Reviews Archives

Art Beyond Words: The Struggles and Triumphs of Filipino Artist Nolet Soliven

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, Mark Louie Lugue meets Filipino artist Nolet Soliven and his wife Tosh, to talk about Nolet’s practice, and the challenges […]

Art Beyond Words: The Struggles and Triumphs of Filipino Artist Nolet Soliven Read More »

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

Podcast 21: Masterpiece in Motion 2017; Singapore Dance Theatre Read More »

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

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

Jeannie Ho

“Art as Res Publicae”: Where the Devil was the Devil?

by Kathy Rowland (1102 words, 6 minute read) “In order to change people’s minds, you have to break their hearts”. So said Reverend Miak Siew at O.P.E.N’s curtain raiser, Art as Res Publicae. Unfortunately, there was never any danger of broken hearts. Art as Res Publicae, conceived by O.P.E.N Director Noorlinah Mohamed and SIFA Artistic

“Art as Res Publicae”: Where the Devil was the Devil? Read More »

FRAGO: A tender meditation on our brothers in arms

By Naeem Kapadia (1020 words, 10-minute read) Singapore marks fifty years of national service (NS) this year and it’s only apt that we commemorate this integral aspect of our local culture in the arts. Much focus has been placed on the two years of full-time service and particularly basic military training, a powerful experience that

FRAGO: A tender meditation on our brothers in arms Read More »

Kata Terkesat Dilempar Estragon: Kritik!

I Ia bermula dengan saya tiba lambat ke Meeting of Writers/Critics/Reviewers in Performing Arts di Cafe White Sands, DPAC, Damansara. Di sekeliling meja sudah ada 13 orang membincangkan tentang perbezaan di antara ulasan vs kritikan dan kepentingannya sebagai bahan dokumentasi. Richard Chua dari Theatrex Asia mengendalikan sesi ini. Ini merupakan pertemuan pertama yang tercetus dari

Kata Terkesat Dilempar Estragon: Kritik! Read More »

Art That Moves: Embracing the Off Centre

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. This article is also 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

Art That Moves: Embracing the Off Centre Read More »

“Binary” at M1 Contact Festival 2017: Dream States

By Chloe Calderon Chotrani (870 words, 8-minute read) Culminating the M1 Contact: Contemporary Dance Festival 2017 at Esplanade was Binary: International Artist Showcase. It featured two exquisite pieces Broken Lines by husband and wife, Dimo Kirilov and Tamako Akiyama of Kirilov-Akiyama Dance Projects (Spain) and Zero by Humanhood (U.K) that transported the audience from the black box into

“Binary” at M1 Contact Festival 2017: Dream States Read More »

“Being Haresh Sharma”: Parading a Lifetime of Achievements

By Eugene Koh (970 words, 10-minute read) The stage is bare, somewhat bare, with the lighting set-up visible from the wings and a simple structure fixed upstage that prominently features a wide screen for multimedia projection. At one definitive moment in the play, the multimedia projection zooms in to focus on a young Haresh Sharma

“Being Haresh Sharma”: Parading a Lifetime of Achievements Read More »

W!LD RICE’s “Boeing Boeing”: Comedy Made for Singapore

You can count on W!LD Rice to stage a classic French bedroom farce so Singaporean. After all, it is not where you take things from, it’s where you take them to – and in their fourth staging and latest reimagination of “Boeing Boeing”, director Pam Oei recreates the time-honoured comedy so modern, so cosmopolitan, and

W!LD RICE’s “Boeing Boeing”: Comedy Made for Singapore Read More »

No Escape from the C: Reflections on Censorship and Curation in the Pangrok Sulap case

By Carmen Nge (1110 words, 10-minute read) The dust appears to have settled on the recent controversy surrounding the removal of Malaysian art collective Pangrok Sulap’s artwork Sabah Tanah Air-Ku from the art exhibition, “Escape from the SEA”. Organized by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur (JFKL), “Escape from the SEA” was a group exhibition featuring

No Escape from the C: Reflections on Censorship and Curation in the Pangrok Sulap case Read More »

