“What will we forget? What do we hold on to? What will we remember? What do we let go of?” These were the questions posed by a volunteer in Mandarin to my 67-year-old mother at a void deck in Chong Pang. She was showing my mom how to make a paper windmill, a souvenir that […]
“Closer” at Both Sides, Now: What Do We Choose to Remember? Read More »
By Casidhe Ng (1,100 words, six-minute read) The final show of Pangdemonium’s 2018 season, Peter and the Starcatcher is this year’s equivalent of Fun Home or RENT, an exuberant and expensive production intent on ending their year with a bang. In Peter and the Starcatcher, Pangdemonium presents an enchanting narrative with twists of self-reflexivity, fully
“Peter and the Starcatcher”: An Invitation to Suspend Disbelief Read More »
By Teo Xiao Ting (1,300 words, seven-minute read) What does it mean to be a child? Specifically, what does it mean to be growing up, to be young, in this milieu? While set in the sepia of 1885, Peter and the Starcatcher by Pangdemonium asks questions that still resonate now, opening up to an extended
Growing up Everywhere and Nowhere in “Peter and the Starcatcher” Read More »
To preface: a statement to disclaim. Artist-choreographer-dancer Daniel Kok and visual artist Miho Shimizu remind the viewer in an artist statement[1] for xhe that any response to the performance is always already inadequate, calling for a critique of spectatorship and gesturing towards the plurality of selves. I caught both performances of xhe on the 12th and
“xhe”: Caught Between a Square and an Octopus Read More »
By Jocelyn Chng (1160 words, six-minute read) Until the Lions, a work that premiered in 2016 at the Roundhouse in London, is presented as one of the main (Centrestage) programmes at the 2018 Esplanade da:ns festival. The Akram Khan Company has toured to Singapore on several occasions in the past two decades, most recently with
“Until the Lions” by Akram Khan Company: What About the Lioness? Read More »
By Chan Sze Wei (1090 words, five-minute read) T.H.E. Dance Company turns 10 this year and Invisible Habitudes, a da:ns festival commission, reads as an eclectic postcard of the artistic signature of Kuik Swee Boon. The company, and Kuik himself, have been astoundingly prolific with new creations in the span of these 10 years –
“Invisible Habitudes”: Postcards From a Choreographer’s Journey Read More »
Read this review in Bahasa Indonesia. Baca review ini dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Rianto, 37, has attracted public attention with his Lengger Lanang dance performance. This dance is a type of dance from Banyumas that shows the practice of cross-gender, a man that dance women figure, as the medium to express body, gender, and construction. Besides his choice
“Hijrah”: In Between Body and Gender ‘Migration’ Read More »
Read this review in English. Baca review ini dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Sejak kemunculannya, Rianto Manali (37) telah mencuri perhatian publik dengan tari yang ia pertunjukkan. Adalah Lengger Lanang, salah satu jenis tari dari Banyumas yang mempertunjukkan praktik cross-gender—laki-laki yang menarikan tarian perempuan—ia pilih sebagai media ungkap dalam menyampaikan interpretasinya terkait tubuh, jenis kelamin, dan konstruksi. Alih-alih hanya pilihan
“Hijrah”: Tubuh di Antara dan Migrasi Gender Read More »
If you have ever felt that classical Indian dance is too melodramatic – if you have ever rolled your eyes at a dancer’s fervid abhinaya, or a poem narrator’s extravagant diction – or if you think all the bright drapery, clashing saris, and coloured lights are unbearably gaudy, then Padmini Chettur’s Varnam is the corrective
Padmini Chettur’s “Varnam” and Pichet Klunchun’s “I Am A Demon”: An Instructive Contrast Read More »
Duration: 30 mins ArtsEquator’s theatre podcast host Matt Lyon is joined by guests Naeem Kapadia and Charlene Rajendran to discuss Teater Ekamatra’s Tiger of Malaya, which was written by Alfian Sa’at and directed by Mohd Fared Jainal, staged at the Drama Centre Black Box, inside the National Library Building, Singapore, from 12 to 23 September
