Singapore Archives

“Off Kilter”: Interview with Ramesh Meyyappan by Stephanie Burridge

The Asia Europe Foundation’s Culture360 and ArtsEquator present a series of 5 co-commissioned articles that look at arts groups, artists and performances in Southeast Asia that are comprised of or address artists with disabilities. In this article, Stephanie Burridge talks with performance-maker Ramesh Meyyappan about inclusivity, the need for hearing and hearing-impaired artists to share the same […]

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2 – 8 October: Singapore

9th Love & Pride Film Festival by Golden Village and Singapore Film Society, various GV cinemas, 27 Sept – 8 Oct Curated by the Singapore Film Society (SFS), Golden Village’s 12-day Love & Pride Film Festival returns for its 9th year, featuring a bold lineup of six internationally acclaimed

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Podcast 27: SIFA 2017 Part 1; Singapore Commissions

Duration: 39 mins Elaine Chiew, Naeem Kapadia, Matt Lyon and Kathy Rowland dissect some of the Singapore-led offerings at the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2017: Becoming Graphic, an original cross-genre commission by Sonny Liew and Edith Podesta, Art Studio by Nine Years Theatre, adapated from the novel by Yeng Pway Ngon, Dragonflies by Pangdemonium, written by resident

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Susan Sentler’s “Roof Response” to Danh Vō at National Gallery Singapore

In what ways does an art institution inhabit the stone mausoleums of two former colonial structures; how can citizens take ownership of those immaculately preserved halls? Susan Sentler trained at the Martha Graham School in New York, danced with the Martha Graham Ensemble and is currently based in Singapore, teaching at LASALLE College of the

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Eisa Jocson: “Macho Dancer” and “Corponomy”

One of the highlights of da:ns festival this year is a double bill by Eisa Jocson, Macho Dancer and Corponomy. While Corponomy is a new commission by the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay for da:ns festival 2017, Macho Dancer is a critically acclaimed piece that has travelled extensively to major international festivals. Philippines-based curator and writer, Eva McGovern-Basa, recently managed and edited an interview

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Podcast 26: Traditional Malay and Chinese Dance in Singapore

Duration: 21 min Dr Stephanie Burridge is joined by Sufri Juwahir, co-founder of Soul Signature, to discuss two shows that took place in August: Era Dance Theatre’s Tumasik – Revisiting History and Rewriting Our Story, and Dance Ensemble Singapore‘s Pulsating Resonance《鸣。鼓》. In reflecting on these performances, the conversation evolves into a larger discussion on the

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“Germinal”: Does consciousness go ‘Poc poc’?

By Isaac Lim (496 words, 4 minute read) In the beginning, there was light. Four characters are glimpsed on a bare stage as it gradually and sporadically lights up. They each hold a portable control board that operates the venue’s lights. They are silent. Then their thoughts appear as words projected on two panels, and

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“Germinal”: Mystery, Science, Theatre

By Patricia Tobin (500 words, 5-minute read) “Are you interested in the first series of major discoveries, such as the law of elementary mechanics?” a friendly voice asks over an intercom. “The wheel, perhaps?” Halory’s three companions shake their heads and he promptly replies, “No.” In classical physics, we deal with the observable world. In

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The Easy Trigger of “Guilty Landscapes III”

By Chan Sze-Wei (920 words, 8-minute read) Given that the publicity synopsis to Dries Verhoeven’s video installation pretty much tells all, I’m surprised by how excited I am by the time I’m finally summoned to enter the heavy white door. A lot of the theatricality in my experience of Guilty Landscapes III is in the anticipation

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“And So You See…”: The Irrational is in the Eye of the Beholder

By Felipe Cervera (1400 words, 10-minute read) It is as if Mozart were able to capture what death sounds like, in those moments when people run around trying to assert themselves in the face of a body that has just ceased to breathe. Personally, it takes just a few notes of his Requiem for me

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SIFA’s “Trojan Women”: An Allegory for Modern Times

By Elaine Chiew (1116 words, 10-minute read) Euripides’ play Trojan Women has been adapted and performed numerous times around the world, from a version written by Jean Paul Sartre to American playwright Charles Mee’s 2003 adaptation that included Holocaust and Hiroshima testimonials. [1] This time, it has been given a Korean pansori makeover by SIFA

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Podcast 25: Tapestry Playback Theatre

Duration: 17 mins Ahead of their upcoming performance this weekend titled Does It Matter?, we spoke with Michael Cheng, artistic director of Tapestry Playback Theatre, on his journey with the company, and the unique aspects of the playback theatre form as an art for social change. Stream Podcast 25: Download Podcast 25 here. (right-click and select ‘Save

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Podcast 24: Singapore Repertory Theatre’s “Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress”

Duration: 30 mins Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia are back in the studio again to discuss yet another Singapore-bred musical: Singapore Repertory Theatre’s re-staging of the acclaimed Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress. Having run from 8 to 27 August 2017, this year’s production is its fourth iteration since its premiere at the Opening Festival of the Esplanade

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“Germinal”: Metaphysical Magnificence

By Naeem Kapadia (738 words, 7-minute read) What are human beings without language, possessions and a sense of time and place? How do we make sense of our surroundings? Stripped of all trappings of civilisation, can one start from scratch and create a brand new world with form and function? This unique, challenging and wildly

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“Dragonflies”: The Foreseeable Truth Hurts

By Isaac Lim (514 words, 5-minute read) A large red-orange hued, tile-patterned cloth dramatically falls in a Kabuki drop, then rain falls on stage. The year is 2022, Brexit is complete and Trump has won a second term. The stage is set for a showdown between ‘the locals’ and ‘the foreigners’. Dragonflies, written by Pangdemonium’s

