Podcast 82: Who’s There & Two Songs and a Story
Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss Who’s There by The Transit Ensemble (Singapore/Malaysia/US); and Two Songs and a Story by Checkpoint Theatre. Who’s There ran from 4 – 8 August on Zoom as part of Ice Factory 2020 by…
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 GoLi to Zoom: “The Lesson – An Online Experiment” by Drama Box
By Ke Weiliang (2,400 words, 8-minute read) I had the pleasure of attending The Lesson in September 2015, when it premiered at Toa Payoh Central as part of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA). That encounter was a serendipitous…
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…
Podcast 80: Murder at Mandai Camp And Fat Kids
As ArtsEquator’s theatre podcast returns since the start of the pandemic, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia appropriately discuss two recent Singapore productions created for digital platform Zoom – Murder at Mandai Camp by Sight Lines Entertainment and Fat…
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…
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…
Podcast 79: Asia TOPA (Part 2)
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by In this latest podcast episode, Nabilah Said and Carolyn Oei discuss various productions that were recently presented at Melbourne’s Asia TOPA: Are You Ready To Take The…
Eko Supriyanto’s “IBUIBU BELU”: Uncomfortable Questions
By Sharmilla Ganesan (754 words, 4-minute read) As the five women onstage came silently together in a halt, spot lit and wrapped once more in the tenun textile they had first appeared in, there was an initial hush. Ironically, for…
“No. 60”: Klunchun unmasks the Khon
By Katrina Stuart Santiago (936 words, 6-minute read) The past as a point of reference for contemporary cultural work is not new, and neither is the need to rethink it, reconsider it, or respond to it. Anyone who works in…
Thanapol Virulhakul’s “The Retreat”: Dance, Uncontained
By Amitha Amranand (1,350 words, 5-minute read) Thai dancer-choreographer Thanapol Virulhakul is certainly not the first artist to wonder whether art could become more of a part of our daily life nor to attempt through his art to make it…
À Ố Làng Phố: Less trick, more treat in Vietnamese bamboo circus
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (730 words, 6-minute read) You go into a circus performance with certain expectations. You want the big shebang, the SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR. The physical feats…
Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep: Brilliance Is Margaret Leng Tan
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Carolyn Oei (638 words, 5-minute read) Note: This review may contain some minor spoilers for Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep by Margaret Leng Tan. ONE: “Music;…
Hades Fading: Modern-day Ancients
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (708 words, 5-minute read) In Hades Fading, Eurydice has a memory problem. She can’t remember where she comes from. The books all tell her…
Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands: Tongue Scrapes Against Cheek
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (670 words, 5-minute read) I watched Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands by Sipat Lawin and Friends on 26…
Metal: An Improbable Alchemy of Dance And Heavy Metal
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Carolyn Oei (762 words, 5-minute read) I am not a fan of heavy metal music – or heavy metal anything – so I took my seat…
Podcast 77: Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet
In this latest podcast episode, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss the recent production of Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet, the collective’s first production for the year about the friendship between a dog and a fish….
Dancing with the Demons: “The Son” by Pangdemonium
By Naeem Kapadia (914 words, 4 minute read) Everyone tells us that a person battling mental health issues should seek professional help. But how exactly does one find the means to get the help they need? When confronted with a…
Torch the Place: Shedding the Dead Weight
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (800 words, 5-minute read) The first thing one sees upon entering the Fairfax Studio in Arts Centre Melbourne for Torch the Place is a…
The Seen and Unseen: A Search For Self
The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Carolyn Oei (638 words, 4-minute read) “Embracing life means embracing every element of dualism in it. Embracing the good and the bad, the happy and the…
Between Worlds: Café Sarajevo, ATARA and No Place
By Nabilah Said and Germaine Cheng (1,580 words, 7-minute read) What does it mean to be between worlds? To behold yet not belong? Three works – Café Sarajevo, ATARA and No Place – presented as part of M1 Singapore Fringe…
Tangled and tackled: Black Ties at Sydney Festival 2020
By Maria Herminia Graterol Garrido (550 words, 4-minute read) The challenges of fusing and representing more than one culture while planning and executing a memorable wedding are well-known to us in real life and in fiction. Movies like My Big…
A sound collaboration: 宿 (stay) at Sydney Festival 2020
By Maria Herminia Graterol Garrido (571 words, 4-minute read) There is a huge difference between watching a great piece of theatre with a beautiful original score, and experiencing a process that gives equal importance to all the creative aspects, including…
Podcast 74: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020
Duration: 30 min Matt Lyon, Naeem Kapadia and Nabilah Said discuss three productions at this year’s edition of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival – Contemplating Kopitiam & Kampong Wa’ Hassan by NAFA and Oliver Chong; A Tiny Country by Attempts;…
Podcast 72: ArtsEquator End-of-Year Theatre Podcast 2019
Matt Lyon, Naeem Kapadia, Kathy Rowland and Nabilah Said discuss their top picks for theatre in 2019. Content warning: Mentions of sexual assault/violence, self-harm and suicide. Duration: 38 minutes Stream Podcast 72: Also available on Spotify. Download Podcast 72 here (right-click…
Chain reaction: Lie With Me by Intercultural Theatre Institute
By Kathy Rowland (1,014 words, 6-minute read) ITI’s graduation production, Lie With Me is filled with broken characters, caught in capsules of emotional decrepitude. The work, written by Kaite O’Reilly is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde, repurposed to examine…
Lightfay ofway ancyfay: “Peter Pan in Serangoon Gardens” by Wild Rice
By Naeem Kapadia (1,062 words, 7-minute read) It’s quite impossible to bid the year goodbye without WILD RICE’s traditional holiday pantomime, a veritable institution on the Singapore theatre calendar. Over the past 15 years, the company has developed a niche…
Monsters’ Ink: A Fiend’s Diary & Heather
By Nabilah Said (1,500 words, 7-minute read) Spoiler Alert: The following contains major spoilers for the shows A Fiend’s Diary and Heather. I watched the stories of two monsters in the theatre recently. In A Fiend’s Diary, Oliver Chong…
Caught: Goodbye Lin Bo, we hardly knew ye
By Nabilah Said and Eugene Tan (2,500 words, 10-minute read) Spoiler Alert: This review contains major spoilers for the show Caught. Nabilah: I approach the venue for Caught with some trepidation. There had been scant details from the Singapore…
Podcast 68: Critics Live! Wild Rice’s Merdeka
Theatre critics Corrie Tan, Nabilah Said, Carolyn Oei and Kathy Rowland discuss the recent production of WILD RICE’s Merdeka / 獨立 /சுதந்திரம், in a critics-led post-show conversation held in front of an audience on 19 October 2019 at WILD RICE’s…