ArtsEquator’s theatre podcast is back in 2022, with critics Lee Shu Yu, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia in a post-show conversation about three productions at M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2022: The Essential Playlist by The Second Breakfast Company (Singapore), Being: 息在 by 微 Wei Collective and Collaborators (Singapore) and OK Land by Circle Theatre (Thailand). This episode is part of […]
Podcast 101: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2022 Read More »
Rebecca G. reviews Bound Theatre’s newest work, which explores the darker elements of our always-connected lives : cancel culture, fake news, and modified behaviours, in an interactive performance that involved the audience to varying degrees of success. Our journey into the all-too-real world of Screen. Shot. starts before any audience member has even stepped foot
Screen. Shot. at M1 Fringe 2022: Starve a fire, feed a flame Read More »
An estranged father, a disillusioned employee, a human case study, those behind the scenes – all yearning for more in a collective plea for help. A joint collaboration between graduating students from NAFA’s BA (Hons) Performance Making cohort and directors Rei Poh and Goh Shou Yi, 0.01 is a non-linear exploration of interpersonal possibilities. The
0.01 at M1 Fringe 2022: The Space Between Read More »
Critics Live! is a critics-led programme series created by ArtsEquator to give arts audiences an insight into how critics formulate their responses to performances. In this session, join critics Lee Shu Yu, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia in a post-show conversation about three productions: The Essential Playlist by The Second Breakfast Company (Singapore), Being: 息在 by 微 Wei Collective
Critics Live (on Telegram!): M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2022 Read More »
After a short hiatus, the ArtsEquator theatre podcast is back. In the latest episode, Kathy Rowland, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss three productions at the 2021 M1 Singapore Fringe Festival – a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be by Koh Wan Ching and Andrew Sutherland; i am not here
Podcast 86: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2021 Read More »
Snow Whitening Revisited presents an allegory on being a female artist in Cambodia, playing with imagery that evokes visceral feelings of clinging, and a sense of embodied helplessness that pays tribute to both cultural heritage and a deep historical trauma. Presented digitally as part of this year’s M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, the piece masterfully explores
Women making history: Snow Whitening Revisited Read More »
By Vithya Subramaniam (915 words, 4-minute read) It begins with a provocation, asking if we can ‘change the way we make theatre in the future’. The concern here is in the way theatre is made, the process. While raising these questions might seem to suggest upending theatre as we know it, Offstage 3.0 presents a
Offstage 3.0: Of stage and on walls Read More »
In this new series of ArtEquator Cakap-Cakap (or in other words chit-chat), ArtsEquator sits down with director Koh Wan Ching and playwright Andrew Sutherland to chat about “creative romances”, random internet finds/memes and how things are going with their upcoming work, a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be, at the
Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Koh Wan Ching and Andrew Sutherland Read More »
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 Festival 2020 ask these questions, of their audience and of themselves. Café Sarajevo, bluemouth inc.
Between Worlds: Café Sarajevo, ATARA and No Place Read More »
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; and Secretive Thing 215 by Lemon & Koko. M1 Singapore Fringe Festival ran from 8-19
Podcast 74: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2020 Read More »
Duration: 21 min In our latest episode of our Fresh Blood podcast, Nabilah Said speaks to Lee Shu Yu and Eugene Koh of Spacebar Theatre about their latest production, The Utama Spaceship, which imagines what happens when Singaporeans are sent into outer space to chope, or ehem, colonise a planet in the nearest star system.
Podcast 73: Spacebar Theatre Read More »
In this over-the-shoulder ‘clocking’ of Loo Zihan’s solo performance I see the silhouette of my own head looking on from the side. Having worked extensively with Zihan over the past several years, I find writing a review of his performance exceedingly difficult. How do I cram so much data into such a tiny space? The
C(l)ocked: “Catamite” by Loo Zihan Read More »
By Casidhe Ng (1,068 words, five-minute read) In yesterday it rained salt, we are always surrounded by the acoustics of the sea. The beating of waves upon the shore and the receding ebb of the ocean water feels both transformative and evocative as we enter the space. Subsequently, they become the vehicle of our transportation,
Experiencing the Ebb and Flow of “yesterday it rained salt” Read More »
The sound of djembe drums filtered out into the courtyard of Centre 42 — the signal to take our seats before the production started. The stage was arranged like the hull of a slave ship with wooden beams converging to the bow, where the drummer sat, resplendent in a blue Ankara agbada and wrapper. She
“Ayer Hitam: A Black History of Singapore”: On The Edges of History Read More »
Metaphors abound in this complex work about living, loving and surviving. The broad canvas is a country at war. Jogging falls short of running full out, and this black clad woman has survived through thirty years of war in her city Beirut. Her storytelling is multi-layered and cleverly scripted, revealing a series of characters that
