2019 has quite a few firsts for me - my first time performing in Chinese, my first time performing puppetry, first time performing overseas (in KL and Bangkok!), a first time performing a comedy show, a first time performing Shakespeare on stage (Macbeth!) and my first time graduating from a proper, structured theatre training programme (young&wild!)
Unfortunately, it also includes my first time being hospitalised for stress and overwork for 2 weeks and I'm doing my best to develop a self-care plan - making sure there's a balance between the physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, personal and professional aspects (you can see a good example here). When I talk about self-care, I don't mean the mindfulness conspiracy that has overtaken our society but the self-discipline that is needed to do necessary but mundane or hard tasks - pay off your debt, go for exercise even if you feel lazy, cut off toxic people even if it's hard, say no in spite of pressures. It's hard but I want to stay accountable to myself and stay away from being hospitalised. I think the fact that I enjoyed my 2 weeks of hospitalisation is very telling. I see signs of burn out among so many of my friends that it's almost become a worrying norm. That said, thank you for everyone's well wishes and those who visited me when I was hospitalised. (Remember to buy insurance!)
That said, I think I had a very interesting year in theatre exploring new parts about myself and gaining new experiences. Also, I'm still maintaining my streak of watching >50 performances this year and ever grateful to those who blessed me with comms/free tickets.
My top international performance is Körper by Sasha Waltz and Hans Peter Kuhn. As the name suggests, it's a performative enquiry into the body. The entire performance felt like a series of mini-experiments that tries to inquire into questions of: What is the body? How do we perceive the body? What are its limits? How do we measure a patch of skin, a pound of flesh? These questions were explored with finesse from the dancers, putting themselves in positions that felt technically impressive but excruciating to hold. A sacrifice to push themselves to limits and open up new possibilities on how the body can be shaped, measured, mapped and constructed. Nudity is regarded as more matter-of-fact rather than a provocative statement. There is little interest in sex. Bodies are used as shifting shapes or objects placed in various tableau of everyday and not-so everyday situations (it veers into questions of bioethics and genetic manipulation as well as surreal compositions). Throughout the performance, you can feel the ghost hand of Sasha Waltz as experimenter placing these bodies-as-objects-of-inquiry in different topographies, patterns, stacks and heaps. It culminates with dancers in their own repetitive tableau across the stage set against a rising tension in the mechanical and industrial soundscape; one of the dancers was placed in a harness and skis and was sliding down the vertical wall. The tall black wall then started to collapse, with one of the dancers standing in the proscenium and his back turned to the wall. As someone sitting on the first row, I started to retreat into my seat as if I could feel the threat of the wall collapsing on me. When it hit the ground, I could feel the strong gust of Esplanade Theatre's dust whipping my face. The dancer in the proscenium stood unfazed. Körper was conceptualised in 2000 and yet continue to be a sight to behold when you watch it for the first time.
My favourite local performance is Blunt Knife by Eng Kai Er. Although Blunt Knife was a small intimate performance with Kai Er managing all stage aspects of the show, it proved to be a cutting one - one that leaves a mark and you find yourself thinking about the show outside of the performance space. It's a confessional solo piece that touches on the themes of transgressions and consent. It's a smart and well-conceived piece and one that forces you to be complicit and betray your own position of morality and what is right. I don't want to give away too many spoilers because Blunt Knife is making a comeback at Wild Rice's Singapore Theatre Festival and I highly encourage people to go catch it. It's by far one of the most visceral yet thought-provoking piece I have watched in a while and it left me reeling. You can read a spoiler-free interview with Kai Er about the show here.
As I'm writing this, I realise both pieces I enjoyed this year were very much about bodies as an instrument, body politics and morality, power and consent over the body. I'm also cognisant that this is in the backdrop of the #MeToo era where such themes are very prevalent. Perhaps developing physical self-awareness and investigating the body and its internal landscapes is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.
M1 Fringe Jogging by Hanane Hajj Ali (Lebanon | France)
Intersections: Sonic Strokes by Bhumi Collective
M1 Fringe: A Fortunate Man by New Perspectives (UK)
M1 Fringe: Yesterday it rained salt by Bhumi Collective
M1 Fringe: Ayer Hitam - A Black History of Singapore by Sharon Frese, Ng Yi-Sheng and Irfan Kasban
Utama Spaceship by Spacebar Theatre (Eugene and Shu)
M1 Fringe: Precise Purpose of Being Broken by Koh Wan Ching
Huayi Festival: 4:48 Psychosis by Emergency Stairs
Transition Room by Toy Factory Productions
Alice, Bob and Eve by Raw Moves
(Melbourne) Mr Burns, a post-electric play by Lightning Jar Theatre
(Melbourne) Barbara and the Camp Dogs by Malthouse Theatre
Performing Malay Sketches by The Second Breakfast Company
Late Company by Pangdemonium
Are you game, Sau(dara)? by Centre 42 and Five Arts Centre
NUS Arts Festival: A Disappearing Number by Edith Podesta
Not in My Lifetime by The Finger Players
FAUST / US by Nine Years Theatre
Holier Than How by TheatreWorks
Esplanade Studios: Rubber Girl on the Loose by Cake Theatrical Productions
A New and Better You by LASALLE BA Acting (dir. Edith Podesta)
The Vault: Gossip, Symphony and Other Matters by NUS Theatre Studies Year 3
Caryl Churchill's love and Information by NAFA Theatre Students (dir. Rei Poh)
Taman Ritus: Road by LASALLE Diploma in Performance
Phantom of the Opera Musical by BASE Entertainment
Cloud Gate 45th Anniversary Gala Programme: Lin Hwai-Min: A Retrospective by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Inch Chua's 'til the end of the world, we meet in no man's land by TheatreWorks
This Is What Happens to Pretty Girls by Pangdemonium
SIFA: Beware of Pity by Schaubühne Berlin
SIFA: Dionysus by Suzuki Company of Toga & Purnati Indonesia
SIFA: Civilised by The Necessary Stage
SIFA: ST/LL by Shiro Takatani & Dumb Type
SIFA: Displaced Persons' Welcome Dinner by Checkpoint Theatre
SIFA: Körper by Sasha Waltz and Hans Peter Kuhn
Blunt Knife by Eng Kai Er
Fatih - The Prince and the Drum by NADI
Anything Can Happen / Something Must Happen by young and wild (dir. Edith Podesta)
Happy Waiting by Grain Performance Lab
The Chronicles of Xiao Ming by Miriam Cheong
Supervision by Wild Rice
Fat Kids are Harder to Kidnap X by How Drama
Caught by Singapore Repertory Theatre
...you've changed so... (Dramatised Read) by Tan Liting
The Adventures of Abhijeet by Patch and Punnet
Web of Deceit by Paper Monkey Theatre
Permanence by Toy Factory Productions
Lim Boon Keng: The Musical by Musical Theatre Limited
A Fiend's Diary by The Finger Players
Heather by Adeeb & Shai
Lie with Me by Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) (dir. Phillip Zarrrilli)
Journey to a Dream by Emergency Stairs
Fourth Wall: Duets by Fantasium Group
Peter Pan at Serangoon Gardens by Wild Rice
The Lesson: A Workshop by Drama Box