Coming Soon: The Way We Go
Event: “The Way We Go” presented by Checkpoint Theatre
Venue: SOTA Theatre Studio
Run: 20th – 29th Nov 2014
Opens Today!
“The Way We Go” follows Agatha Mao, former principal of the Convent of Our Lady of Lourdes, as she experiences the greatest loves of her life: Edmund, her intellectual partner, and Violet, her best friend.
Sprawling over 12 years, this tender story of love and friendship between outsiders also brings into relief the fraught relationship of former students Lee and Gillian, who come to ask the same questions as their elders: What are the costs of love? Why do people need each other? What’s at stake when we reach out?
Written with wit and affection, “The Way We Go” is a sensitive meditation on growing up and growing old.
It looks at love in places where we least seek it; the love for learning, life, and language; the love between friends and kindred spirits.
Above all, “The Way We Go” celebrates love in all its simplicity and complexity.
The play is written by Joel Tan, directed by Claire Wong, and stars Lydia Look, Neo Swee Lin, Patrick Teoh, Julie Wee, and Chng Xin Xuan.
Play Duration: 1hr 30mins (no intermission)
Ticket Purchase: SISTIC Link (here)
Checkpoint Theatre Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/checkpointtheatre
Ticket Giveaway to “Junior Claus”!
Goodies For 2 Lucky Winners!
The Singapore Repertory Theatre’s The Little Company presents “Junior Claus”, an end-of-year musical for the whole family this festive season from 31st October to 14th December 2014.
The performance is recommended for 5-year-olds and up, and is also plenty fun for the entire family.
Junior Claus (Dwayne Tan) is the rebellious heir to an immense empire in the North Pole, where elves busily prepare for the biggest day of the year – Christmas.
When Santa (Benjamin Chow) falls into a deep sleep because the Belief-o-Meter falls to a dangerously low level, Grumpo the greedy elf (Timothy Wan) takes control of Santa’s workshop and attempts to ruin the Yuletide season forever.
Junior, alongside his friends Chipper the elf (Seong Hui Xuan) and Pengy the penguin, join forces to prevent this disastrous outcome.
Written by the amazing team of Christopher Dimond and Michael Kooman, and with fabulous choreography by Ashley Nottingham, this musical emphasises the importance of cherishing family and friends instead of material possessions.
With upbeat tunes and engaging dialogue, Junior Claus will warm the hearts of audiences of all ages.
Each lucky winner will receive 4 tickets to the 15th Nov 230pm show, as well as a The Little Company Vol 2 CD.
In order to win, all you have to do is be one of the first two persons to leave a comment with the correct answer: Name the venue at which “Junior Claus” will be staged.
The 2 lucky winners will be notified by email.
All the best and good luck!
(NB: Giveaway contest ends as of 14th Nov midnight.)
“Firefly In The Light” – An Interview With Shayna Toh
Event: Firefly in the Light
Venue: The Arts House (Chamber)
Date: 15th Nov 2014
We are grateful to team behind the upcoming musical “Firefly in the Light” for granting us an interview with bookwriter, composer and lyricist Shayna Toh.
Shayna is a seventeen-year-old student of Raffles Institution who’s had multiple accomplishments in the field of composition, scoring and even script-writing.
She has been advancing her music composition studies under Dr John Sharpley from 2011 till present, and has had had several stories published, including “Roaching Into My World” (2008), one of twelve stories published (sponsored by Shaw Foundation) towards the SPH School Pocket Money Fund.
She also authored “The Adventures of Cassie the Caterpillar” a children’s book on urban nature deficit, in 2013.
Shayna made her first foray into the theatre at eleven, when her script “Where Your Dream Takes You” (one of twelve best plays for the Singapore Repertory Theatre’s (SRT) “The Write Stuff” nationwide playwriting competition) directed by SRT’s Director, Michael Corbidge was performed by actors from SRT and MediaCorp in DBS Arts Centre (2008).
In Nov 2011, she interned with Dream Academy, scoring music for the orchestra of “Into The Woods” Musical.
As a musical theatre vocalist herself, she has been selected to perform her winning entry, Claude-Michel Schönberg’s “I’d Give My Life For You” (from Miss Saigon) at the American Protégé International Vocal Competition Winners’ Recital Concert come Dec 2014 in Carnegie Hall, New York.
“Firefly in the Light” is Shayna’s debut full-length pop musical to be staged.
Q: How did the story for “Firefly in the Light” come about, and how long did it take you to write the entire musical?
A: The story of “Firefly in the Light” came from a pop song I wrote at fourteen, called “Left Behind”, about a boy and a girl who were childhood friends with similar dreams but who ended up taking different roads. Although I had this idea back in 2011, I brought it up only around March this year. I then settled on a synopsis, wrote 12 songs for a good five to six months in between my school work (I’m so slow, it’s so embarrassing), and I tied the story together through the script somewhere in September.
