| 29 Jan | Ana Shell: M1 Fringe Festival: Majulah Singapura – Tree Project - Review of Majulah Singapura - Tree Project by Hiroshi Sunairi |
| 25 Jan | Popspoken: Working on a Special Day: A Theatre of Acceptance and Imagination - Review of Working on a Special Day by Porp Piedad Teatro | The Play ... |
| 25 Jan | Flying Inktpot: Body Image - Review of Focus by Olé Khamchanla | Compagnie Kham in Flying Inkpot |
2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Besides a jaw-dropping line-up of events featuring Fringe first-timers, returning
international artists and the best of Singapore Fringe, we are also excited to
announce the following:
TICKETS FOR FRINGE 2014 WILL COST ONLY $19 EACH
This is our 10th anniversary gift to you, our loyal audience and supporters. We
hope you will continue to support us by buying more tickets and introducing new
friends to the Fringe.
Now on to the programme. This year we have 3 Fringe Highlights. The first is
Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. Local theatre collective Nine Years
Theatre gives this popular classic an all-Mandarin makeover under the direction
of Nelson Chia.
From Portugal comes innovative theatre company Mundo Perfeito with their
production of Three Fingers Below the Knee, a play created with texts censored
during Portugal's 40 years of dictatorship. To quote Jorge Luis Borges,
"Censorship is the mother of metaphor".
Finally, Majulah Singapore - Tree Project is an ambitious and meaningful work
conceived by Hiroshi Sunairi. Seeds of Hibaku trees [trees which survived the
atomic bombing in Hiroshima] are distributed to everyday Singaporeans who are
invited to grow them. The work will also include an exhibition and a film
screening which will feature interviews with participants around the world who have been involved with the project.
Under the theme 'Art & the People', we have programmed an eclectic line up of
theatre, dance and visual arts events.
And what a way to celebrate people than to focus on the family that is
Singapore. Besides Nine Years Theatre and The Necessary Stage's re-staging of Best Of [by popular demand], this year we present one of the Fringe's most
refreshing line-ups by Singapore artists.
Joget, Abang, Joget [Dance, Darling, Dance] by ponggurl is a hard-hitting
examination of tenderness and violence; The Mountain, based on a short
story by Amitav Ghosh and presented by new performance collective The
Art of Strangers, brings together 15 artists and 15 audience members in one space in the spirit of sharing and storytelling; Unseen, by Alecia Neo, is a
large-scale installation about sight and sightlessness presented at ION Art; Foundin, by Tan Wei Keong, involves the placement of figurines in public
spaces which are then encountered by passers-by who are invited to engage
with the persons behind each figurine; The Face Daily is a fictional
newspaper drawn from Facebook feeds, specially created for the Fringe by Ong Kian Peng, and which will be distributed daily to the general public. We are also elated to announce the return of Peer Pleasure specially for
Fringe 2014. Peer Pleasure was a regular feature of the M1 Youth Connection [1998-2004]. It is a showcase of school productions, giving them greater outreach and exposure. 6 schools will be featured in a line-up
of the most exciting and entertaining youth theatre in Singapore.
Finally, The Necessary Stage's Theatre for Seniors makes its debut in Fringe
2014 with Take Me Or Leave Me!, Singapore's first senior forum theatre
production.
As you can see, Fringe 2014 is a bumper year for Singapore artists in all its
glorious assortments, celebrating the different performance styles, artistic
disciplines, local cultures and languages.
This leaves me to invite you to sit back, browse through this website and make your selections. Do also join us on Facebook and Twitter.
For the 10th time: Get involved.
Haresh Sharma
Co-Artistic Director, M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
"A nation's culture resides in the hearts
and in the souls of its people."
The late Kuo Pao Kun, the doyen of Singapore Theatre, has always shared that
the ultimate purpose of art is life. Whether one distills from life to create art or one is inspired and/or healed by an art work or an artistic process, art for life is
what makes Art and the People a provocative, apt and timely focus for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014.
Numerous art works have been the outcome of broken communities finding some
form of healing or empowerment against oppressive forces. Augusto Boal's Forum Theatre, which has helped many communities worldwide comes to mind. Another notable form is Playback Theatre, where, through artistic and creative re-enactment, players and story-tellers affect each other and connect to learn more about themselves and life, demonstrating the common ground we share.
"It never ceases to amaze me when ordinary people get
into the spirit of what I'm doing. It's pivotal to my art."
Yet, community remains a problematic concept because diversity arises with democracy, and with that comes fragmentation and fracture. Marginalised communities have relied on art to assert their identities, to overcome oppressive forces. Art is then employed to uphold differences; giving voice or visibility to the oppressed community. Interestingly, art then celebrates instead of melds these differences. Art is a paradox that can do both.
"There is no surer way of evading the world than by Art;
and no surer way of uniting with it than by Art."
Art also challenges the people and ruptures established perceptions about life, enabling us to critique what has been normalised. Often artists create out of a disturbance. For some transformative art or socially-engaged works, some artists opt for aesthetic strategies that encapsulate these disturbances that provoke, challenge and affect the audience, in order to motivate them towards a re-visioning of certain aspects of life, to hope, and indeed, to create a future from dreams.
"The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that
what people have in common is more urgent than what
differentiates them."
These dynamic exchanges between Art and the People make us reflect on how Community Arts has been looked down upon or seen as the poorer cousin in art circles all around the globe. Should not art be art, and that art for the people be regarded/respected as having its own aesthetic standards and bar of excellence to attain as well? The disdain shown towards Community Arts by some artists exposes a glaring hypocrisy, for isn't art supposed to nurture an environment that is inclusive, where differences can co-exist?
"The artist... tells his audience, at the risk of their
displeasure, the secrets of their own hearts."
Today, in our socially mediated world, art can be a call to arms, where crowdsourced contributions by the general public becomes the final product, where the processes of collaborating, editing, curating, mediating and critiquing are themselves the artwork. By re-examining the relationship between Art and the People, we open ourselves to new possibilities of the definition of art and creative processes. We embrace the unique voices expressing diversity, that - in coming together - form a new aggregate, a perspective that does not propel any single dominant ideology, but rather, accepts differences and sees them as integral components of an all-encompassing, fluid, and truly democratic whole. Through Art and the People, we seek to celebrate one another, to appreciate irregularity and assymmetry amongst our communities, and to meditate on how our individualities are but extraordinary expressions of ordinary beauty through multiplicity.
"My audience comprises everybody, not just the bourgeois.
But there are people who don't take me seriously and
that annoys me."
The most powerful art pieces are undeniably those that are directly connected to
the people, inspired by human frailties, strength, desires and hopes. In times of
turbulence and despair, art has always been regarded as a means towards healing,
reconciliation and catharsis, as evidenced by the many thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and uplifting works arising from disasters, political upheaval and societal strife. Art can indeed help us examine the obstacles that impede cohesion.
Art and the people cannot be divorced from one another, for how does the
former exist if it is not inspired by the latter? Art has always drawn its strength
and derived its meaning from the people. It would be impossible to delink art
from its audience, who may well serve multiple roles: as inspiration, joint creators,
funders, critics, appreciators, and so on. No artist can claim to work in a
silo, and by extension, the oft-debated value and meaning of art cannot only be intrinsic to the work, but depends to a large extent on the people that make
value and meaning to them. Art that discounts its audience altogether cannot be
anything but navel-gazing exercises in futility, for what purpose does art serve if
it refuses to communicate with the wider public in any way?
"Our creativity comes from without, not from within.
We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another,
and admitting this to ourselves isn't an embrace of mediocrity
and derivativeness. It's a liberation from our misconceptions,
and it's an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves
and to simply begin."
Join the Fringe as we explore and exult in the different aspects of the
relationship between Art and the People. 8 - 19 January 2014.
Get involved.
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 marks the 10th year that The Necessary
Stage (TNS) and M1 have been presenting the festival to the people!
The Festival's beginning in 2005 was humble but groundbreaking. It was the first
of its kind in Singapore to showcase theatre, visual arts, film and interactive
forums by local and international artists. More importantly, if I may quote from
the foreword by TNS' Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma in 2005: "Singapore needs
an outfit for artists to continue taking risks to create and supply a new diet of
innovative and thought-provoking works... But if we pull our resources together,
we can create a sustainable space that present arts scene sorely needs as a
permanent feature in its arts and cultural ecology."
While the Festival has grown, evolved and wow-ed many over the years, the spirit
of the Fringe remains, that is "to reach out to all people who are here at this
period of time - giving a special something and bringing people together for
these 12 days." The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is highly anticipated each year
and today, it continues to feature cultural diversity, as well as socially significant,
contemporary and
On behalf of M1, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the
success of the festival in the past 10 years, especially the talented TNS
team, for which without their passion, tenacity and hard work in driving their
artistic vision, this would not have been possible. M1 is proud to be associated
with the Festival from its beginning as the presenting sponsor.