“Jogging” To Survive: Hanane Hajj Ali at M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2019 Read More »
The following roundtable discussion was held as part of the Lyn Gardner Theatre Reviewing Training Programme. Particpants Teo Dawn, Ezekiel Oliveira, Isaac Lim, Patricia Tobin, and Richard Chung discussed Displaced by Ground Cover Theatre, staged at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2018. The play examined the migrant experience through the lives of three women from different backgrounds,
“Displaced” by Ground Cover Theatre at the Singapore Fringe: A Roundtable Read More »
By Wong Wen Pu (600 words, 4-minute read) Forked by Jo Tan follows the experiences of one Jeanette Peh (played by Ethel Yap), a Singaporean student, as she heads to London to study acting, against the vehement objections of her father and the reluctant acquiescence of her mother. Already a minor celebrity in Singapore through
“Forked” by Jo Tan: An Uneven Production Read More »
By Bernice Lee (722 words, 5-minute read) Jo Tan’s first full-length play Forked hits plenty of right notes. High energy, uncomfortably honest and deliberately racist, it’s funny because it’s true. In spite of its great momentum however, the play’s pace feels weighed down by its thematic frames, just as the characters are stuck within their
“Forked” by Jo Tan: Shapeshifting Identities Read More »
By Richard Chung (738 words, 7 minute read) Jo Tan’s playwriting debut offers a simple yet familiar story of one Singaporean girl with big dreams. In Forked, Ethel Yap plays Jeanette, a young aspiring actor who heads to London for drama school. Upon arrival in London, Jeanette gets the biggest culture shock of her life
“Forked”: Privilege Gets Served Read More »
By Isaac Lim (676 words, 6-minute read) Jeanette Peh promotes herself as a ‘star’, with ‘over 500 followers’ on her ‘Stage Whispers’ YouTube channel which promises straight-up, no-holds-barred confessions. Is that the reality, or is she just a wannabe? Jo Tan’s first full-length play, Forked, directed by Chen Yingxuan, is a laugh-a-minute comedy, albeit one that
“Forked”: An Asian Crisis Read More »
By Teo Dawn (736 words, 7 minute read) (Transcript for SunSh!neGurrl*94’s YouTube video – A Reaction Video to Forked by Jo Tan) Hello everybody, ni hao and welcome back to my channel. I have been reading your comments and you asked for more of my reaction videos. Love that you guys think so highly of
A Reaction Video to Jo Tan’s “Forked” Read More »
By Ezekiel Oliveira (546 words, 4-minute read) Jeanette Peh is determined to become an actor, but she already thinks she is something of a star on her YouTube channel ‘Stage Whispers’ which has 500 subscribers. She turns down a place at Law School in Singapore to fulfil her acting dreams instead. But in London, her
“Forked”: Jeanette doesn’t do Asian Read More »
By Patricia Tobin (800 words, 6-minute read) When I was 19, I left Singapore to pursue my studies in Melbourne. I foolishly thought that any city, anywhere else in the world, would be better than this tiny island. In Melbourne, I became more aware of my “otherness”. At an Irish pub in St Kilda, a
Get “Forked”: Finding our Racial Identity Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Patricia Tobin (788 words, 6-min read) “She is a terrorist, she is a cultist, she works for sex.” “Who is she?” Like a foggy recreation of a Black Mirror episode, Rei Poh’s Attempts: Singapore
Looking within with “Attempts: Singapore” Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Isaac Lim (508 words, 4 minute read) 1957hrs: I arrive at the lobby of Centre 42, which has been converted into the headquarters of multi-million dollar corporation, ARC. In Attempts: Singapore, a theatre-game-experience created
“Attempts: Singapore”: Is the Anne nigh? Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Richard Chung In a world of innovative theatrical experiences, you often come across too many that scrimp on either execution or narrative. That’s not the case for Rei Poh’s Attempts: Singapore, which operates as a thoroughly
“Attempts: Singapore”: Game On Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Ezekiel Oliveira (589 words, 5-minute read) Humanity may be under threat, the end of the world might well be nigh. That’s the premise for Attempts: Singapore, an immersive performance where the audience is cast
“Attempts: Singapore”: The Curtains Don’t Match the Drapes Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Teo Dawn (650 words, 5-minute read) Attempts: Singapore by Rei Poh is a participatory piece of theatre inspired by Martin Crimp’s Attempts on Her Life. Fragmented, non-linear, and similar to a video game experience,
“Attempts: Singapore”: Let The Games Begin Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Jocelyn Chng (518 words, 4-minute read) Most performances in Singapore keep the audience in their place, passively sitting and watching. Attempts: Singapore is an attempt at getting the audience up on their feet and
“Attempts: Singapore”: An Uncertain Attempt Read More »
Spoiler Alert: If you’re planning to experience the mystery and suspense of Attempts: Singapore, read only after you’ve attended the performance. By Sherlyn Goh Xue Ting (1295 words, 9-minute read) Entry 26,371: 25 January 2018, 2000hrs It has been a few days since the mysterious databank in J.O.A.N. appeared, and the system is overwhelmed by memories
Investigation Report for “Attempts: Singapore” Read More »
