustina, translation by Eka Wahyuni (1,980 words, 6-minute read) In one corner of West Java, Indonesia, in the Majalengka Regency, a group of volunteers work hand in hand to distribute Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), groceries, food, and medical…
Singular Screens – Cinema, the way you want it
As Singapore gets used to life under Phase 2 of our COVID-19 relaxation measures, players like Singapore Festival of the Arts (SIFA) – or its gentle rebrand SIFA v2.020 – are responding with programmes that are welcoming us back into…
ArtsEquator, Deadline Now
by Kathy Rowland ArtsEquator sometimes feels like a mythical creature. Looking back over the past 4 years, it takes the shape of a unicorn, a joyful improbability. With Covid-19, it can weigh like an albatross, cash flow statements instead of…
An Elder Millennial’s Guide to Classic Singapore TV & Movies
By Joel Tan Okay, as if we needed another existential crisis during the Pandemic of 2020, more than a hundred classic Singapore TV shows and movies just got dumped on Netflix. For our younger Gen Z readers who grew up…
Pandemic in the Philippines: A cultural sector on its own
By Katrina Stuart Santiago (2,200 words, 8-minute read) When I was first asked to write about “cultural leadership” in the Philippines, I turned up a blank. This is not because we lack cultural institutions that get public funding—we in fact,…
Imperial Creatures: Singapore beyond ‘great men’ history
Singapore’s bicentennial year in 2019 sparked great discussion and debate about the legacies of imperialism and colonialism, which continues till today, in step with larger conversations happening globally around decolonisation, indigeneity and civil rights. With the third edition of The…
Orang Phebien: Telling the story of the Baweanese
Lesser known narratives involving migration in Singapore are in the spotlight with The Arts House’ latest edition of LumiNation. A new webisode series focusing on the Baweanese community in Singapore recently premiered with its first episode on August 1. The…
Burning Questions: Can Critics Criticise during a Pandemic?
As the work of artists evolve with the restrictions of COVID-19, do critics also need to reassess how they look at performance? Four critics, Loo Zihan, Teo Xiao Ting, Jocelyn Chng and Germaine Cheng discuss their responses as more and…
Vietnam’s visual arts and COVID-19
By Quyen Hoang (2,100 words, 8-minute read) On a rainy evening towards the end of May 2020, it seemed like Saigon’s most dapper guys and modish gals all flocked to Galerie Quynh. What was buzzing inside the gallery’s three-storey space…
Singapore Street Art: The Legal Rebels (Part 2)
Artist Sam Lo gained notoriety in 2012 after getting arrested for stencilling the phrase ‘My Grandfather Road’ on a public road. The incident was highly publicised, leading to debates about the line between vandalism and creative expression. Now, eight years later,…
Emotional asymptotes in Checkpoint Theatre’s The Heart Comes to Mind
By Ke Weiliang (2,500 words, 8-minute read) Sunday, 7 June 2020 circa 1230 hrs I press the ‘play’ button on The Heart Comes to Mind for the first time. As per director Claire Wong’s suggestion, I grab my favourite…
Singapore Street Art: The Legal Rebels (Part 1)
Artist Sam Lo gained notoriety in 2012 after getting arrested for stencilling the phrase ‘My Grandfather Road’ on a public road. The incident was highly publicised, leading to debates about the line between vandalism and creative expression, and the monicker…
The working processes of artists: NADA
Artists Rizman Putra and Safuan Johari of the duo NADA talk about the evolution of their artistic practice, from being a fictional band at the Malay Heritage Centre to becoming an international art/music juggernaut. In this video, they share more…
M1 CONTACT: Dance artists talk mental health
Four artists, Ruby Jayaseelan, Irfan Kasban, Fabio Liberti and Xenres Kirishima Chi Ji Hong, get personal as they talk about mental health issues in relation to works they have been developing for M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival. Ruby and Irfan…
The working processes of artists: Kavitha Krishnan
Kavitha Krishnan, creative director and co-founder of Maya Dance Theatre, shares about her start in the traditional dance form Bharatanatyam, and how she also incorporates contemporary techniques and practices into the company’s work. This video is conceptualised and directed by…
Coronalogues, pandemic spectatorship (and the critic)
By Nabilah Said and Corrie Tan (5,950 words, 20-minute read) Spoiler Alert: This text contains spoilers for The Coronologues: Silver Linings by The Singapore Repertory Theatre and Long Distance Affair by Juggerknot Theatre Company and PopUP Theatrics. To view this…
Seasons of Love: Southeast Asia-style
It started out as a “small project” amongst friends. Peter Ong, a musical theatre performer based in Malaysia, wanted to do a recording of the song Seasons of Love, from the musical Rent by Jonathan Larson, to create a message of…
Is this thing on? Singapore theatre in the midst of a pandemic
By Nabilah Said (3,200 words, 10-minute read) “Boosted by online efforts, support for Singapore theatre through the roof.” That would be a dream headline, wouldn’t it? Bit lengthy, sure – but it would tell us that the theatrical technological shift…
The working processes of artists: Lim Ai Hooi
Choral conductor Lim Ai Hooi deconstructs the visible and less visible aspects of her work, from how to read notations on a score to the gestures she uses, and how this can reach the hearts of the audience. This video…
From dream to dystopia: The cultural critic in the age of pandemic
By Katrina Stuart Santiago (1,000 words, 6-minute read) February 2020 seems like years ago, and it feels like escapism to even go back to that time. To some extent, it’s almost like a dream, where for over a week, one…
Reading in isolation: Tiffany Tsao’s The Majesties
By Kathy Rowland (760 words, 4-minute read) This review may contain spoilers. Tiffany Tsao’s The Majesties begins with a horrific mass murder. Three hundred guests at the 80th birthday of Irwan Sulinado are poisoned, deadly fungi slipped into the shark’s…