This year's theme of Art and the People is fitting for the Festival's 10th
anniversary. We believe that art is an oasis that we sorely need in our fastpaced
city and that is for everyone, not just a select few. Hence, the M1
Singapore Fringe Festival seeks to make the arts accessible to all by keeping
ticket prices affordable all these years even as the Festival has grown in
stature and popularity.
With 15 works, 31 performances and 4 exhibitions, we wish everyone a
refreshing, stimulating, and even inspiring experience at the Festival. Enjoy!
Ivan Lim
Director
Corporate Communications
M1 Limited
Although written in 1882, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen remains poignant in the 21st century as it describes the tension that arises out of the differences in ideals between the individual and the masses of a society. Looking at the events that are happening around us today, we can easily see that the play, more than a century after it was first staged, still holds relevance to the ways that our society functions. It questions not only the value of individual's idealism, but also that of democracy's essence - by claiming that the majority can very well be wrong.
Nine Years Theatre (NYT) presents an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's iconic play An Enemy of the People, which depicts one man's struggle to hold his beliefs against the benefits of the majority - or, depending on how you look at it, a society's collective rejection of a person's misconstrued self-righteousness. When Dr Stockmann, a popular figure in his coastal town in Norway, discovers that water in the newly developed public baths under his charge have been contaminated by industrial waste, he alerts the authorities to this to prevent more people from getting ill. However, he encounters resistance from his brother, the town's mayor, because of the astronomical costs involved in repairing the baths.
Created by the company's ensemble of actors under its NYT Ensemble Project and directed by Nelson Chia, this powerful and thought-provoking production returns to the charm of storytelling by the use of an intimate setting with minimalistic design.
"…a rock-solid production that is carried by fine performances, as well as confident and well-paced direction by Nelson Chia." - - Adeline Chia, Artinfo.com, on NYT's 12 Angry Men
"American playwright Reginald Rose's seminal script gets an all-Mandarin treatment and the result is startlingly refreshing. Chia's translation of the work gives his small orchestra of actors a text that is as lyrical as it is incisive." - Corrie Tan, The Straits Times Life!, on NYT's 12 Angry Men Co-founded by Artistic Director Nelson Chia and Company Director Mia Chee, Nine Years Theatre (NYT) ?年剧场 is a Singapore Mandarin theatre company that believes in the accumulative process of art, which is reflected in their three-prong artistic direction: NYT is concerned with the development of their creation, with the issues of long-term, regular actor training, and the building of audience-ship through knowledge sharing. NYT aims to create works that are essentially actor-centred, that challenge the nature of the actor's art in productions, and ultimately, question the notion and the state of the Mandarin theatre. This production of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》 features NYT Ensemble Project, a developmental platform of NYT. NYT Ensemble Project is an attempt to build a company of ensemble actors who train and create together over an extended period of time. Its main activities are divided into: regular training, creation and performance. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a sustainable group of company actors that accumulates its strengths through the ensemble environment to create works that are grounded and organic.
Based upon the historical archive of theatre censorship during the 40 years of dictatorship in Portugal, Three Fingers Below the Knee examines how censorship tried to control the relationship between art and people in the country. Winner of the Portuguese Author's Prize for Best Theatre Performance in 2012, Three Fingers Below the Knee was praised by the critics as an homage to artists that helped to forge democracy, as well as an eye-opener questioning the limits of today's artistic freedom. Being profoundly Portuguese in its content, this performance has a universal appeal to audiences abroad, touring internationally with success in Helsinki, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris, Modena, and now, Singapore.
What makes this piece so intriguing and relevant is the analysis of ways an authoritarian and oppressive system regarded art in relation to its people. Transforming censors into playwrights, this performance reveals and questions the way censorship thinks about theatre audiences, theatre artists and this 'contagious and dangerous' art. On the other hand, the play also shows how creativity can overcome an authoritarian regime and reach the people. As Jorge Luis Borges would put it, "Censorship is the mother of metaphor."
At the Torre do Tombo, Portugal's national archive, theatre maker Tiago Rodrigues found an incredibly large compilation of material which was only recently made public, related to theatre during the dictatorship that ruled the country for 48 years. Amongst thousands of censored plays found in the archive included reports written by the inspectors that had demanded cuts or prohibition of performances. Using these reports as its basis, Three Fingers Below the Knee casts an ironic gaze at the act of Censorship, and our awareness of this shared heritage of censorship may urge us towards rediscovering the danger of theatre - or as Rodrigues calls it, "a sweet revenge".
"What was previously motivated by ideological blindness is now fascinating material from the point of view of dramaturgical inventiveness. The exercise proposed here is not only in homage to the resilient work of those committed to the defense of theatre as an agent of intervention in society. Indeed, it is an extraordinary moment for reflection on the present dangers to freedom of thought.
- Tiago Bartolomeu Costa, Jornal Público
Previously performed at Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2013.
Formed in 2003, Mundo Perfeito professes its mission to "fight the forces of evil", and is known for its high quality work as well as dedication to innovation and reinventing itself. The company has presented the work of its Artistic Director Tiago Rodrigues, but also works with new authors as well as collaborates with international and Portuguese artists.
"The community, to me, is in a state of constant undoing. The community never settles despite its aspiration to be complete, to be one. As soon as the community arrives at the point of almost settling in, defining itself, achieving full comprehension and understanding of its very purpose and meaning in being, the community begins to break apart, it begins to dismantle what it had learnt to know. It now violently refuses to accept the fate that it had knowingly built itself towards. The community, suddenly at that moment of becoming, awakes to recognise that if it does achieve completion, it will then cease to be. This is the rule for bodies to exist and co-exist in the spaces that I design." - Noor Effendy Ibrahim
It begins with a simple movement. A gesture. A flow. A word. A plea. A call. A dance. It ends in a dance. A desire. A lust. A dream. Within where it begins and where it ends lies a man, not broken, not even complete. And where this man lay, his child, a child, it, it whispers to return to where it never began from, away from where it never left. And where this man lay, he begins the dance with the end of a simple movement. He calls this Child.
Joget, Abang, Joget (Dance, Darling, Dance) is the opening up of the realm that was created by Noor Effendy Ibrahim in his solo performance series Dancing with the Ghost of My Child, first performed in Singapore for the R.I.T.E.S #5-2011 (Rooted in the Ephemeral Speak) performance art series. In this work, Effendy continues his on-going performance research to excavate inherent and latent memories within his own body through self-inflicted physical abuse, and to understand concepts of guilt and desire as he negotiates his faith and his constantly shifting identities in a society that he views as one seeking to neuter otherness. In Joget, Abang, Joget, Effendy seeks to reconcile ideas of tenderness in violence.
"... a deeply mature, moving and challenging piece that played with gender roles and the longing for a child."
- "Alanna Maclean, Canberra Critics Circle, on Dancing with the Ghost of My Child"
ponggurl is a process space conceived by the current Artistic Director of The Substation, Noor Effendy Ibrahim since 2013 in order to play with his insecurities in a safe environment.
The Mountain's central themes are climate change, society and foreigners. The piece is a critical allegory to the idea of "progress" in a world where people struggle to achieve an identity, and with the inevitable doom of climate change as a backdrop.
In this argument, the piece relate to "The People" at several levels. Firstly, it speaks about "The Foreigners" and "The Locals" by means of a simple story that mirrors several on-going debates not only in Asia, but also in several latitudes throughout the world. Secondly, it addresses the debates between tradition and innovation, ancient knowledge and science and between the "tribal old" and the "modern new". The piece portrays a concern that has been present in several discourses since long enough, and which takes the issue of realising the shortcomings of modernity, the brutality with which it was imposed throughout the colonial world and the ecological emergency that it has brought about for the planet. Ultimately, the piece relates to "The People" simply because it is about the people. The meeting of performers and spectators with this story of doom seeks to put forward the following motto: "We are not free. We are bound to our planet's limits. We are not alone. I am because you are."
What will happen once the mountains melt? Who will we blame? How will we tell the story of the end of the world?
These questions are some of the main points that the newly formed performance collective The Art of Strangers wishes to address in The Mountain, the company's debut production. Based on a short story by Amitav Ghosh, this piece brings 15 performers together in a mix of storytelling and role-playing that sets out to be a unique and intimate experience for the 15 spectators that each show allows. With this performance, producer Fezhah Maznan and director Felipe Cervera aim to put forward a reflection about the relationship about art, people and global warming that ultimately will leave the spectator with a reflection about the end of the world. A hopeful, intimate and simple experience, this performance is a must-see.
The Art of Strangers is a brand new independent performance collective led by Fezhah Maznan and Felipe Cervera that seeks to produce collaborative performance works investigating contemporary issues dealing with education, globalisation and human co-habitance. The Mountain is their first project, in which they seek to bring a wide range of people to create an intimate piece that discusses climate change.
These works have emerged from six different schools that have undergone a variety of inter-generational creative processes. Most of the plays have been written by adult playwrights or devised by adult directors. Most of the content have been researched and generated with young people who may not have the experience or skills to structure these materials and concerns together into a theatre piece. Working collaboratively means a transfer of skills and also addressing the challenges of working across multiple differences to create works that communicate their worlds to an audience.