Podcast 49: “Tiger of Malaya” Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (960 words, four-minute read) Prior to stepping into the mystifying world of The Misinterpreted Futures of George Town 2068, I was curious and fascinated by that science-fictioney title, coupled with the exciting premise of a performance with no performers: the technical elements of the show (lights, sound design, video projections) perform in
“The Misinterpreted Futures of George Town 2068”: Missing Futures Read More »
By Corrie Tan (2,080 words, 10-minute read) Spoiler alert: this essay discusses certain plot points about Tiger of Malaya in detail. The Drama Centre Black Box, on level five of the National Library, is bracketed by floors and floors of reference books and historical documents; to get there you must ascend past the Asian Film
“Tiger of Malaya”: The Body Remembers What the Archive Cannot Read More »
A result of a research collaboration organised by the University of Sydney’s Power Institute in partnership with the Institut Teknologi Bandung and National Gallery Singapore, Ambitious Alignments: New Histories of Southeast Asian Art, 1945-1990 is a recently published volume of ten collected essays. It is comparable to an archeological excavation, unearthing and resurfacing forgotten, if
Book Review: “Ambitious Alignments: New Histories of Southeast Asian Art, 1945–1990” Read More »
In the vast firmament of Singaporean-Malaysian art history, no star illuminates as radiantly as T.K. Sabapathy. An art historian by training, Sabapathy initially began his career in the early 1970s by reviewing art and thereafter spent close to half a century doggedly writing art history into being in our corner of the world. Seven years
By Felipe Cervera (1600 words, eight-minute read) Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre, edited by Charlene Rajendran, Ken Takiguchi and Carmen Nge, is a long overdue resource that sheds light on important aspects of the cultural, artistic, and political histories of Malaysian contemporary theatre—and, by extension, some medullar elements of Singaporean theatre too.
Book Review: “Excavations, Interrogations, Krishen Jit & Contemporary Malaysian Theatre” Read More »
Penyampaian kritikan sosial atau politik dalam filem-filem Malaysia jarang berlaku melalui suasana yang berani dan mendatangkan ghairah. Malah mengkritik melalui karya secara berdepan seperti sukar untuk dilakukan. Terdapat banyak hal yang menyumbang kepada keadaan ini. Ia antara lain ialah kekangan kebebasan kreatif yang ketara dan banyak aspek perundangan serta peraturan telah menjadi rantai memasung kaki
“One Two Jaga”: Keberanian Baharu Sinema Malaysia Read More »
Duration : 33 mins Theatreworks’ 13.13.13 and SRT’s The Young Company’s The Fall are the two works discussed in this month’s podcast. Hosts Matt Lyon and Naeem Kapadia are joined by Ann Lee, playwright, LGBTQ activist and PhD-to-be in reflecting on Shen Tan’s ‘13.13.13’, directed by Tan Shou Chen. There were strong feelings all around. Stream
Podcast 47: TheatreWorks’ “13.13.13” and SRT The Young Company’s ‘The Fall’ Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (620 words, four-minute read) 拾念劇集 La Cie Maxmind’s Isle of Dreams (蓬萊) was the headlining event for the George Town Festival’s Taiwan-focused showcase this year. It is a three-hour long work of musical theatre, original in story and in language, loosely adapted from the geography and mythology detailed in the Classic of
La Cie Maxmind’s “Isle of Dreams”: The Dark Fantastic Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (620 words, four-minute read) Ombak Potehi is Ombak Ombak Art Studio’s glove puppet theatre group established in 2015, consisting of young people – all under 30 – producing and performing puppet theatre, having been trained by experts from Penang’s Beng Geok Hong Puppet Troupe. To date, they’ve written and produced three works:
Ombak Potehi’s “Kisah Pulau Pinang: The Penang Story”: A Slice of Malayan History Read More »
Everyone is always watching and being watched in Pratthana: A Portrait of Possession, the latest play by Japanese director Toshiki Okada. The play begins with a Narcissus-like image—a young man gazes into the water as he describes a scene of a man being watched by another. Behind the actor, crew members tip an orange plastic