Q: How much of a challenge was it to write the book as well as all the songs?
A: Writing both the book and the songs has its pros and cons. The bad thing is that it’s more work! But it’s good because you’re clearer of the direction you want the story to take, and the details in the dialogue which can be fleshed out in the songs, or vice versa. I knew what to include in the dialogue and what to leave to the songs. When I was finalizing the synopsis and plot for “Firefly in the Light”, I would label some parts “insert song here”, so tying everything together was clearer for me. Also, writing both the book and the songs helped me gain a more holistic view of each character, and it helped me with characterization, and their voice, and such.
Q: What is your songwriting process like? Which comes first for you, the music or the lyrics?
A: I think they came consecutively. Before I started writing each song, I had a note as to what each song was about, and what I planned on accomplishing/ revealing by the end of it. I worked on the lyrics and the music very closely. Melody lines often complement the lyrics, with the highs being used for points of emphasis and such, and figuring the lyrics out at the same time as the melody allowed me to change the melody line to better suit the lyrics, and stuff like that. For each song that I wrote, I also tried to discover the song by going into the character’s mind, which resulted in the character going through a series of emotions, or taking time to get to their self-realization.
Q: Who are some of your biggest songwriting influences? What are some of your favourite musical theatre works?
A: In the musical genre, definitely people like Jonathan Larson and Stephen Sondheim. Their music is so clever and sharp and the way they pushed the bar of what it means to write a musical really inspired me. My biggest pop songwriting influences are along the likes of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, but also bands like Vampire Weekend or Green Day. They’re acts I’ve grown up with for years and they’ve influenced me through my life. It’s also been really cool to see their musical journeys and how their songwriting constantly evolves.
I have so many favorite musicals it’s not even funny, but I’d have to say that my top five right now would probably be “Les Miserables”, “Newsies”, “RENT”, “Next to Normal” and “Cinderella”. There isn’t really a common thread but I admire how each work is so powerful in its own right- like how “Newsies” is so electrifying and hopeful, “RENT” is so gritty and honest, and “Cinderella” is so magical.
***
Thank you for your time Shayna, and we wish you all the best in the upcoming show!
Show Duration: Approx. 1hr 45 mins (with 15 mins interval)
Ticket Purchase: SISTIC Link (here)
Coming Soon: Firefly In The Light
Event: Firefly in the Light
Venue: The Arts House (Chamber)
Date: 15th Nov 2014
We always love new original musicals, and thus “Firefly in the Light” caught our attention.
The book, music and lyrics are all written by Shayna Toh, a seventeen-year-old student of Raffles Institution who’s had multiple accomplishments in the field of composition, scoring and even script-writing, while Tabitha Loh, a first-class honours graduate of LASALLE, directs.
“Firefly in the Light” is a pop musical, and tells the story of Wendy, a beautiful and talented teenage schoolgirl, who knows she is destined for great things.
In her shadow is her childhood “friend” Jake – unassuming and insecure – who (finally) finds his strength in Wendy.
Beckoned by the brightness of a future in a city thousands of miles away, Wendy leaves her small hometown to follow her dreams.
A protective mother, her elusive husband in the entertainment business – a shrewd artist manager – amidst adoring friends and fans alike, all wittingly or unwittingly direct the destinies of Wendy and Jake as they search for themselves, love, and success, finding themselves treading on similar grounds but taking very different paths, not once but twice in their young lives.
“Firefly in the Light” is Shayna’s first full-length pop musical.
The show only runs for one night so get them tickets before they’re gone!
Show Duration: Approx. 1hr 45 mins (with 15 mins interval)
Ticket Purchase: SISTIC Link (here)
Coming Soon: “Monkey Goes West” by W!ld Rice
Event: “Monkey Goes West” by W!ld Rice
Venue: Victoria Theatre
Run: 21st Nov – 13th Dec 2014
W!ld Rice’s annual year-end pantomimes are always something to look forward to, and this year is no different.
For starters, they’ll be staging it at the newly-reopened Victoria Theatre, which should be quite a treat.
For the 11th edition of its annual must-see musical pantomime, W!ld Rice is looking to the East for inspiration.
“Monkey Goes West” is based on the endearing Chinese fantasy classic “Journey To The West”, as affectionately re-imagined and relocated to modern-day Singapore by W!ld Rice’s Resident Playwright Alfian Sa’at.
Acclaimed music composer Elaine Chan composes a brand-new score for the production, while Bang Wenfu musical directs.
The show is directed by Sebastian Tan, and stars the likes of Chua Enlai, Lim Kay Siu, Siti Khalijah Zainal, Joshua Lim, Frances Lee, Kimberly Chan and Sugie Phua.