This collection of short plays celebrates people in creative processes with an aim to create works. The adults with life experience and established theatre skills serve the community of youth, who learn the skills of a discipline that are outside the academic confines to explore the other aspects of their lives. These processes nurture a wholistic approach and supplements our academically-inclined curriculum housed in most schools in Singapore.
The festival platform then offers these worlds the opportunity to be shared with a larger audience, thereby transmitting the voices of young people and their concerns, not merely enabling their presence in society through art, but also encouraging dialogue with the adults in our society today. With that, it is the festival's hope that the dialogic processes will enable us to see possibilities of creative transformation in our relationships with our youth, making art and the people enjoy concrete outcomes and not exist as a mere curatorial brief.
In line with this year's theme, and to celebrate the Fringe's 10th anniversary, we have revived Peer Pleasure. Always a favourite from our past youth festivals, Peer Pleasure is a celebration of youth theatre. The Fringe is proud to present an exciting and eclectic mix of performances from six schools.
Boys by St Andrew's Secondary School
Contrology by Yio Chu Kang Secondary School
History, Whose Story? by Deyi Secondary School
It's a Small, Small World by St Anthony's Canossian Secondary School
Lanterns Never Go Out by St Joseph's Institution and
What Big Bombs You Have!!! by Chung Cheng High School.
Our pragmatic lifestyle makes top-down regulation an attractive way of life, making the culture of hierarchy the companion to efficiency. The Singaporean youth today are quick to question the norm. The themes of these plays touch on the herd mentality, the obsession for control, the relevance of history, being enslaved by poverty, harassed by societal expectations and living with a family that cannot be trusted.
Whether literal or metaphorical, Singaporean youth are struggling with identity. As we are small, we are immediately connected to the global and are used to looking outwards from a very young age. With social media, our choices of being influenced and informed have become more diverse, disturbing national boundaries and re-defining what is local.
As today's youth are confronted by a plethora of local questions and urgent global issues, what better way to engage one another than through art? The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 is proud to present our youth and their 'people' concerns.
SYNOPSES OF PLAYS
Boys by St Andrew's Secondary School (directed by Ian Loy)
Boys is inspired by William Golding's Lord of the Flies. It explores herd mentality, the cycle of violence and the possibility of standing up for what is right.
Contrology by Yio Chu Kang Secondary School (directed by Serena Ho)
We want control. It does not matter who we are. We protect, we shout, we lie, we preach, we teach, we shoot. There are expectations to fulfill. Is it important for us to keep in line? At the end what does it all mean?
History, Whose Story? by Deyi Secondary School (directed by Umi Kalthum)
History, Whose Story? touches on Singapore's history in order to stimulate a discussion on the importance and relevance of history in the daily lives of students. It focuses on the relationship between Sir Stamford Raffles and Munshi Abdullah, as well as popular characters from Singapore's past, and is told through the eyes of a present-day student who discovers the many different voices of history.
It's a Small, Small World by St Anthony's Canossian Secondary School (directed by Dwayne Lau)
The overarching theme centres on the idea of freedom versus being trapped. Topics of child slavery, poverty and monetary issues will be explored. This play aims to raise awareness of such issues, and illustrate the need to be content with what we have.
Lanterns Never Go Out by St Joseph's Institution (directed by Geraldine Wee)
It's Chinese New Year and Wai Kheng has to face the annual barrage of questions and criticisms again but perhaps, this year, will be a little different. Perhaps his lantern will not go out.
What Big Bombs You Have!!! by Chung Cheng High School (directed by Natalie Hennedige)
What Big Bombs You Have!!! is a re-imagining of the classic children's tale Little Red Riding Hood. It begins with a family setting, where a little Girl lives precariously at home with a sinister Uncle, a powerless Mother and a scared and angry Brother...
Best Of is a one-woman show about a young Malay-Muslim woman who describes a day in her life - starting with a visit to the prison in the morning to see her cousin, and ending at the hospital to be with her mother who is undergoing chemotherapy. She shares her most immediate concerns, such as trying to settle a divorce with her husband through the Syariah laws in Singapore.
The play is performed by one actor who narrates through the voices of a multitude of people. As she shares her character's story, she is also representing the voices of family members, friends and strangers.
The play, although specific in its issues - grappling with divorce matters in Singapore's Muslim community - broaches more universal themes. It appeals to anyone regardless of identity markers such as race, class, gender and faith.
From the kindness of strangers to the staleness of familiarity, the protagonist reveals, through her encounters in this one day, the worst of and the best of, the people around us.
"There's the kind of storytelling that lights up fireworks and milks this communal moment for all its worth. Best Of, The Necessary Stage's enjoyable one-woman show featuring Siti Khalijah Zainal, skips all of that and simply tells."
- Mayo Martin, TODAYonline
Award-winning actress Siti Khalijah Zainal takes centre-stage in this one-woman show specially created for her by Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma
Back by popular demand!
First staged at the Fringe in 2013 and subsequently at CausewayEXchange in Penang, both to rave reviews, Best Of looks at issues of the day through collective stories and personal reflection.
"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."- Martin Luther King Jr. Formed in 1987 by our current Artistic Director Alvin Tan, The Necessary Stage (TNS) is a non-profit theatre company with charity status. Our mission is to create challenging, indigenous and innovative theatre that touches the heart and mind. TNS is a recipient of the National Arts Council's Major Grant FY2012/2013, and is also the organiser and curator of the annual M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.
Forum Theatre was first introduced to Singapore by The Necessary Stage in 1993. It is a theatrical form which seeks to empower audiences by making them active participants rather than passive observers. They are invited to come on stage and replace actors, to became what Forum Theatre creator Augusto Boal termed 'Spect-actors'.
As an art form, Forum Theatre is very much about the people. The audience is presented with a play [or 'anti-play'] with a negative conclusion. As such it is up to the people, via this democratic art form, to make a change for the better.
Since 1993, there have been numerous forum theatre events in Singapore, despite its troubled history with the authorities.
The M1 Singapore Fringe 2014 ups the ante by presenting a brand new forum theatre production completely created and presented by senior actors and facilitators - a first for Singapore's theatre scene.
At the core of the two issues tackled in the production - divorce in seniors and abandonment of the elderly - are our senior citizens. However, these stories will also affect family members and resonate with the wider public.
A forum theatre production helmed by seniors is a perfect marriage of art and the people.
Singapore's first senior forum theatre production.
Seniors take centre stage! Join us as we present an afternoon of interactive theatre where you, the audience, get to participate. Two topical issues will be covered in this forum theatre production. The first is divorce in seniors. In recent times, more couples are seeking divorces in their older age. Why is this the case? The second is abandonment of the elderly. Why do some families leave their elderly family members at the void deck while they are away at work? How can we help them?
The format of Forum theatre includes a performance of the play, followed by audience interaction.
Devised by:
- Thomas Lim
- Paula Ng
- Irene Ong
- Eleanor Song
- Gladys Tan
- Michael Tan
- Tina Wah
Artistic Director: Alvin Tan
"When I was a child, I thought art was the luxurious hobby of wealthy people. As I grew up, I learned that what I have been doing is called 'art'.
"That led me to wonder what art is. When I think of something, for example, I usually use words. But words have their own limitations to describe something. Instead, I use art to think of something. As a tool, art is much smoother and more flexible than language. I use this tool of art to create theatre. Art is one of the tools which may not necessarily appeal to or can be used by everyone. For those of you who do not use art as a thinking tool, art is simply a piece of trash. I think the relationship between art and the people can still be OK even in that way.
"For myself though, I created Suteru Tabi as the tool to think of what is Life (生), Sex (性) and Holiness (?). I am still thinking about what they are. To think of them means thinking of people, and that's how this piece is related to art and the people for me."
- Shiro Maeda
生, 性 and ? are pronounced in the same manner in Japanese.
The death of a young man's father becomes the starting point of his personal spiritual journey through familial relations, grief and remembrance. The suteru tabi (a journey to unburden oneself of something) sees the young man and his 3 siblings embarking on a trip to cast a casket into the sea, and through their conversations rife with metaphors, illusions and fantasy, we become privy to the world they inhabit - a moving, playful one that celebrates life, living and the liberating power of imagination.
Previously performed at Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels (2009), Festival d'Automne in Paris (2012), SUDPOL MUSIK TANZ THEATER in Luzern (2012), National Theatre in Budapest (2012), and Centre Pompidou Metz in France (2012).
Formed in 1997 by Shiro Maeda, GOTANNDADAN is the leading figure in the contemporary Japanese performing arts scene, especially amongst the younger generation. The company has produced about 40 productions mostly for small theatres in Tokyo. GOTANNDADAN's Going on the Way to Get Lost was staged at the Fringe in 2013 and received both popular and critical acclaim.