Just Absurd: “The Bald Soprano” by young & W!LD

By Eugene Koh (860 words, 7-minute read) If there is one word that could describe our current global political climate, that word could only be “absurd”. After all, in a world where presidents tweet gibberish and incumbent Prime Ministers robotically repeat campaign slogans, one could even go so far as to claim that the world

Just Absurd: “The Bald Soprano” by young & W!LD Read More »

Centre 42 Citizens’ Review: “One Man, Two Guvnors”

By Myle Yan Tay Francis (played by Paul McCracken) asks the audience if they know that the play is based on a commedia dell’arte work from the 18th century. Greeted by silence, he smiles, thankful that there aren’t any “dicks in the audience”. This irreverent and fast-paced spirit keeps the production vibrant and alive. But

Centre 42 Citizens’ Review: “One Man, Two Guvnors” Read More »

Crispian Chan

Centre 42 Citizens’ Review: “Tango”

By Selina Chong Tango is the first play commissioned by Pangdemonium, and what excites me most about it is that it is written by a young Singaporean. Playwright Joel Tan’s dialogue is rich and witty, capturing the Singaporean vernacular. For me, Tango is a story about sons. Kenneth (Koh Boon Pin) returns to Singapore with

Centre 42 Citizens’ Review: “Tango” Read More »

Podcast 16: “The Elements” by Flamenco Sin Fronteras

Duration: 23 min Dr Stephanie Burridge is joined in the studio by choreographer and dancer Bernice Lee to discuss Flamenco Sin Fronteras‘ The Elements, an original flamenco dance production that blends the traditional Andalusian form with the ancient Chinese philosophy of the five elements. This experimental fusion is characteristic of the company’s “without borders” practice,

Podcast 16: “The Elements” by Flamenco Sin Fronteras Read More »

Pangdemonium’s “Tango”: Of Specks and Logs

By Kathy Rowland (900 words, 5-minute read) Kenneth (Koh Boon Pin) and Liam (Emil Marwa) are a gay couple, fathers to their young son, Jayden (Dylan Jenkins). Kenneth’s ailing father, a fancy job and the chance for Jayden to connect with Kenneth’s home country bring them back to Singapore after many years in the UK.

Pangdemonium’s “Tango”: Of Specks and Logs Read More »

Fresh Blood: “Move ____, as we move” by The Kaizen M.D.

By Akanksha Raja and Clara Cheong (1200 words, 8-minute read) There’s fresh blood on the theatre scene and ArtsEquator sent out two young reviewers to watch emerging performing art collective The Kaizen M.D.’s latest production “Move ___, as we move”, staged at Centre 42. Here’s what they thought about it. Akanksha: Move was conceived and written

Fresh Blood: “Move ____, as we move” by The Kaizen M.D. Read More »

Podcast 14: La Cage and Tropicana

Duration: 30 minutes Former Flying Inkpot reviewers Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia get together to discuss Tropicana the Musical and Wild Rice’s La Cage – two glamorous, star-studded, cabaret-themed musicals that opened within a few days of each other within the past month. While one’s a localised version of a Tony Award-winning Broadway original, the other’s a Singapore original that

Podcast 14: La Cage and Tropicana Read More »

Review: Oh Soon-Hwa’s “Coastal Regions (Delta)” at The Private Museum [Singapore]

“From its headwaters in the Tibetan plateau, the Mekong River flows past six countries for over 4,000 kilometers to the South China Sea—but its journey is unquiet. Since the 1990s, the river has been punctuated by a string of Chinese hydropower dams, with dozens more in the works. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are also

Review: Oh Soon-Hwa’s “Coastal Regions (Delta)” at The Private Museum [Singapore] Read More »

Review of “Every Brilliant Thing” by Bhumi Collective

By Akanksha Raja (870 words, 8-minute read) Every Brilliant Thing is a (primarily) one-person monologue of an unnamed narrator (Andrew Marko) coming to terms with his mother’s depression and suicidal tendencies. His effort to reconcile with his mother’s instability takes the form of a numbered list devised at the age of 6 – after her

Review of “Every Brilliant Thing” by Bhumi Collective Read More »

Review of “POP AYE”: A Soul Journey

By Yue Jie (870 words, 7-minute read) Spoiler alert! If you’ve not watched the movie yet, go see it before reading on. Few films deal with animals as a central character, and even fewer have an elephant as its protagonist. In Pop Aye, the feature debut of Singaporean film director Kirsten Tan, an elephant called

