WTF?!

Yet another Arts Fest show. Yet another Friday. Yet another head scratcher.

That said, this time, I say this with the deepest respect and highest regard for the genius that is behind The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, the book-to-stage adaptation of Japanese doyen Haruki Murakami's seminal book. Not that I've read it, mind. My tastes veer towards the ( Read more... )

I'm no paragon of virtue myself, so let the pretence drop and come clean, we know why we went to watch Equus. Despite it's long history, it perhaps came into prominence when Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe starred on West End in the lead, most famous for having a seminal (no pun intended) nude scene ( Read more... )

In the closing week of the Man Singapore Theatre Festival, Wild Rice presents two plays on the religious divide, both unflinching in the brutal honesty yet tempered by sensitivity. If the plays made me uncomfortable, was it because of inherent personal beliefs and doubts or because of scepticism ( Read more... )

Perhaps the main draw of the Man Singapore Theatre Festival, Alfian Sa'at's Cooling Off Day was a mish-mash hodge-podge of public opinion on the not-so-long-ago General Elections ( Read more... )

So one missed (or rather skipped) Charged last year. The premise caught the eye and tickled the fancy but didn't do enough to secure my vote. The reviews were glowing, the reception was warm, the response was enthusiastic, so why one didn't commit, one can't imagine or remember ( Read more... )

So the biennial Singapore Theatre Festival gets a generous sponsorship from Man Investments, yes, them of the Booker Prize no less and inherits a prestigious title to boot. And with a tryptich of commissioned premieres and a sophomore outing of a couple of back-by-popular-demand critically acclaimed plays, it looks set to be the talk-of-the-town ( Read more... )

Like mulit-hyphenate Dick Lee needed to do more to prove himself, his latest work, Beauty Kings is a delightful feel-good romp from start to finish. Based on the premise of the controversy plaguing the male beauty pageant some years ago, the sexy, the sordid and the silly are fleshed out with aplomb. In no particular order, mind ( Read more... )

Let's not mince our words by emphatically stating that when Dennis Chew, during stage calls as spokesperson for the cast, asked the audience to spread the word and recommend the show, we had to control our snorts. So yes, we're not putting our support behind for this Toy Factory production of 881 The Musical ( Read more... )

I know it is comparing apples and pears, but one can't help but inferring to and referencing last year's Emily of Emerald Hill with Margaret Chan in the spotlight as the titular protagonist ( Read more... )

Stand up comedy is no laughing matter. Yes, that was delivered pun fully intended with a straight face. Thus was this matter-of-fact elucidated and illustrated last evening at the Esplanade Theatre when our very own Singapore Idol, the undisputed icon and beacon of the local comedy circuit took to the stage in a one-man one-woman one-person show ( Read more... )