Born in the 1970s, Maeda arguably represents the voices of the 'Lost Decade' in Japan, living through social and economic uncertainty. As an award-winning playwright, his work cannot be detached from these circumstances, and he is most recognised - indeed, highly acclaimed - for his technique of dealing with weighty issues in our everyday lives through lightweight conversation, subtle humour or even absurdity rather than explicit commentaries. This creases a surreal and sometimes chilling world, where Maeda crosses the boundaries of time and space freely.
In Working on a Special Day, "the special day" referred to is that when Hitler visits Mussolini in Rome and we hear a voiceover through a speaker:
"The people of Italy are assembled as mighty troops, they are emotionally and spiritually armed, it need be, to follow the commands of a leader of indisputable genius..."
But we all know that the "indisputable genius" of that leader was in fact the evil crazy megalomania of a despicable human - being and that the "people of Italy" should have known better.
But who comprises this entity called "the people"? "The people" is a dangerous, ambiguous and undefined word. Individuals do not lynch or loot but "the people" do. Theatre on the other hand is always about the individual. In this particular case, two individuals are not allowed to be themselves because "the people" commanded by a few individuals would not allow it. This is a story about two individuals that change each other through compassion and acceptance in the backdrop of a world that is also changing. We believe in art as a means to explore our own humanity and to ask questions that are capable of changing individual consciousness. Then maybe, "the people" will know better in the future.
Hello! Welcome to Working on a Special Day. Have a seat! Just don't look at the mess; we're working on Una Giornata Particolare, a play and Oscar-nominated film by Ettore Scola. If you haven't seen the movie, we suggest you add it to your Netflix queue. We think you'll like it. We did, to the point of wanting to do an English language version here in Singapore.
Inspired by Scola's film, Working on a Special Day explores the life-changing encounter between an overworked housewife and a mysterious bachelor on May 8, 1938 - the day Rome celebrates Hitler's visit to Mussolini's Italy.
Let's pretend we're happy about it. And then, let us put some questions into your mind: Is fascism over? Is it a political regime or a state of mind?
"With a fast pace, crack timing and almost whimsical inventiveness, [the actors] Ms. Graham and Mr. Vega breathe life into the tale ... So engaging."
- The New York Times
"The love story is well written, but it's Graham's and Vega's hilarious imaginations and their relaxed performances that make it so engaging. The audience is left with the sense that the theatre is as fleeting and fun as a daylong love affair."
- The New Yorker Based in Mexico City, Por Piedad Teatro has established itself as a creatively relevant company by developing meaningful and profound theatre that places specific emphasis on quality, cutting-edge. contemporary international plays. The company seeks to create a bridge of artistic collaboration, generating links at every level by opening means of communication that allow for mutual understanding.
The Play Company was formed to address our community's lack of access to plays from other parts of the world, and to promote theatre as a means to engage with the ideas, issues and artists that shape our time. In 2007, it received an OBIE Theatre Grant Award for its contribution to the Off-Broadway theatre community.
"Nowadays, the ways of communication between people are becoming more and more diverse. I
found an essential or new way of communication in the caregiving field for people with disabilities.
If you look carefully at the interaction between a caregiver and a care-receiver, you will notice a very
unique relationship emerging between them. They are not family (relatives), friends or colleagues;
yet they are not complete strangers. Although it seems to be an automatic relationship under a work
contract, there are complex emotional conflicts and close physical contact. As the work to be done is
the main premise, both of them are forced to restrain their emotions. Therefore, their thoughts are not
transmitted accurately to each other, despite building up a certain intimate atmosphere in the air. This
condition does not correspond with the close physical contact that they have to maintain. It makes
both of them aware of each other's bodies and forces them to accept their own differences. The force
to 'restrain emotion' and to 'accept physical contact' is the heart of this performance. I can't help but
think that through displaying those two opposing forces, we can find the reality in communication
between people and discover new figures in the bodies of other people."
- Takuya Murakawa
Zeitgeber is a performance which focuses on the home care service of the severely disabled. In this performance, the detailed daily routines – meals, washing, excreting, changing of clothes, chatting– between a care-giver (played by an actor) and a care-receiver (a volunteer from the audience) is
performed unemotionally.
Each performance will see a member of the audience taking the role of Mr Fujii, the care-receiver who can only communicate through his eye movements as he is hardly able to move his body at will. Through the interactions between the caregiver and the member of the audience, their mutual misunderstandings are exposed, and the duality of communication as a possible – or impossible – bridge as well as the fine line separating fiction and non-fiction in theatre is displayed and deconstructed.
"A compelling, unpretentious study into the frustrations and connections between an invalid and his
caretaker."
- From Atelier with Love
"It was truly intriguing to witness such a relationship onstage, unscripted and unpredictable - we had no
idea how or when it would end. [The actor] Kudo's repetitive actions were not boring, instead reminding
me of people sacrificing their lives to take care of a loved one... Kudo's sincerity in his display of selfless
dedication turned a total stranger into someone he truly loved and cared about. The result was further
proof that life's very ordinariness can be astounding onstage - and that human relations form the core of
every drama."
- The Nation, Bangkok
Takuya Murakawa is an independent theatre practitioner who is interesting in capturing concrete phenomena in reality
as a means of creating work that represents that given reality within a specific time, space and presence of audience.
Depending on the theme of the production, Takuya would gather performers and staff and changes performance venues
according. Recently he has been working without existing texts or professional actors as part of his investigation into
theatre created within its given reality.
The research into the synthesis of different movement languages through Focus is closely linked to the idea of our bodies as subconscious repositories - for personal histories, cultures, knowledge and relationships, as well as the tensions that arise thereof, of identity, alienation, attraction, love and solitude.
One specific moment, clearer than the rest. Focus on a specific part of the body, in order to understand the movement and the memory of the whole.
A trio. Two men, a woman, a triangle of remembrance and twisted desires, the hollow fears and fantasies of each. Being desired, coveted and approached, encounters sketched in black and white.
In Focus, Olé Khamchanla brings into focus the moment when techniques and memories fuse into the basis for a dance without identity. Drawing on the eclectic dance background and stories of the French and Singaporean collaborators, this creation's unique aesthetic blends traces of hip hop, butoh, capoeira, and both Western and Asian classical, traditional and contemporary dances — but also the haunting melody of an old jazz standard and memories of a distant continent of origin.
"Brutal, syncopated, clean, underground, bright, both manic in its energy and saturated with exhaustion... As if, somewhere between origin and future, the quest for self-creation arose from the fragility of the existing and vital ... Breathless, a radiant display related in an ode that glorifies the movement of most elementary to the most sophisticated, the most intimate to the most exhibited, the most learned to the most invented... This is great art."
- Didier Vignali, Producer and Artistic Director of Scene 7, Le Croiseur Theatre, Lyon,
France "Olé Khamchanla is a mystery for dance... An unparalleled performer, he executes incredible movements with a feline velocity. Combining the choreographic techniques that feed his imagination, he invites his audiences to experience strong and unique moments... Olé Khamchanla is a secretive, reserved artist, who gives everything onstage"
- Emmanuel Serafini, Artistic Director of Choreographic Development Centre les
Hivernales, Avignon, France
Compagnie Kham was created in 2011 by Olé Khamchanla after 13 years as the co-choreographer of the A'corps company in Valence. Kham symbolically refers to Olé's first solo of the same name, created between Thailand, Laos and France in 2007. That solo marked the beginning of his exploration of the traditional dances of his country of origin, Laos, and awakened his deep-seated longing to discover the diverse dance forms of Southeast Asia.
Through growing the seeds of Hibaku trees, Tree Project invites people from all races, religions and countries to contemplate on the silent testimony of nature. It is a social sculpture that connects people and nature with compassion, reverence, identification and imagination.
Majulah Singapura - Tree Project is an endeavour to explore the interconnections between art, history and nature with the people of Singapore. Hiroshi Sunairi has worked with participants in Singapore, to whom he has distributed seeds of the trees that survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima (known as Hibaku trees), inviting them to grow these seeds and nurture the seedlings. The project shares a profound experience of growing such trees as a gesture of remembrance of the catastrophic event of the war, and allows participants and viewers to connect the steadfast strength of nature in their silent testimony to their lives.
The exhibition will feature seedlings grown from the project under natural light, alongside information and photographs about the Tree Project around the world.
The participants - like others who have nurtured plants from the Hibaku - have also been interviewed by the artist, and these interviews form part of Tree Project Film, to be screened at the Festival.
Join us for the film screening of Tree Project Film on 8 and 10 January 2014, 8pm at The Salon, National Museum of Singapore. Previously screened at 10th Green Film Festival, Seoul and the Cutlog Festival, New York City and subsequently developed into a full-length documentary, Hiroshi Sunairi's Tree Project Film is a portrait of Chikara Horiguchi, a tree doctor in Hiroshima who specialises in caring for Hibaku trees, those that survived the atomic bombings. Horiguchi's story is augmented by current footage of some of the iconic Hibaku trees, including Camphor, Plantae, Ginkgo and Camilia.
