Sep 8Review: The Chair by ITI 2023 Graduating Cohort(Lights up. The stage is empty, save for THE NARRATOR who sits in a wooden armchair, which is throne-like in its bearing but perhaps not in appearance, and is neither cushioned nor padded, and looks thoroughly uncomfortable.) (THE NARRATOR, however, sits comfortably in it, relaxed, smoking a pipe. He is…11 min read11 min read
Apr 27Mono no aware (物の哀れ)The greatest approximation to the human condition, and indeed, that of the human soul, is, to me, the light of a star a million light years away, visible from our galaxy as the shining, shimmering, glimmer of a jewel in the night sky that we can see deep in the…4 min read4 min read
Apr 4Review: No Particular Order by Joel Tan, dir. Sim Yan Ying “YY”I dedicate this review to my friend, YY, who was a friend to me, through a time of contemplation, struggle, sometimes unseen grief, but also a time of growth, of stability, and of familiarity. Thank you. Out of order comes chaos. And from chaos is order born. These are two…8 min read8 min read
Nov 10, 2022Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by ITI 2022 Graduating CohortDear Oberon, King of Shadows, and Titania, Faerie Queene, Well met by lackluster moonlight, for on this night I write this, the moon deigns not to show its reflective face. I write you this knowing that, like all other letters that foolish mortals address to both your graces, you will…7 min read7 min read
Sep 17, 2022almost home (or “The Tale of Tiberius, Andal Gunther”)a work written after watching almost home by The Theatre Practice (this is not a review. I could not stress this point more strongly enough. this is how I said goodbye to someone I had the fortune of knowing, yet not befriending; the fortune of greeting at the door, but…6 min read6 min read
Sep 2, 2022Review: Selected Verses from in within over under beneath Therapy by Matter.less (or “I Sat”)(Preface: when I was asked to review this, I initially felt like my response to the show would have to be measured. Targeted. Each carefully crafted word and paragraph would have to say something measured, careful and significant about each part of Selected Verses. …5 min read5 min read
May 31, 2022Review: ASYLUM by ITI 2022 Graduating Cohort (or “These Ties That Bind”)“These lines we draw, these walls we build”. When staring into a cage, those looking in constantly focus on what is being kept in. But have we ever thought about what was being kept out? ASYLUM very nearly presented itself as yet another dystopian, apocalyptic Netflix-ish story that involves the…5 min read5 min read
May 5, 2022Review: The Vault: Rear View Mirrors by NUS Theatre Studies TS3103 Theatre Lab students (2021/22) [or “This Hurts”]visceral /ˈvɪs(ə)r(ə)l/ adjective: visceral relating to the viscera. relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect. (from Oxford Languages by Google) Unsurprisingly, it was the dramaturg of this particular show that impressed upon me one of the greatest truths that I believe help suspend my disbelief in the…5 min read5 min read
Feb 28, 2022Review: Lion (The Wright Stuff Festival 2021)Warning: major spoilers ahead Disclaimer: the following introduction is completely fIctIoNaL and ARTistic and any resemblance to reality is purely cOiNcIdENtAL. [A plain, round, marble dining table. BROTHER 1 sits at the table, a pink box labelled “COVID-19 ANTIGEN RAPID TEST” on the cover lies open next to him on…7 min read7 min read
Nov 14, 2021Review: Until Death by The Haque Collective(Warning: major spoilers ahead) Grief. (I feel like I’ve already said this, and started a story, in this same way somewhere else, at some distant point in the past. I probably have.) It’s a hard thing to process, and I think we are constantly processing it, for it never truly…6 min read6 min read
