Shane Mardjuki is set to play transsexual Maggie Lai in the restaging of Purple.
And looking at that photo, I must say, he looks perfect for the role of, to quote the show’s flyer, “a lavatory cruise addict who transforms into a hairdresser, masseuse, transvestite, transsexual, stripper, prostitute and movie star”.
Or, as the piece’s playwright and set designer Goh Boon Teck put it: “a boy who wanted to be a girl badly.” Continue reading ‘Purple haze! Shane Mardjuki’s nip-tuck moment!’
At some point during a LIFE performance, Joavien Ng disappears into her tennis dress, stuffing her entire body into her clothes, shrinking into an odd mass of red and white. She sings It’s A Small World After All until her voice cracks.
After a series of collaborations, including last year’s site-specific performance The Diary Of Alice, she returns with a raw but powerful solo piece problematising space—physical, mental, creative—in the context of an increasingly overcrowded Singapore. Continue reading ‘A small world after all! Space issues!’
We promised an interview with Lee Wen and we finally got around to posting it up. Our thoughts on his ongoing show at SAM, Lucid Dreams In The Reverie Of The Real, and a bit about the man has already been out for a while here, and much of his “life story” has also been up elsewhere. But we just could not not do a RAT interview with the dude, who talks about the Yellow Man, his oh-so-brief acting career, among other things.
This morning, we found a curious letter in our emailbox. It came from the, ahem, mysterious local art collective Black Baroque Committee and it was a response to artist Lee Wen’s not-so-recent response to a letter published in the Straits Times that was a response to a not-so-recent news report in response to Loo Zihan’s Cane, which was a response to Josef Ng’s Brother Cane.
The group obviously took their time crafting a collective response but hey, better late than never right?
Below is their open letter in full. Alternatively, you can read it in their blog here. Continue reading ‘Black Baroque Committee’s letter to Lee Wen!’
Our feature on Singapore Tyler Print Institute director Emi Eu came out today. But again, there was much more to share, so here’s our unadulterated Q&A transcript. Enjoy!
April 30 to May 6
Singapore’s visual artists recently made waves in the film fest circuit: Lucy Davis’ short film Jalan Jati (Teak Road) bagged a promotional award at the 58th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen last week as Charles Lim’s All The Lines Flow Out continued its winning run with a Best Experimental Short at the 2012 Nashville Film Festival the week before. Over at Marina Bay Sands, there was news that the Australian production of the musical Annie will be hitting our shores in July, and auction house Christie’s held a Spring Auction preview inside ArtScience Museum.
Art collective Phunk issued a plea for friends and collectors to donate their works back following a fire that wiped out their belongings last December. A man riding a horse made an appearance at Raffles Place as part of the performance Flux under the Singapore Arts Festival. The National Museum of Singapore reopened its Film & Wayang gallery after a three-month renovation. The Media Development Authority unveild a new grant scheme—the New Talent Feature—for first- and second-time directors worth S$250,000.
All these, however, were overshadowed by the tragic death of theatre actress Emma Yong, which shook a grieving local performing arts scene to its core.
Emma Yong, theatre actress and Dolly extraordinaire, has passed away at the age of 36, after a protracted struggle with cancer. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer early last year. It went into remission, allowing her to perform in Into The Woods. It was to be the prolific and much loved actress’ last show as she pulled out from Crazy Christmas after a relapse. Here’s a video to remind us of her fighting spirit and zest for life.
April 23 to 29
The National Heritage Board held its annual Patron Of Heritage awards, honoured 40 organisations and eight individuals for their philanthropic efforts totaling some S$9.26 million. A new arts residency programme opened its doors courtesy of Visual Arts @ Temenggong, which is spearheaded by local artist Chen KeZhan (whose ongoing exhibition also serves as a fundraiser). ArtScience Museum’s blockbuster Titanic exhibition wrapped up yesterday as its most successful show to date, drawing more than 250,000 visitors. Elsewhere, Cultural Medallion recipient Lim Tze Peng opened his latest solo show focusing on Bali; new group Sight Lines Production debuts with its musical revue Trainspotting; and theatre’s ongoing love affair with Shakespeare continues after Romeo And Juliet with Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Shakespeare In The Park offering Twelfth Night.
April 16 to 22
Prominent personalities in the art scene were in the limelight last week. Performance artist and Cultural Medallion recipient Lee Wen opened his much-awaited survey show at the Singapore Art Museum. Poet Alvin Pang was selected to represent the country in Poetry Parnassus, which will bring top poets from around the world to the UK in June as part of the Cultural Olympiad, running parallel to the London Olympics. The French government bestowed one of its highest cultural honours to National Heritage Board chief executive Michael Koh. He was conferred the title Officer in the Order of the Arts and Letters for his efforts in promoting French culture in Singapore, bringing exhibitions on Christian Lacroix from Centre Pompidou and Musee d’Orsay to the museums here. Meanwhile, local gallery brands will also have a strong presence at the prestigious Art Hong Kong art fair in May as Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Chan Hampe Galleries, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Gajah Gallery, Yavuz Fine Art and Richard Koh Fine Art all participate. They’ll be bringing artists like Genevieve Chua, Heman Chong, Chun Kaifeng and Vertical Submarine.
Smoking issues aside, I’m sure a lot of folks are raring to catch hotshot Taiwan film director Tsai Ming-liang’s theatre comeback trilogy Only You, which happens next week.
Your non-Mandarin speaking rodent didn’t get to actually talk to Mr Wayward Cloud but the kind (and accomodating and patient) folks at The Esplanade were able to pass on my questions to him. Forty minutes of linguistic back-and-forth later (and I-dunno-how-many-hours-of-transcribing), and we’ve got this mighty fine Q&A with Tsai who talks about, among others, the difference between directing film and theatre, his days listening to Rediffusion as a kid in Malaysia, his rejection of the “virtual world” (which means he probably won’t be reading this) and, of course, collaborating with his fave actors Lee Kang-sheng, Yang Kuei-mei and Lu Yi-ching. Read on!