The artist and filmmaker Hiroshi Sunairi will be present for a post-screening dialogue session.
Born in 1972 in Hiroshima, Hiroshi Sunairi is an artist and filmmaker, who has exhibited his work internationally. His most recent second feature-length documentary, air, is an account of a road trip to Fukushima, Japan, in August 2011, just months after the disaster of 3/11. He has screened his previous film Making Mistakes, a travelogue in Tibet as well as Where It Flows Out Into the Plains at film festivals in Europe, Asia and the USA. As an artist, he has presented Elephant in the Room, a series of works about public memory. He currently teaches in the Art Department at New York University.
As a supplement to Majulah Singapura - Tree Project, visit the Singapore History Gallery at the National Museum of Singapore. The World War II component features the experiences of individuals as well as groups of people who underwent the traumatic period of Japanese military invasion and occupation of Singapore. These experiences bring a human dimension to war and its aftermath, to show a wide range of wartime behaviour and experiences in Singapore during the period.
Singapore History Gallery, Level 2
National Museum of Singapore
10am - 6pm, daily (last admission 5.30pm)
Citizens & Permanent Residents – Free admission.
Foreign Visitors - $10>
"Art can function as a powerful means towards reconciliation. In most of my
work, I have always been motivated to uplift the image of the underdog, for I
see that individuals often possess much more potential and possibilities than
they are perceived to. This work wants to challenge and disrupt established
perceptions about life, providing opportunity to critique what has been
normalised.
"I would like to develop fresh aesthetic methods that provoke the audience into
re-visioning a future from dreams. In this sense, I believe that the project has a
voice that is not only important to the community living with visual impairment,
it is also critical for society to be aware of its impact upon all of those who exist
within it. This is not just a project about blindness; it is a project about
rejuvenation and learning to see from a completely different perspective. Today, more than ever, we find societies divided in such complicated ways.
These conditions create lacunas that art finds its purpose within." - Alecia Neo
Unseen is a large-scale multimedia art installation that is an expression of a
dialogue between sighted people and people with blindness or visual
impairment; a merging of both worlds. The installation will comprise of
photographic sculptures in the form of tents, video projections and sound
experiences.
The artist, Alecia Neo, presents intimate stories of extraordinary individuals
from Taipei and Singapore who live with visual impairment or blindness.
Employing various visual aid methods such as Braille and audio description,
the artwork is developed in collaboration with these individuals through a
series of creative workshops where they embark upon a reflective journey of
self-discovery.
Central to the artwork is the idea that people are more alike than we believe
to be true. Unseen seeks to reveal existing misperceptions in society through
reinterpreting and representing these real stories on blindness from a myriad
of individuals.
Singaporean artist Alecia Neo often explores ideas of transformation and
perception through relationships between people, their contexts and their
living spaces; reflecting on how our identity is embedded in our possessions
and homes. Working primarily with photography, video and installation, she
produces bodies of portraits involving a variety of individuals, overlooked
communities and their spaces. Alecia was previously commissioned by the Fringe in 2012 to create an installation entitled Goddess of Mercy.
The Face Daily is a fictional daily newspaper specially created for the Fringe with an emphasis on crowd-driven news. The contents are extracted from Facebook and may cover anything under the sun, with topics of the day ranging from politics to cats, depending on what contributors post.
The paper’s editorial selection and design layout will be determined and generated by a custom software. The work consists of two parts: the publishing office and the publicly distributed newspaper. Visitors can visit the publishing office at The Substation Gallery to understand more about the editorial process behind The Face Daily as well as to grab the latest edition of the papers on site.
The Face Daily will be distributed across multiple Fringe venues. Newspaper boys and girls will also be enlisted to distribute the papers in public spaces.
Born and based in Singapore, Ong Kian Peng is a new media artist whose works range from sound and media installations to design projects. His works have been shown in various group and solo exhibitions and festivals in the Brazil, Japan, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea and the United States. Recent exhibitions includes SIGGRAPH 2012 in Los Angeles, File Festival in Sao Paolo (2012), and Asian Students and Young Artists Festival in South Korea (2012).
The Face Daily is a social commentary about our rapidly changing way of news consumption and a reflection of a mass culture that is fast becoming the norm. The Face Daily deals with the inconsistent nature of everyday “news” feed where everyone participates both as a contributor and a reader/consumer. While such a model allows for rapid and extensive spreading of news on key events, this same news can also be distorted through the chain of sharing. According to a study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the age group between 16-24 uses social media as their main source for news, and amongst social media platforms, Facebook is the most popular avenue of sharing news. This however becomes problematic when the sharer does not take the responsibility of verifying facts before proliferating potentially dubious news.
The Face Daily takes the artist’s daily stream of news and contributions of the audiences on its Facebook page. By juxtaposing the content and its printed format as a real newspaper, the work hopes to question the underlying problems of this rising trend of misinformation and disinformation.
Foundin is a city installation of miniature plastic figurines left in public places to be found by passersby. The figurines outwardly appear to be male and female, young and old, and take on various forms from businessmen to housewives.
When a figurine is found, the finder is invited to keep the figurine and to log the find on Foundin website by accessing a web link and QR code printed on the small card on which the figurine stands. Summarised on the project website, all figurines are updated 'live' on their statuses, namely "Found", "Lost" and "Waiting".
The heart of Foundin is the online count of “Found” figurines on the website, which hopefully inspires a growing audience, as the project progresses, to head out and actively explore the city in detail; to notice art in a different scale and perspective. Foundin removes the many pre-conceived biases based on physicality and social difference, and challenges to simplify our human connection.
UPDATE
As of 19 January 2014, 1200 hrs:
1,084 figurines have been placed, with
651 figurines FOUND, of which 410 had finders leaving messages in response to messages left by the adopters of the figurines, and
201 figurines WAITING
232 figurines LOST
Foundin seeks to close the gap between Art and the People by challenging the pre-conceived notion of art and the space that art occupies. Bringing art from exhibition spaces to urban streets, the figurines disrupt one's preoccupation in the metropolis and ask city dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings and notice the small details.
All figurines in Foundin are individuals seeking to be found in one way or another, just like every one of us. By shrinking human figures to miniature plastic models, the project places a miniature city within a city and explores how we, the higher and larger beings, interact with much smaller counterparts. Even if none of the figurines are found, it still speaks volumes of the city. Foundin is a city installation showcasing each of us and all of us: as we find each other and as we are found in our society.
The Fringe turns 10 in 2014 and we'll like to celebrate it with all of you who have
been part of us through all these years!
Just for 2014's edition of the festival, we're lowering ticket prices to a jawdropping
$19 across the board!
All M1 staff and customers will enjoy a special 20% off ticket prices for Fringe 2014!
To enjoy the offer, simply present your M1 bill or mobile phone upon booking or collection of tickets for verification purposes.
Programmes endorsed by NAC-AEP are eligible for up to 50% Tote Board Arts Grant subsidy.
Early Bird School Bookings at $16 for all performances (excluding ticketing charges) from 1 October to 30 November 2013.
For school bookings, please contact info@singaporefringe.com or call us at
(65) 6440 8115.
For more information on the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014: Art and the
People, please call The Necessary Stage at (65) 6440 8115, visit www.singaporefringe.com or email info@singaporefringe.com
This may be the first visit to Singapore for some of you!
To ensure that you can navigate yourself around our fair sunny isle in the
tropics when you touch down at the airport, we have compiled some information on
transport, accommodation and Festival venues, which we hope will be useful for you.
You will need Acrobat PDF Reader in order to read some of the attached files.
To download the free PDF Reader, please visit this link.
Information on Singapore in various languages can be viewed at www.yoursingapore.com
Budget rides to the city and other parts of the island can be made on the
Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) train services or public buses:
There are three terminals for Changi Airport. Please visit the Changi
Airpoirt site for more information on the various airport terminals.
Information extracted from here.
CHANGI AIRPORT SKYTRAIN
5am – 2.30am daily
CHANGI AIRPORT STATION (CG2)
5.31am (Mon – Sat)
5.59am (Sun & Public Holidays)
11.18pm daily
Information extracted from here.
You can take a direct public bus from Changi Airport to the City Hall area. More details can be found on YourSingapore's pages on trains and buses, or on the SMRT website and SBS Transit website
For your convenience, you may wish to purchase an EZ Link Card which allows for contact-free payment for all trains and buses. Fares will also be cheaper than the single-use one-way tickets. If you are extending your stay in Singapore, you may wish to purchase the Singapore Tourist Pass which will give you unlimited travel on trains and basic bus services.
