Drama Box Archives

Opposition: Cycles of Love, Forces of Change

Faezah Zulkifli dissects Opposition – a multilayered narrative of the relationships people have with one another, with themselves and the spaces they inhabit. This performance is the last of a trilogy of collaborations between The Necessary Stage and Drama Box. Light versus darkness, regularity versus irregularity, stability versus fluidity—from deconstructing binary oppositions to reconciling differences, […]

Opposition: Cycles of Love, Forces of Change Read More »

Courtesy of Zinkie Aw and Drama Box

Reframing The Mental Health Discourse ‘With Time’

For his directorial and playwriting debut, Drama Box’s resident artist, Chng Yi Kai, wants to reframe the discourse around mental health. This might seem ambitious for a young artist of 29, but this issue has been percolating in his mind since he was in university a couple of years ago. “I was going through some

Reframing The Mental Health Discourse ‘With Time’ Read More »

SDEA Theatre Arts Conference Keynote Interviews: Drama lessons in a pandemic (Part 2)

SDEA is holding its first fully online Theatre Arts Conference this year, since its inaugural run in 2011. Expanding from the traditional weekend format to an 8-day event, the conference will feature 70 presentations, workshops, and masterclasses by 64 practitioners from 14 countries. [Read our highlights here, and Part 1 of our Keynote Interviews here]

SDEA Theatre Arts Conference Keynote Interviews: Drama lessons in a pandemic (Part 2) Read More »

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 one, for I initially had not planned to attend the show and only happened to

From GoLi to Zoom: “The Lesson – An Online Experiment” by Drama Box Read More »

Zinkie Aw for Drama Box

Translating Homeland: Tanah•Air 水•土: A Play In Two Parts

By Nabilah Said (1,900 words, 7-minute read) In less than a week, Drama Box will premiere Tanah•Air 水•土: A Play In Two Parts, a production revolving around the theme of histories, those that are remembered, and those who are sidelined. Tanah•Air features a team led by the company’s artistic director Kok Heng Leun, playwrights Neo

Translating Homeland: Tanah•Air 水•土: A Play In Two Parts Read More »

Drama Box

Silent Rooms, Silent Memories: “Flowers” by Drama Box

By Akanksha Raja (1,155 words, 5-minute read) It’s a series of plastic white flower-fans lining the fence of 74 Jalan Kelabu Asap that lets me know that I’ve arrived at the site of Drama Box’s first work of 2019, Flowers, an experiential installation set in a quaint two-storey landed house in Chip Bee Gardens. I’m

Silent Rooms, Silent Memories: “Flowers” by Drama Box Read More »

Zinkie Aw for Both Sides, Now

“Closer” at Both Sides, Now: What Do We Choose to Remember?

“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 »

“Chinatown Crossings”: A Trail of Echoes

By Akanksha Raja (890 words, 5 minute read) Along the bustling roads of Chinatown and the throngs of long-time residents, local visitors and tourists, there’s an invisible, theatrical time machine that comes to life a few evenings a week, running until mid-August. Chinatown Crossings, Drama Box’s latest promenade theatrical performance, pays tribute to the neighbourhood

“Chinatown Crossings”: A Trail of Echoes Read More »

Tuckys Photography

“Underclass” twists the knife in your middle-class guilt

Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to watch Underclass, please note that this review discusses certain plot points. By Corrie Tan (2,200 words, 11-minute read) You know that auntie. You’ve waved her off at the hawker centre, or maybe you’ve apologised, under your breath, because “I already have tissue”. You’ve plotted paths of avoidance around her

“Underclass” twists the knife in your middle-class guilt Read More »

Crispian Chan

Podcast 38: “Underclass《贱民》” Interview with Alvin Tan, Kok Heng Leun, and Teo You Yenn

Duration: 43 min The latest collaborative production between Singapore theatre companies Drama Box and The Necessary Stage is Underclass 《贱民》, which explores poverty, inequality and human dignity in Singapore. It runs from 16 May to 3 June 2018. In this podcast interview, Corrie Tan convenes Alvin Tan, artistic director of The Necessary Stage, Kok Heng Leun,

Podcast 38: “Underclass《贱民》” Interview with Alvin Tan, Kok Heng Leun, and Teo You Yenn 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 »

Art That Moves: Han Xuemei

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. Han Xuemei, Dramabox‘s Resident Artist, is one of the main facilitators for Dramabox’s re-run of the The Lesson (5 – 22 July 2017), a critically-praised work that

Art That Moves: Han Xuemei Read More »