Defying the outcome-driven impulse that dominates our culture, Daniel Sim shares his vision of an ecosystem that supports the maker and the process, rather than only the product. What would it look like if makers had the space and time to reflect, research and incubate outside of working on a production? What benefits would it […]
The Maker’s Project: What does it take to sustain the puppeteer? Read More »
Critics Alice Saville (UK), Amitha Amranand (TH), Matthew Lyon (SG) and Taisuke Shimanuki (JP) discuss OIWA: The Ghost of Yotsuya by The Finger Players, presented at Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA). The performance took place from 28-30 May 2021 at Victoria Theatre, and from 5-20 June via video on demand. Critics Live! is
Podcast 92: Critics Live: OIWA by The Finger Players at SIFA 2021 Read More »
An epic set, an epic story, and epic four years of painstaking training is one way to describe The Finger Players’ OIWA – The Ghost of Yotsuya, an aching horror story that retells the classic tale of vengeance revolving around a jilted woman. Combining techniques of Kabuki, Bunraku and Ningyo Buri, as well as the
OIWA – The Ghost of Yotsuya: Primal story of love, or the failures of it Read More »
By Corrie Tan (2,050 words, 10-minute read) Over the course of Citizen X, my father nudges me in the arm several times, whispering loudly and theatrically: “It’s so similar leh!” All throughout the 75 minutes, he wiggles around in his seat, emitting sighs, laughter, tsk-tsks, and the occasional “wow”. My father – a stoic and
Citizen X marks the spot for a family treasure none of us can find Read More »
In this episode, Liu Xiaoyi and Oliver Chong unpack a scene from The Finger Players 十指帮 ‘s 《大狗民》Citizen Dog and talk about the set design, costume design and more. Inspired by Liaozhai, Citizen Dog is an absurd tale of desires in their nightmarish glory, a surreal dreamscape that reflects real world problems. 《大狗民》Citizen Dog was staged in
(Episode 1) What’s in a Scene – 《大狗民》Citizen Dog by The Finger Players Read More »
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 that was promised, had been prophesied and invoked in many a panel and Facebook post
Bird is the word: Peepbird by The Finger Players Read More »
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 plays an unnamed man who kills a young victim in a fit of what can
Monsters’ Ink: A Fiend’s Diary & Heather Read More »
By Corrie Tan (3,800 words, 15-minute read) I. “They are constantly making magic look like it’s very simple.” You could call it love at first sight – the moment Ellison Tan and Myra Loke encountered The Finger Players, they knew they wanted to work with the beloved Singaporean theatre company. For Myra, that show
This is what succession looks like: The Finger Players Read More »
By Nabilah Said (820 words, 5-minute read) In the pre-show for Forked, playwright and performer Jo Tan is warming up, prepping her body. We see her assume the plank position, a fractured toe from rehearsals armoured in a padded thermoplastic boot. Just like Tan, this play has been reinforced. When it was performed in January
Instructions for reheating: “Forked” by The Finger Players Read More »
Claire Teo and Stephanie Esther Fam respond to Not In My Lifetime? by The Finger Players which was staged at Gateway Theatre from 5 – 17 March 2019. Billed as an inclusive theatre experience, it explores the special education system in Singapore through the experiences of the teachers working in the sector. It’s a collaboration
Podcast 55: “Not In My Lifetime?” by The Finger Players Read More »
By Akanksha Raja (850 words, six-minute read) In Framed, by Adolf, playwright-director Chong Tze Chien’s fascination with Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust continues from 2016’s Starring Hitler as Jekyll and Hyde, which explored the idea of the dictator as a failed artist. Framed revolves not so much around Hitler, but the journey of one of
“Framed, by Adolf”: Truth as Shadow-Play Read More »
By Corrie Tan (1,540 words, eight-minute read) Halfway through The Finger Players’ trippy, darkly comic Citizen Dog, I pause to consider the philosopher Zhuangzi’s anecdote on how we construct our realities: Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was
A surreal “Citizen Dog” sinks its teeth into your soul Read More »
Poop! by Chong Tze Chien A family left stranded in the aftermath of a father’s seemingly irresponsible, selfish suicide, must learn to navigate its way through the nooks of grief and crannies of letting go and letting be, all whilst holding to semblances of hope through a widow’s grief, a mother’s denial, and the celebration
The Finger Players’ Contemporary Classics Season 2017: “Poop!” and “The Spirits Play” Read More »