36
Bus bays in the basements of Terminals 1, 2 and 3
6.10am - 10.50pm daily
About $2.00 (Do note that no change will be given)
About 50 minutes
Adler Hostel
259 South Bridge Road, Singapore, 058808
Blanc Inn
151 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207564
Bunc Inn
15 Upper Weld Road, Singapore 207372
Checkers Backpackers Inn
46 Campbell Lane Singapore 209918
Five Stones Hostel
61 South Bridge Road, Levels 2 and 3, Singapore 058691
Drop Inn
253 Lavender Street, Singapore 338790
Gusti B&B
30A/B/C Penhas Road, Singapore 208188
hangout@mt.emily
10A Upper Wilkie Road, Singapore 228119
Hostel Lah
119A Lavender Street, Singapore 338731
Matchbox The Concept Hostel
39 Ann Siang Road, Singapore 069716
Moni Gallery Hostel
263 Lavender Street, Singapore 338795
Mercury Backpackers' Hostel
57 Lavender Street, Singapore 338714
Mori Hostel
429 Race Course Road, Singapore 218675
Pillows & Toast
40 Mosque Street, Singapore 059518
Prince of Wales
101 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209420
51 Boat Quay, Singapore 049840
River City Inn
33C Hong Kong Street, Singapore 059672
Rucksack Inn
38A Hong Kong Street, Singapore 059677
280 Lavender Street, Singapore 338800
52 Temple Street, Singapore 059672
Shophouse Hostel
48 Arab Street, Singapore 199745
The Green Kiwi Backpacker Hostel
280A Lavender Street, Singapore 338800
The Inncrowd
73 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209401
The Pod
289 Beach Road Level 3 Singapore 199552
Tresor Travern
243 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208916
Vintage Inn
60 Race Course Road, Singapore 218567
Wink Hostel
8A Mosque St, Chinatown, Singapore 059488
Information extracted from here.
Taxis are available at the taxi stands at the Arrival levels of each Terminal. The journey to the city is estimated to cost between $18.00 and $38.00 and takes approximately 30 minutes. Fares are metered and there is an additional airport surcharge for all trips originating from the airport.
$5 AIRPORT SURCHARGE - 5.00pm to 12.00am (Fridays to Sundays)
$3 AIRPORT SURCHARGE - all other times
MIDNIGHT SURCHARGE of 50% of final metered fare - 12.00am to 6.00am (daily)
You can call this centralised taxi booking service to book a taxi
DIALCAB: 6342 5222
Information extracted from here. The Airport Shuttle Service serves most hotels in Singapore. You can make a booking at the Ground Transport Desk at the Arrival Halls and pay the fare in cash to the driver.
TRAVEL FARE/DESTINATION (FROM AIRPORT TO CITY)
S$9.00 - Adult
S$6.00 - Child
ACCOMMODATIONS AROUND THE FRINGE BELT
Big Hotel
200 Middle Road, Singapore 188980
Gallery Hotel
1 Nanson Road@ Robertson Quay, Singapore 238909
Hotel 1929
50 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089154
Hotel Re!
175A Chin Swee Road, Singapore 169879
ibis Singapore on Bencoolen
170 Bencoolen Street, Singapore 189657
klapsons The Boutique Hotel
15 Hoe Chiang Road, Singapore 089316
Naumi Liora
55 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089158
New Majestic Hotel
31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore 089845
Nostalgia Hotel Singapore
77 Tiong Bahru Road, Singapore 168727
The Forest by Wangz
145A Moulmein Road, Singapore 308108
Esplanade Theatre Studio
Esplanade Recital Studio
Esplanade Rehearsal Studio
Gallery Theatre
The Concourse, Level 1
The Salon, Level 1
ION Art Gallery, #04-01
The Substation Theatre
The Substation Gallery
1 Esplanade Drive Singapore 038981
93 Stamford Road Singapore 178897
The Atelier's Opening Hours: 10am – 6pm daily
VOLUNTEER WITH US
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is a volunteer-driven festival, and we depend on people like you to assist with our marketing and outreach departments, help set up the venues, manage the front-of-house at performances and be gallery sitters at exhibitions. We also require volunteers as liaison officers to be attached with international artists and arts companies during the Fringe. For those of you who have prior production and technical experience, we would be happy to have you on board as a production or exhibition volunteer, assisting with the set-up and tear-down of these events, as well as other backstage work and preparations for the Festival.
Volunteering with the Fringe is a fabulous way to see free performances, meet new people, interact with the artists and get involved with one of the most dynamic events in town.
No prior experience in arts is required for some responsibilities and schedules can be flexible. We are however looking for people with a keen interest in the arts and in meeting people from all around the world.
For more information on volunteering for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival either prior or during the festival, please email us at info@singaporefringe.com
Alternatively, just give us a bell at The Necessary Stage at (65) 6440 8115 so we could have a chat about volunteering.
Sponsorship of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival gives you a fantastic opportunity to associate your company's name, logo and brand with one of the fastest growing, high-profile and anticipated arts events around.
Sponsorship of the arts is in general regarded as a wonderful investment and useful marketing and promotional tool for companies keen to establish themselves as commercial entities that can contribute to social well-being.
Here at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, we have a fervent belief in developing the Fringe as a creative centre that encourages innovation, discourse and positive engagement. During our 12-day long festival, sponsors and partners share and participate in this celebration of creativity and connection with the community. In the last edition of the Fringe, the festival's 24 ticketed shows reached out to a record-breaking 3,595 audience members, filling 81% of the total capacity in the theatres. We reached out to even more people through a variety of free events as well. We aim to attain the same audienceship - if not more - for all future editions of the Fringe.
In order to do so, aside from having a thrilling line-up for programmes, the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival also runs an exciting, socially-engaging and highly visible marketing and communications campaign from around October to January each year.
Our extensive, nation-wide media relations campaign goes hand-in-hand with our comprehensive and highly visible marketing drive which often includes:
The Fringe's marketing campaign may vary depending on the programme each year. Nevertheless, all sponsors and partners are always acknowledged in our collaterals, based on your level of investment.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Melissa at (65) 6440 8115 or email melissa@necessary.org.
GROW THE FRINGE WITH US!
In order for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival to develop and present groundbreaking, stimulating and engaging works, The Necessary Stage as the festival's organiser and all the artists and personnel involved rely on your generous donations.
We are a not-for-profit organisation that depends on your generosity and belief in our work to make the Fringe Festival a veritable success.
Donations are received during our fundraising events and donation drives, but are welcomed all year round.
All donations are tax-exempt.
For tax exemption, cheques should be made to 'The Necessary Stage Ltd', and sent to us at:
The Necessary Stage
278 Marine Parade Community Building
#B1-02, Marine Parade Road
Singapore 449282
For more information about donations, please contact Melissa at (65) 6440 8115 or email melissa@necessary.org.
"We never understand how little we need in this world
until we know the loss of it."
Loss as a concept is something that everyone would be intimately familiar with as an inevitable part of our human experience. It implies a previous state of existence, a reality that has altered, sometimes irrevocably. But yet without that knowledge of a past being, there would not have been loss in the first place.
Through loss, we are made acutely aware of a presence of the past, and perhaps
through that, a projection into a future that we aspire towards.
In this materialistic age where there is a universal obsession to procure, win, and
retain; where we seek to embellish our lives with ever more items, people, and
meaning, loss reminds us of the fragility of possession: of history, of memory, of
relationships. When we lose something - or even ourselves - we come face to
face with change, in a new environment we now need to get acquainted with and
accustomed to. We are challenged to view our world anew, to confront our
beliefs, to compromise and adapt, and finally to learn how to let go. Loss compels
us to accept transience, and by way of that, we learn to be free.
Gentle prodding seldom works as human nature is such that we often remain transfixed in our positions. We are often too smart for our own good and stubbornness is misconstrued as convictions that we opt to abide against all odds. So often, unless loss involves something we value like our eye-sight, a limb, a close friend, a lover, a spouse, an organ, we are not in a state where we would want to make any real change. For transformation to even begin, loss has to be real and concrete. It has to hurt and one has to feel the price of the absence of what was once important to us.
"The more the data banks record about each
one of us, the less we exist."
In this technologically advanced age, where data is king and the means of
capturing and archiving data are innumerable, where we can document
immense amount of raw data and even put them on the cloud for an extended
period, how has our comprehension and appreciation of loss altered? With
information overload, have we lost anything about ourselves at all? Can art
serve as a filter of sorts, to direct our attention towards issues that matter, to force us to take a step back and think before reacting upon impulse online?
We can even arguably say that social media has made artists of us all, by
virtue of our cloaks of anonymity online, leading to carefully curated personas of ourselves and mirages of our Instagrammed world that we want others to
partake in. Our connections across the globe may have proliferated, but this
web is filigree-like, based solely on the fabricated selves of individuals and ephemeral - sometimes meaningless, oftentimes complicated - threads of relationships. In our art of self-creation, have we lost ourselves in the process, or have we lost our true bonds, our appreciation for real-time personal
touches?
Art and Loss makes one contemplate on the performance of loss as if one is able to rehearse it so we can avoid it in real terms in our lives. Yet life is often stronger than art in that we often feel that art can reflect loss and loss can find its way into art works, but few art works inscribe that loss whilst the audience members encounter it, few create the void as it is being engaged
shifting us as we leave the theatre, museum or the site in which we experience that very art work.