“Pratthana: A Portrait of Possession”: Of Politics and Desire Read More »
By Bernice Lee (1300 words, five-minute read) “Asian Festivals Exchange” puts together works selected from two East Asian festivals — Yokohama Dance Collection and Seoul Dance Collection — two works performed by T.H.E. Second Company, and a work-in-progress supported by M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival and Seoul Performing Arts Festival. It is a very full
“Asian Festivals Exchange” at M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival 2018 Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (1050 words, four-minute read) George Town Festival is now in its ninth year, and one of the distinctive qualities in every edition is the balance it strikes between presenting international touring works, and Malaysian shows that are rooted in local society and culture. Kelantan – A Living Heritage, the headliner event opening
“Kelantan: A Living Heritage”: Tributing the Traditional Read More »
The SeaShorts Film Festival ran for its second edition as the official pre-festival to the annual George Town Festival from 1st to 5th August in a radical geographical shift away from the Kuala Lumpur home of its parent organisation, Next New Wave. It showcased more than 120 short films scattered over 22 programmes in two
Three Short Films about Women at SeaShorts 2018, George Town Read More »
A white circle 10 metres in diameter greets us on entering the flexible performance space in Loft 29. I stand next to B-boy Erak Mith of Tiny Toones (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). He is locked in eye contact with Aaron Lim of D-City Rockers (Darwin, Australia) directly across the circle and I recognise the calm, unflinching
“Between Tiny Cities (រវាងទីក្រុងតូច)”: De-cyphering Conversation Read More »
By Chloe C. Chotrani (933 words, five-minute read) Closing the ninth M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival is the annual Binary – International Showcase: a double bill by Astrid Boons (Belgium/Netherlands) and Shamel Pitts (Israel/United States). In Vestige, an attempt to empty the body of its humanness, choreographer and performer Astrid Boons pushes the physicality of
By Bernice Lee (1100 words, six-minute read) M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival has become a staple of the contemporary dance scene in Singapore. It has used its resources to bring forward voices, particularly from the region, in an act of affirmation. Balancing local and international artists, bringing in projects mostly of an indie nature, this
“Off Stage” at M1 Contact 2018: Communicating Beyond The Stage Read More »
Bonn Phum, the Village Festival, now in its fifth year and attracting hordes of young Cambodians, took place from April 6 – 8 2018, in the grounds of the Kok Ampil pagoda. Founded by Lomorpich Rithy with her sister Lomokesorr and a few close friends in 2014 when she was a final-year university student, the
Bonn Phum: Cambodian Village Festival Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (1500 words, seven-minute read) dead was the body till i taught it how to move (dwtb) is Bhumi Collective’s first production of the year, and just like their two principal works of 2017 – Every Brilliant Thing with Andrew Marko and The Last of Their Generation with Mohamed Shaifulbahri – it is
“dead was the body”: Theatre Meets Breaking Meets Therapy Read More »
There is a sublime beauty to Human Flow in how it depicts space, freedom and movement. But it is a beauty that I cannot bear to swallow. For a country whose borders have been closed to refugees since 1996, Human Flow is a passport to places even the Singaporean passport cannot access. Shot across 20 countries,
Ai Weiwei’s “Human Flow” drips through Singapore’s impermeable borders Read More »
By Corrie Tan (2,015 words, 10-minute read) “My concern now is how to nurture the critical sensitivity of the playwright, and for that matter theatre and literature and all the other arts. Because I think we have a way of life that somehow massages you in a way so comfortable that you tend to forget
“Press Gang”: confessions of yet another ex-ST journalist Read More »
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