Review of “POP AYE”: A Soul Journey Read More »

“Pallavi in Time” by CHOWK: Seductive Virtuosity

By Chan Sze-Wei (1150 words, 10-minute read) This was one of those rare occasions where I realise that I’m watching an important work of art. A discovery, a risk, a breakthrough, that will influence my aesthetic and many others’ for years to come. I unfortunately did not see Pallavi and Space, the 2016 first instalment

“Pallavi in Time” by CHOWK: Seductive Virtuosity Read More »

Image: The Necessary Stage

Completely With: Remembering Paddy Chew, Reflecting on Loo Zihan

Recently, I caught Loo Zihan’s second iteration of With/Out at Esplanade Studio Theatre. Zihan’s work is an artistic reconstruction and reimagining of The Necessary Stage’s 1999 play, Completely With/Out Character, based on the life of Paddy Chew, the first Singaporean to go public with his HIV status. Completely With/Out Character is a deeply significant work

Completely With: Remembering Paddy Chew, Reflecting on Loo Zihan Read More »

Review of Tropicana, The Musical: Memory Malfunction

By Felipe Cervera (910 words, 9-minute read) Theatre is a memory machine. Its engines run with dialogues and recollections, fuelled by the invisible streams of thought and emotion that run in and out, through the minds and bodies of the people gathered. We enter the theatre hoping to forget, to remember, wanting it to remind

Review of Tropicana, The Musical: Memory Malfunction Read More »

Review of ‘With/Out’: AIDS, Archives, Activism

The year was 1999, and I was an awkward little eighteen year-old virgin, still sweating my way through National Service. I’d only recently become involved in the Singapore theatre scene, and in a similar vein, I’d just begun embracing my identity as a gay man. Both decisions were fraught with danger: after all, Alvin Tan

Review of ‘With/Out’: AIDS, Archives, Activism Read More »

Dogged Delirium: “Petty People” by NUS Theatre Studies

By Akanksha Raja (760 words, 7-minute read) Petty People marks the culmination of the undergraduate course for the graduating class of NUS Theatre Studies 2017. The play begins with a quadriptych of scenarios strung together by the enigma of a dog and its ambiguous mortality. The pooch is never seen. Its presence is indicated only

Dogged Delirium: “Petty People” by NUS Theatre Studies Read More »

Who’s Normal Anyway?

By Akanksha Raja (920 words, 9-minute read) Normal opens with a dreary, dull morning assembly at Trinity Girls’ School, immersing the audience in a mise-en-scène that is all too familiar to anyone who has been through any part of public education in Singapore. This bleary-eyed 7AM routine, of forced uniformity and subservience, is broken by

Who’s Normal Anyway? Read More »

Garin Nugroho’s ‘Satan Jawa’ Flirts with the Dark Side

By Nuraini Juliastuti (1124 words, 12 minute read) Satan Jawa (Garin Nugroho, 2017) a silent movie, in black and white (inspired by Nosferatu and Metropolis), had its world premier with the ‘live’ performances of Gamelan Garasi Seni Benawa and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of AsiaTOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) in Melbourne recently. To

Garin Nugroho’s ‘Satan Jawa’ Flirts with the Dark Side Read More »

Review of “Fundamentally Happy”: Shame and Scandal in the Family

By Kathy Rowland (920 words, 8 minute read) Eric, a social worker based in Australia, has returned to Singapore for his father’s funeral. He visits an old neighbour, Kak Biba/Habiba, whose home was a childhood refuge from his own impersonal family. The reunion seems like a genuinely happy occasion. There are hints however – a

Review of “Fundamentally Happy”: Shame and Scandal in the Family Read More »

Overstuffed: Martin McDonagh’s “The Pillowman” by Pangdemonium

By Matthew Lyon (513 words, 5-minute read) I first saw Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman – in which writer Katurian is questioned by police-state detectives about a series of child-killings that mimic the plots of his stories – in Singapore Repertory Theatre’s 2007 production. Back then, I found the play too full of ideas that didn’t

Overstuffed: Martin McDonagh’s “The Pillowman” by Pangdemonium Read More »