Join the Fringe as we examine and excavate different interpretations of the
relationship between Art and Loss. 14 - 25 January 2015.
Get involved.
Find out more about the selection process here.
Click here to download the application form.
"Loss is nothing else but change,
and change is Nature's delight."
Art is therefore the perfect medium to explore these notions of loss and what it
brings with it. Art allows us - as creators and viewers alike - to straddle between
what-was and what-is, and in doing so, opens our horizons up to imagine what-could-be.
Art can be used as a form of remembrance (of places, history, people) but it is
also catharsis in creation. As we examine loss through art, we learn not to lose
ourselves in that, because art implies the genesis of something new that may
honour our loss but yet possibly replace it.
"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak,
every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how
to improve your performance the next time."
Loss is a good thing to happen to human beings. Without loss, we take things for granted, especially for those amongst us who are mollycoddled by our very own comfort zones. We easily rationalise and justify our ways of existence, and hubris sets in as we become increasingly ethnocentric. Whether it is just a man-on-the-street, a celebrity or a politician, we always gain blindness when we ascend in power or sustain our status over long periods of time, particularly when left unchallenged. Art and Loss is therefore an opportunity for us to reflect, re-think and re-vision the ways we perceive ourselves and our surroundings.
WHY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE IN THE FRINGE?
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is an exciting festival that is all-inclusive,
covers a range of art forms, and is one of the few festivals in Singapore with a
strong curatorial identity. Through the Fringe, we aim to present the best of
contemporary, cutting-edge and socially engaged works to the Singapore audience.
Furthermore, the Fringe positions itself as a creative centre, with the twin purpose
of innovation and discussion, whilst providing a platform for meaningful and
provocative art to engage our increasingly connected and complex world.
Through the Fringe, you will be able to reach out to new audiences in Asia and the region. Also, you can tap upon our organisational and production expertise in the presentation of your work. Additionally, you get to rub shoulders with fellow artists, promoters and directors from all over the world. This should present itself as a wonderful networking opportunity, as well as a space for discourse and explorations into future collaboration.
HOW DO I TAKE PART AT THE FRINGE?
In order to take part in the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, you need to consider,
first and foremost, if your proposed work is relevant to the theme for the Fringe.
The Necessary Stage curates each Fringe based on a specific theme,
and while the interpretation of the subject may be very wide, it is imperative that your work addressees an aspect of the theme as much as possible.
If you consider your work to be appropriate for the theme, you should download
the application form, which can be found on the website here.
Do note that the deadline for applications for Fringe 2015 is Friday 7 March 2014
and late or incomplete applications will not be entertained. We do get inundated
by applications during the period, so we would appreciate it if you could send in a
comprehensive and complete application, with relevant documents, CD/VHS/
VCDs/DVDs, press kits and photographs attached. A soft copy of your application
should also be emailed to us and instructions are stated clearly in the form.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The Necessary Stage collates all the applications that come in, and our curatorial
team then devotes a few months to peruse every single application and relevant
media. We have several meetings to shortlist applicants, based on the strength
of their work and relevance to the theme.
Once the shortlist has been narrowed down, we will inform all applicants of the results. Selected applicants will then need to provide us with more information pertaining to their funding status, availability, technical requirements, and so on.
Though the majority of the Fringe is programmed for a specific year, we consider artists on a year-round basis. We may consider your proposal for a future year if we are interested in your work, but are not able to programme it for the current year.
WILL YOU BE ABLE TO PAY FOR ALL ASPECTS OF MY PRODUCTION?
As with all other Fringe Festivals, we run on an extremely tight budget.
What the Fringe is able to offer in terms of remuneration are local costs - that is, accommodations in Singapore, food - as well as a small artist honorarium.
We also cover the cost of venue rental and basic production and
technical crew, as well as publicity and marketing of your work as part of
the whole Fringe.
However, we generally do not provide airfares, freight and relevant costs
(e.g. travel insurance) to fly you over to Singapore for the performance or
exhibition. We strongly advise all artists to apply to their local arts funding
bodies for traveling subsidies. Should you require a letter of support if you
are selected to perform or exhibit at the Fringe, do feel free to contact us
for assistance and we would be glad to help in any way possible to make
your trip a reality. On our end, we also try to source for sponsorships by
working with corporate sponsors, embassies and cultural agencies in Singapore.
Occasionally we are able to obtain significant sponsorship amounts
and grants to assist in the travel costs of the artists, though this should not
be taken as a given at any point in time.
This may all sound a little daunting, but don't despair as we do try to guide
you through the process. We have been extremely successful in attracting,
securing and assisting artists to perform at the Fringe, and should you have
any queries pertaining to this aspect, please feel free to contact us for a
chat. Last but not least, you need a fabulous show - but we’re sure you
knew that already.
DO I GET A CUT OF THE TICKET SALES?
As the Fringe will be paying for all venue, ticketing and production costs in
presenting your show, we will need to recoup our cost and will therefore not
be able to provide you with a percentage of the ticket sales.
What we do offer though is a small artist honorarium aside from local costs.
Furthermore, you will enjoy the administrative, marketing and production
assistance of the Fringe. We have, for instance, a very robust and aggressive
marketing campaign for the Fringe, and collaborate with all our venue
partners, supporting embassies and the media to ensure that the Fringe is a
resounding success.
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is an annual festival of theatre, dance, music, visual arts and mixed media created and presented by Singaporean and international artists. Themed differently each year, the Festival aims to bring the best of contemporary, cutting-edge and socially engaged works to the Singapore audience.
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is set to be a creative centre, with a twin purpose of innovation and discussion, a platform for meaningful and provocative art to engage our increasingly connected and complex world.
True to the spirit of creating challenging, indigenous and innovative theatre that touches the heart and mind,
the team from The Necessary Stage is the organising committee of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014's public relations are managed by Phish Communications Pte Ltd.
Please note that the Fringe logos should not be altered or distorted in any way. Should you
You will need Acrobat PDF Reader in order to read some of the attached files.
During the Media Launch of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014.
| 29 Jan | Ana Shell: M1 Fringe Festival: Majulah Singapura – Tree Project - Review of Majulah Singapura - Tree Project by Hiroshi Sunairi |
| 25 Jan | Popspoken: Working on a Special Day: A Theatre of Acceptance and Imagination - Review of Working on a Special Day by Porp Piedad Teatro | The Play Company in Popspoken |
| 25 Jan | Flying Inktpot: Body Image - Review of Focus by Olé Khamchanla | Compagnie Kham in Flying Inkpot |
| 24 Jan | The Business Times: Dancing sans the fetters of identity - Review of Focus by Olé Khamchanla | Compagnie Kham in The Business Times |
| 22 Jan | Flying Inkpot: Songs of Innocence and Experience - Review of Peer Pleasure in The Flying Inkpot. |
| 21 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Fringe fest packs in the crowds - Wrap-up article on the record-breaking attendance at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 in The Straits Times Life! |
| 21 Jan | My Paper: Record turnout for M1 Fringe Festival - Wrap-up article on the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in My Paper. |
| 20 Jan | The Straits Times: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival hits record attendances this year - Preview of wrap-up article on the success of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 |
| 20 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Cycles of tender, loving care - Review of Zeitgeber by Takuya Murakawa in The Straits Times Life! |
| 20 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Pulsating union of three bodies - Review of Focus by Olé Khamchanla | Compagnie Kham in The Straits Times Life! |
| 20 Jan | Buttons in the Bread: M1 Fringe 2014: 3 Fingers Below the Knee - Review of Three Fingers Below the Knee by Mundo Perfeito in Buttons in the Bread |
| 18 Jan | 联合早报 (Lianhe Zaobao) : 精彩。精炼。精致。看本地版《人民公敌》 - Review of An Enemy of the People《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 |
| 17 Jan | TODAY: S'pore Fringe Fest: Climb every mountain - Revew of The Mountain by The Art of Strangers in TODAY. |
| 17 Jan | The Muse: Focus by Compagnie Kham - Preview of Focus by Olé Khamchanla | Compagnie Kham |