I’d go get my tickets soon if I were you!
Show Duration: 2hrs (including 15min interval)
Ticket Purchase: SISTIC Link (here)
W!ld Rice Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/wildrice.sg
“Frozen” by Pangdemonium
(picture courtesy of Pangdemonium!)
Event: “Frozen” presented by Pangdemonium
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Run: 23rd Oct – 9th Nov 2014
Cold Cold Heart, Hard Done By You
Pangdemonium’s final production of the highly-memorable 2014 season (themed “Misfits”) sees them staging what is definitely the darkest and most hard-hitting of the three shows this year.
Don’t let the title fool you – this has absolutely nothing to do with the Disney film featuring Elsa and bunch.
“Frozen” is a play written by Bryony Lavery which was nominated for nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 2004, and tells the story of paedophile and murderer Ralph (played by Adrian Pang) and how he lures away and eventually murders the 10-year-old daughter of Nancy (played by Karen Tan).
It chronicles the emotional journey of Nancy over a few decades, and how she eventually comes to terms with the ghastly ordeal, having not known the grisly outcome of her daughter until many years later when Ralph is finally caught.
The third significant character in the play is Agnetha (Janice Koh), who plays the New York psychiatrist who takes a particular interest in examining the psychology of a murderer such as Ralph, hoping to shed light on whether there are any redemptive qualities in such a person (if at all), or whether his deeds were either biologically-driven, or the result of particularly traumatic experiences growing up.
The play itself comprises mainly of monologue scenes where the actor speaks mainly to the audience, although there are scenes where two characters speak directly with each other as well.
The set in the Esplanade Theatre Studio space (designed by Eucien Chia) is delineated into roughly three segments, probably to reflect the particular emotional space in which each character mainly inhibits.
It is in the later parts of the play where we see characters crossing over into each other’s space, the most dramatic and climactic of which is when Nancy eventually visits the prison facility to have a one-to-one meeting with Ralph.
Ralph’s character is a complex one – a seemingly confused character full of awkward and sometimes violent ticks, swinging from one end of the emotional pendulum to the next.
At times he comes across as a complete monster, incapable of empathy and totally underserving of any form of redemption, and at times you wonder if he is just an unfortunate product of a tragically harsh upbringing, having a human heart just like anyone else, trapped deep inside that whole mess.
If there was one actor who could even attempt to take on the role of Ralph, then Adrian Pang is definitely it.
His tortured and nuanced portrayal of Ralph is what holds the entire play together, and if this does not win him a Best Actor award at next year’s Life! Theatre Awards, then you’d have to wonder what it actually takes to win one.
“Frozen” is a chilling and sobering tale, and it’s hard to walk out of the Esplanade Theatre Studio without feeling at least a bit disturbed by the depths to which the human heart can plunge to.
While it’s hard to call this being left on a “high” note, we can safely say that Pangdemonium has ended the 2014 with a well-executed play that both deeply disturbs and is once again a grim reminder of the power of theatre to ask the most difficult of life’s questions.
On to 2015!
Coming Soon: Lockdown
Event: “Lockdown” presented by Hatch Theatrics
Venue: The Substation Theatre
Run: 28th – 29th Nov 2014
The play unravels in the setting of a normal counselling room in a school with a teacher waiting for the arrival of three very important guests.
On that very special day, the teacher will be confronted with honesty and truth, and in the very fragile moment of a lockdown due to an unfortunate school fire, Ms Nora is stranded and will have to accept the possibility that she is the only individual left that needs to confront certain realities of the teaching fraternity – a reality that the students have so willingly accepted in their daily course as students.
And in that fragile moment, will the teacher be able to remain a teacher? Or will the teacher prove herself to be a terrible student?
Show Dates: 28th & 29th Nov 2014
Show Timings: 8pm (28th), 3pm & 8pm (29th)
Ticket Prices: $20 (Regular) / $15 (Concession)
Ticket Purchase: Substation Box Office, or call 6337 7800, or email boxoffice@substation.org
Hatch Theatrics Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/hatch.theatrics.info
Coming Soon: UN-Able
Event: “UN-Able” presented by 2Tango Dazzle
Venue: To be revealed
Run: 30th Oct – 2nd Nov 2014
“UN-Able” is an interactive horror play being put up just in time for Halloween.
Scream in fear with this blood curdling story of the wounded which returns to seek revenge as this horror story is brought to life in an gripping, shocking and innovative production directed by Sashirekka Rountan, one of the directors of 2Tango Dazzle.
The interactive play will be staged from 30th October to 2nd November at a secret premise that will be announced nearer to the opening date.
