What the Arts in Malaysia Needs: More Transparency, Less Intermediaries
By Kathy Rowland (2145 words, 8 minute read) 2 July 2018 – The receding brown moon on millions of Malaysians’ fingernails are a biological marker of the eight weeks since the end of the Najib administration. These past 55 days…
Art That Moves: Marc Nair
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. Marc Nair, poet and photographer, is producer of Note for Note: #Skintones, an…
…Sodade… at SIFA 2018
An enchanting French evening of aerial circus performed to live music. …Sodade… is a nostalgic ode to life, a fable of love and loss in the air as told by two musicians playing and singing on a unique circus structure…
SIFA 2018: Walking death’s footsteps in Zelda Tatiana Ng’s “0600”
0600 is named for the time that executions are carried out. What makes an artist take on the polarising topic of the death penalty in Singapore? Zelda Tatiana Ng has been a fixture in the Singapore performing arts scene for…
Esplanade Presents The Studios: Between Living and Dying
If life is fleeting and death is certain, how do we make our days count? Over five productions, The Studios invites us to confront this question in our everyday. In this year’s series, Esplanade takes on the theme “Between Living and Dying” …
Theatre Reviews: Last Word or the Start of a Conversation
On Sunday, 28 January, 3pm, ArtsEquator held its first public forum, “Theatre Reviews: Last Word or the Start of a Conversation”, featuring British theatre critic Lyn Gardner, M1 Singapore Fringe Festival director Sean Tobin, ArtsEquator’s guest editor Corrie Tan, and…
Gaurav Kripalani: a new festival director plots a different path
By Corrie Tan (3,890 words, 20-minute read) A few days after the launch of the 2018 edition of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), I had coffee with newly minted festival director Gaurav Kripalani to discuss the programme he’s…
Ong Keng Sen: educating the curator; curating the everyday
By Corrie Tan (4,360 words, 25-minute read) I sat down with Ong Keng Sen after the conclusion of the first edition of the Curators Academy, which ran from 24 to 28 January. Organised by TheatreWorks, the academy sought to establish…
A Short History of the Singaporean Pantomime
By Corrie Tan (2094 words, 20-minute read) The pantomime has come to be associated with a set of recognisable traits: traditionally staged during the winter festive season, they are musical comedies based on folk stories and fairy tales, stuffed with…
Asian Dramaturgs’ Network in Adelaide: Getting Messy to Make Sense
By Kathy Rowland (770 words, 5 minute read) The Asian Dramaturgs’ Network, launched in April 2016 in Singapore by dance dramaturg Lim How Ngean, has quickly extended its regional footprint this year with meetings in Yokohama and Australia. Its Satellite Symposium…
Ken Takiguchi: A Dramaturg’s Sanctuary
by Leow Puay Tin (1030 words, 7-minute read) The Necessary Stage, in collaboration with HANCHU-YUEI, one of Tokyo’s most innovative theatre companies, brings us a work that explores the digital remains of life after death in another thought provoking work, “Sanctuary”…
“Off Kilter”: Interview with Ramesh Meyyappan by Stephanie Burridge
By Stephanie Burridge (710 words, 6-minute read) 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…
The Benefits of Multitasking, and then Hoarding, in the Case of Alvin Tan
This article is one of three pieces on ArtsEquator this week focusing on the people, plays and processes of The Necessary Stage, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Aside from Felipe Cervera’s profile of Alvin Tan, we also feature Akanksha Raja’s personal reflection on Off Centre, and an interview with…
Photo Essay: Backstage Pass to Wild Rice’s “La Cage Aux Folles”
Photography By Zane Gan, text by Sean Ghazi Photographer Zane Gan tracks Sean Ghazi, who plays George in Wild Rice’s La Cage Aux Folles, capturing the camaraderie, rituals and water bottles that keep the show going on. The hit musical,…
Faith in Tokyo: A review of ‘Nadirah’ and ‘Family’
by Mio Yachita (1,260 words, 10 minute read) 2016 was a busy year for theatregoers in Japan, and an especially fruitful one for those with an interest in Malaysia. The Kyoto Experiment 2016 (22 Oct – 13 Nov) featured the…
When Your Privates Become Public: From Synge to M1 Fringe
By Corrie Tan (2043 words, 15-minute read) It was January 26, 1907, a Saturday night in Dublin, Ireland. Audience members, rowdy and revolted, were pouring out of the Abbey Theatre after the premiere of playwright J. M. Synge’s The Playboy…
Preview: Dear Jay by Blue Bean Productions
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…
Safe Space: Southeast Asia Choreolab
By Bilqis Hijjas (1536, 20-minute read) The recent US election has Bilqis Hijjas reflecting on the politics of minority safe spaces and her Southeast Asian identity. In the weeks since the US election, I have had ample opportunity to ponder…
Changing Notions: On the Back of a Raging Bull
by Pawit Mahasarinan (1045 words, 12-minute read) Asian works were part of the main programme in this 50-year-old festival From 24 September to 2 October 2016, the jubilee edition of the Belgrade International Theatre Festival (BITEF) with the subtitle “On…