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“Dragonflies”: A Migrant Dreams For Home

By: Patricia Tobin (500 words, 5-minute read) We are no different from dragonflies. With their tiny transparent wings flapping at 30 beats per second, these creatures travel thousands of kilometers to reproduce, to find a new home, to fight for their survival. This is what Pangdemonium’s Dragonflies alludes to: like dragonflies, our existence is dependent

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“The Little Child”: Well-Crafted Wonder of Puppetry

By Soumya Varma (985 words, 9-minute read) Illness, life, death: these performative themes have been explored by theatre makers extensively through the ages. However, what makes The Little Child unique is the imaginative and often whimsical way in which the performance explores the subjects. The director’s choice of puppets and performing objects takes the audience

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The Orange Production: A Double Bill by The Necessary Stage

By Akanksha Raja (800 words, 7-minute read) The Orange Production is The Necessary Stage’s platform for experimental collaborations, producing new, pocket-sized works. This inaugural showcase is a double-bill featuring Drip, by journalist and emerging playwright Nabilah Said, and Whale Fall by Faith Ng. While the two works are vastly different in structure and themes, they

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“Blank Run《空转》” by The Theatre Practice: Repiecing Trauma

By Sherlyn Goh (970 words, 8-minute read) “Can one accurately re-construct an authentic traumatic memory?” Director Kuo Jian Hong posed this question to the audience before the start of the performance. Blank Run《空转》is an attempt to answer this, presented as a raw and visceral recollection of sexual trauma, where a woman pieces together memories that

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“Becoming Graphic”: Life in Graphic Form

By Alvin Lim (1235 words, 10-minute read) Becoming Graphic is both a meditative and mediated performance about living and dying. Commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Arts, graphic novelist Sonny Liew and theatre practitioner Edith Podesta come together to create a cross-disciplinary performance that breaks boundaries. The parallels, and thus the comparisons, between two forms—theatre

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Podcast 23: Human+ by Khairul Kamsani

Duration: 13 min Latest in our Fresh Blood series on young emerging art-makers, we speak to Khairul Kamsani, a independent director who is writing, directing, and producing Human+, a speculative theatre play on the contentious future of our relationship with technology. Inspired by recent developments in the Transhumanist movement, it’s an updated iteration of its

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“Art Studio” by Nine Years Theatre: Back to the Page

By Dan Koh (1,263 words, 12-minute read) “I finally felt that being an artist was a meaningful vocation,” Chua Mia Tee says towards the end of a career-spanning interview.[1] Best known for his 1950s oil paintings Epic Poem of Malaya, National Language Class, and Portrait of Lee Boon Ngan (depicting his wife, also an oil

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“Triple Bill” at M1 Peer Pleasure Festival: Hard Bills to Swallow

By Eugene Koh (924 words, 7-minute read) Triple Bill at the M1 Peer Pleasure Youth Theatre Festival 2017 presents three acts in a single show, each of them presenting different issues that are all extremely timely. Each act in its own way contends with an issue that people try to avoid. Each of these acts is a

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“Hearticulation” and “Speficifisfety”: Between too literal and too abstract

In March 2017, Hokkien Huay Kuan Dance Troupe morphed into Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre, receiving the highest accolade in the history of Singaporean Chinese dance. The only other professional dance company in Singapore bearing the country’s name is Singapore Dance Theatre, the descendant of the ballet group of National Dance Company. Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre’s

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“Army Daze 2”: Green Popcorn, No Crunch

By Naeem Kapadia (960 words, 7-minute read) There’s no denying the impact of Michael Chiang’s Army Daze, which brought the world of national service (NS) to the Singapore stage for the first time in 1987. This light-hearted tale of the misadventures of five recruits as they bungled through Basic Military Training captured the Singapore zeitgeist

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Review of “Frago”: (Army) Lives, Fragmented

By Isaac Lim (562 words, 6-minute read) FRAGO by Checkpoint Theatre tracks a group of NSmen and Regulars, showing that the men, and woman, are all equally struggling with the system here in Singapore. Is that anything new? Jo Tan is on stage, doing standard push-ups that put this reviewer to shame. Then sit-ups, change.

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Review of “Frago”: The Military and the Ordinary

By Patricia Tobin (550 words, 5-minute read) Army exercises are typically perceived as tough, and even mind-numbing with their incessant drills. The monotony of army rounds can be found outside the battlefield too: our personal routines are akin to a civilian regime of sorts. Frago, the latest play by Checkpoint Theatre, directly tackles the contrast

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Podcast 22: Open Homes at SIFA 2017

Duration: 31 min Akanksha Raja speaks with Jeffrey Tan, producer of Open Homes, a theatre-in-the-home experience presented as part of the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2017. Audiences are welcomed into the homes of residents where they enter not only into intimate spaces, but lives, hearts and deeply personal experiences shared through creative storytelling. Joining

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Podcast 21: Masterpiece in Motion 2017; Singapore Dance Theatre

Duration: 25 min Young dancer Adelene Stanley joins Dr Stephanie Burridge to discuss Singapore Dance Theatre’s latest edition of the annual Masterpiece in Motion series, which was a triple-bill of ballet works of a kind that Stephanie describes as “contemporary dance en pointe“. It featured works by George Balanchine, Edwaard Liang and Marius Petipa. Stephanie

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Drama Box’s “The Lesson”: Rehearsal for Life

By Akanksha Raja (860 words, 7-minute read) “By taking possession of the stage, the Spect-Actor is consciously performing a responsible act. The stage is a representation of the reality, a fiction. But the Spect-Actor is not fictional. He exists in the scene and outside of it, in a dual reality. By taking possession of the

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