The production will be highlighting the beliefs of the supernatural and after-death phenomenon believed in the Asian culture.
The play will break the fourth wall, both physically and verbally to engage the audience.
The play will not be limited to a designated performing area as various scenes of the plot unfold in different locations of a dilapidated school building.
The performance will be presented amidst audience members, often engaging them actively as part of the play.
They will be involved in the act to facilitate the improvisational nature of the play.
In several instances, the audience might even play as characters in the story.
In addition, the audience will have a 5-dimensional experience through their senses; sight, sound, feel, taste and smell.
The play is written by Sashirekka Rountan and Gangka Periyasamy, and directed by Sashirekka Rountan.
Stars Glenn Cheow, Anita Porwal, Isaac Goh, Hector Jonges Tunon, Ginnie Goh and Sharon Phay.
Show Dates: 30th Oct – 2nd Nov 2014
Show Timings: 7pm – 12am
Ticket Prices: $25 for Adults, $20 for Students
Ticket Purchase: unable.peatix.com
Coming Soon: “Frozen”
Event: “Frozen” presented by Pangdemonium
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Run: 23rd Oct – 9th Nov 2014
In keeping with their 2014 theme of “misfits and outsiders”, Pangdemonium’s third production of the year (after “Fat Pig” and “The Rise & Fall of Little Voice”) sees them staging the play “Frozen”, winner of the prestigious Barclay Award for Best New Play, and nominated for 4 Tony Awards, including Best Play.
One sunny morning 10-year-old Rhona goes missing. Her mother Nancy (Karen Tan), retreats into a state of frozen hope…for the next twenty years. Does “closure” mean forgiveness? Or revenge?
Agnetha (Janice Koh) is a pioneering psychiatrist with a controversial theory on serial killers. Does she really believe what she preaches, even as she fights her own demons?
And then there’s Ralph (Adrian Pang), a loner with a fractured history and a deadly obsession. Is he a monster? Or a misunderstood man-child?
Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three individuals embark upon a tangled, twisted journey, uncovering one another’s skeletons and ghosts along the way, before finally finding the light.
“Frozen” is a shocking, searing and ultimately sensitive study of the fragile human psyche, and the meaning of retribution, survival and hope.
When Artistic Directors Tracie and Adrian Pang first read the play, they were struck at the play’s emotional, intellectual and visceral impact, which they found very moving and powerful.
“The questions the play raises about retribution, redemption, compassion and forgiveness – they affect us all in our daily lives. The play also deals with subjects who really resonate with us: the influence we have as parents on the kind of adults our children grow into; and also society’s responsibility to protect every child from harm. It really is a story that needs to be told.”
Play starts 23rd October so get your tickets soon!
Ticket Purchase: SISTIC Link (here)
Play Duration: Approx. 2 hours
Mies Julie
(picture courtesy of SRT)
Event: “Mies Julie” presented by SRT
Venue: DBS Arts Centre – Home of SRT
Run: 27th Aug – 13th Sep 2014
Blurred Lines
Based on the 1888 play by Swedish playwright August Strindberg, writer-director Yael Farber adapts what was initially a play based in Sweden about a young lady of good standing having a relationship with her well-mannered valet servant into a post-apartheid South African context, about Julie, the daughter of a rich man and farm owner, getting emotionally and physically entangled with a farmhand named John on a particularly steamy evening in the family kitchen.
Julie, played by Hilda Cronje, dances seductively and with reckless abandon on the night of the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid, while John, played by a strapping Bongile Mantsai, dutifully minds his own business at one corner of the kitchen, hard at work at polishing the boots of his master.
A lengthy interplay then occurs between the two, straddling the fine line between restraint and yielding.
The stakes are obviously high, and the consequences potentially fatal.
Finally, the two of them reach the point of no return and succumb to lust, and end up consummating their desires on the kitchen table.
What happens thereafter is an intense concoction of passion, anger, fear and confusion all rolled into one explosive mix, while the couple struggle to come to their senses and decide the appropriate course of action thereafter.
Hilda Cronje and Bongile Mantasi put in riveting performances, and the stage can barely contain the heady whirlwind of emotions the two of them project – John, the black labourer who is claiming his right as an equal citizen of the supposed new democratic era, and Julie, as a young woman who yearns to be independent from her father’s control.
John’s mother Christine, played by Zoleka Helesi, represents the voice of reason in the play, giving the two of them a weighty sense of perspective on a night when emotions run completely wild.
And while the action on stage was often gripping, there comes a point towards the end of the play where the arguments seemed to start going in circles, and the action seemed to become slightly repetitive.
The resolution is one that, sadly, offers scant hope, but as a whole, “Mies Julie” remains as raw and as powerful a piece of theatre as one can imagine.
Buttons In The Bread 