| 17 Jan | The Business Times: When censors ruled the stage - Review of Three Fingers Below the Knee by Mundo Perfeito (Portugal) in The Business Times |
| 17 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Wartime issues lost in the shadows - Review of Working on a Special Day by Por Piedad Teatro & The Play Company in The Straits Times Life! |
| 17 Jan | The Business Times: Flights of whimsy in performance art - Review of Suteru Tabi by GOTANNDADAN and Joget, Abang, Joget (Dance, Darling, Dance) by ponggurl in The Business Times |
| 16 Jan | NTMX: Por Piedad Teatro lleva "Working on a Special Day" a Singapur - [In Spanish] Por Piedad Teatro talks about their first night's performance of Working on a Special Day at the Fringe. |
| 14 Jan | TODAY: S'pore Fringe Fest: Lessons learned at Peer Pleasure - Review of Peer Pleasure in TODAY's For Arts Sake blog. |
| 13 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Witty bra-haha over censorship - Review of Three Fingers Below the Knee by Mundo Perfeito (Portugal) in The Straits Times Life! |
| 13 Jan | Artitute: "An Enemy of the People" by Nine Years Theatre - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 in Artitute |
| 11 Jan | Az Samad: [Review] Suteru Tabi - M1 Singapore Fringe Festival - Review of Suteru Tabi by GOTANNDADAN (Japan) |
| 11 Jan | Az Samad: [Review] An Enemy of the People - M1 Singapore Fringe Festival - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 |
| 10 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Art Picks - Three Fingers Below the Knee - The Straits Times Life! selects Fringe Highlight Three Fingers Below the Knee by Mundo Perfeito (Portugal) for their Art Picks for the weekend. |
| 10 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Common enemy - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 by Corrie Tan from The St |
| 10 Jan | TODAY: S'pore Fringe Fest: Dance, dude, dance. Or else. - Review of Joget, Abang, Joget (Dance, Darling, Dance) by ponggurl in TODAY |
| 10 Jan | The Straits Times Life!: Purpose and inspiration in death - Review of Suteru Tabi by GOTANNDADAN (Japan) in The Straits Times Life! |
| 10 Jan | The Business Times: 19th-century drama in pitch-perfect Mandarin - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 in The Business Times |
| 10 Jan | Popspoken: 10 Questions with Siti Khalijah Zainal - Interview with Siti Khalijah Zainal for Best Of by The Necessary Stage |
| 09 Jan | TODAY: S'pore Fringe Fest: Know your Enemy, know your People - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》 by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 by Mayo Martin of TODAY. |
| 09 Jan | Crystalwords: An Enemy of the People - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 by Naeem Kapadia |
| 08 Jan | Artinfo.com: 8 Arty Things to Do in Singapore in January - Selection of arts events in Singapore in January, including the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 |
| 08 Jan | TODAY: S’pore Fringe Fest: It’s the little things (and Facebook) - Review of our Fringe Gallery works, including Unseen by Alecia Neo, The Face Daily by Ong Kian Peng, Foundin by Tan Wei Keong and Fringe Highlight Majulah Singapura - Tree Project by Hiroshi Sunairi. |
| 08 Jan | Suzy Goes See: An Enemy of the People [Nine Years Theatre] - Review of An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 by Suzy Goes See. |
| 07 Jan | Ageless Online: Advocating for seniors - Interview with Thomas Lim, cast member of Take Me or Leave Me! by The Necessary Stage's Theatre for Seniors |
| 06 Jan | TODAY: A decade in the Fringe - Preview article on the upcoming M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 |
| 06 Jan | 938LIVE: Interview with Co-Artistic Director Haresh Sharma & Hiroshi Sunairi, 6 Jan 2014, 11.00am - Interview with Co-Artistic Director of the Festival, Haresh Sharma and Japanese artist Hiroshi Sunairi on his Fringe Highlight, Majhulah Singapura - Tree Project |
| 03 Jan | The Business Times: Scaling heights of Latin American theatre - Preview of The Mountain by The Art of Strangers (Singapore) and Three Fingers Below the Knee by Mundo Perfeito (Portugal) at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in The Business Times |
| 01 Jan | Jetstar: Alecia Neo - Interview with Alecia Neo on her upcoming Fringe Commission, Unseen |
| 01 Jan | Time Out Singapore: Moving mountains - Preview of The Mountain by The Art of Strangers (Singapore) in Time Out Singapore |
| 31 Dec | Yes933: Interview with Nine Years Theatre, 31 Dec 2013, 2.30pm - Interview with Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 on their upcoming Fringe Commission An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》 |
| 31 Dec | Love972: Interview with Nine Years Theatre, 31 Dec 2013, 5.30pm - Interview with Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 on their Fringe Commission An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》 |
| 30 Dec | UFM 1003: Interview with Nine Years Theatre, 30 Dec 2013, 9am - Interview with Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 on their upcoming Fringe Commission An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》 |
| 27 Dec | Capital Radio 958: The Big Sofa feat. Nine Years Theatre, 27 Dec 2013, 7pm - Interview with Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 on their upcoming Fringe Commission An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》 |
| 24 Dec | The Straits Times Life!: Taking the fringe out of Fringe Fest - Article on our longstanding and robust partnership with title sponsor M1. |
| 21 Dec | 联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao: “M1艺穗节2014”唯一舞蹈节目《焦点》- 从语言对谈到身体对谈 - Preview article on Focus by Olé Khamchanla | Compagnie Kham, with an interview with dancer Jereh Leung. |
| 17 Dec | The Straits Times Life!: People get in on the act - Preview article on the Singapore works premiering at the Festival in 2014. |
| 13 Dec | I-S Magazine: Cover featuring Foundin by Tan Wei Keong - Cover of I-S Magazine (13 - 26 Dec 2013) features Foundin by Tan Wei Keong. |
| 13 Dec | I-S Magazine: The Face Daily - Listing of The Face Daily by Ong Kian Peng in I-S Magazine's Show Time column |
| 13 Dec | Performing Arts Network Japan: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival approaching its 10th year - Interview with co-Artistic Director Alvin Tan on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the festival |
| 10 Dec | 联合早报 (Lianhe Zaobao) : 九年剧场新作《人民公敌》 拒绝向所谓的大众投降 - Preview of 《人民公敌》An Enemy of the People by 九年剧场 Nine Years Theatre. |
| 06 Dec | The Atlantic Cities: How a Thousand Tiny Figurines Will Connect Strangers All Over the World - Preview article on Foundin by Tan Wei Keong. |
| 25 Nov | The Straits Times Life!: Planting art for the family - Feature in The Straits Times Life! on journalist Corrie Tan's experience planting hibaku seeds for Majulah Singapura - Tree Project. |
| 17 Nov | 联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao: 最想和外星人合作搞戏 - Interview with Felipe Cervera of The Art of Strangers, who will be staging The Mountain from 16 - 19 January 2014 (SOLD OUT). |
| 17 Nov | The New Paper: When it comes to retirement, it's about dollars and cents - Interview with Eleanor Song, part of the cast for Take Me or Leave Me! by The Necessary Stage's Theatre for Seniors. |
| 14 Nov | The Muse - Translating Realism in An Enemy of the People - Preview of An Enemy of the People《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre. |
| 01 Nov | BY POPULAR DEMAND: 2 Addtional Performances of The Mountain by The Art of Strangers on 18 & 19 Jan 2014, 3pm! Tickets via SISTIC from Mon 4 Nov 2013, 9am! - BY POPULAR DEMAND! Thanks to your support, tickets for The Mountain by The Art of Strangers have been totally snapped up when sales began last month! We've since received numerous requests by audience members to open new shows for the production, and we're happy to announce that 2 new shows have been added: Saturday, 18 January 2014, 3pm Sunday, 19 January 2014, 3pm Tickets for the additional performances will go on sale via SISTIC on Monday, 4 November 2014, 9.00am. Grab them fast! |
| 18 Oct | The Business Times: Mix of topical and classic works - Preview article on the Fringe, featuring An Enemy of the People 《人民公敌》by Nine Years Theatre 九年剧场 and Take Me or Leave Me! by The Necessary Stage's Theatre for Seniors |
| 14 Oct | TODAY: Tokyo art’s ‘hybrid chaos’ beckons - Article on the Japanese contemporary art scene, with mentions of the Fringe as well as quotes from Shiro Maeda from GOTANNDADAN. |
| 08 Oct | 联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao: M1艺穗节明年首次呈献华语剧 (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival features Mandarin play for the first time) - Preview article on the Fringe, with mentions of the Fringe Highlights for 2014. |
| 05 Oct | The Straits Times Communities - M1 Fringe tickets at only $19 - Electronic version of the preview article on the Fringe published in The Straits Times Life! on 2013-10-02, with excerpts of performances. |
| 04 Oct | AsiaOne: M1 Fringe tickets at only $19 - Electronic version of the preview article in The Straits Times Life!, dated 2013-10-02. |
| 04 Oct | herworldPlus: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival tickets at only $19 - Electronic version of the preview article in The Straits Times Life!, dated 2013-10-02. |
| 04 Oct | The Long and Winding Road: Ten years on the Fringe - Blog post about the media launch of the Fringe, held on 2013-10-01. |
| 02 Oct | The Straits Times Life! - M1 Fringe tickets at only $19 - Preview of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014: Art & the People |
| 02 Oct | Channel Newsasia: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014 to explore people’s relationship with art - Preview of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014: Art & the People |
| 01 Oct | Media Release: Media Launch - Media launch of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014: Art & the People, held at 4pm at Esplanade Recital Studio. |
| 01 Oct | TODAY: S’pore Fringe Fest’ celebrates 10th year with the ‘People’ - Preview of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014: Art & the People |
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