Keep a lookout for ArtZine’s Baybeats 2008 Special!
Filled with exclusive band interviews and a peek at what goes on backstage, ArtZine is practically handing you a PASS to the innerworks of the indie music festival, Baybeats.
More soon!
-ArtZine
Filed under: Theatre | Tags: art magazine, artzine, celebrate drama, french for love letter, match, pong! play it right, singapore art, singapore art magazine, singapore theatre fest, the oral stage, valerie oliveiro
I find it interesting that two theatre festivals are running concurrently. There’s the OCBC Singapore Theatre Fest (see my previous article) and there’s the not-so well-known Celebrate Drama festival that’s going on as well.
No worries, I’ve already made plans to check out the young talents at the Celebrate DRAMA festival which runs between Aug 12 – 17. I’m quite confused about the ticketing packages though.
What is Celebrate Drama! all about?
“Celebrate Drama! offers youths aged 12 to 30 opportunities to showcase their original work, to learn theatre-making skills and to engage in conversation with other youths on issues that matter through the arts. It will feature plays, workshops, visual art, films, short roving performances and forums, that are mostly created and presented by young people, in collaboration and under mentorship with professional drama educators, theatre practitioners and artists. Launched in 2005, the festival has grown from a 1-day event to a 4-day extravaganza.”
While everyone’s busy concentrating on the Theatre Fest, I shall cease my futile attempts to rush for the last few lousy seats at the Theatre Fest and focus my efforts on Celebrate Drama! instead. Singapore’s so hadap (malay word for insistent) on cultivating young local talents right? (see previous article) Therefore, I shall head down to watch what our promising talents have put up.
For those who still haven’t gotten tickets, make a date with me at Celebrate Drama! this weekend.
Here’s some plays you should catch:
match
Date: Friday, 15 August
Time: 7.30pm
Loosely based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Oral Stage presents match, a physical theatre piece exploring the various dimensions of love, relationships and sexuality. This modern take on the romance classic utilizes only body movement, speaking its language across barriers of place and time.
French for Love Letter – Written by Hoh Jian Yang
Date: Saturday, 16 August
Time: 12 noon
Two old classmates find time capsule correspondence on a nostalgia-inspired trip back to their old school. Despite the cumbersome name, French for Love Letter promises a simple trip back to the days of junior college – the simple adolescent agonies of love and awkwardness. Let our young cast make you feel young again in French for Love Letter!
Pong! Play It Right – Adapted by Dwayne Mark Lau
Date: Sunday, 17 August
Time: 3pm
Pong! Play It Right is a production examining social issues and tensions in the context of Singapore’s socio-cultural milieu, where ‘clean-ness’ and ‘right-ness’ are emphasized as traits upheld by the main ‘players’ of society. Through the symbolism inherent in the tiles of a mahjong set, themes such as tradition versus modernity, the thwarting of cherished ambitions and desires, the pervasiveness of materialism, and the pursuit of freedom are explored in each of the four acts or ’rounds’.
- By: Valerie Oliveiro
Look out for ArtZine’s list of Celebrate Drama! ‘08 Films and Workshops that you shouldn’t miss!
Coming soon.
Filed under: TV / Film | Tags: art magazine, artzine, benjamin heng, calefare, calefare episode, calefare episode 1, calefare episode 2, channel 5, episode 2, fiona xie, gurmit singh, national day premiere, singapore art, singapore art magazine, vadi pvss, valerie oliveiro
If you’re wondering where the article on Calefare has gone to, check it out on UrbanWire.
Catch the second episode of Calefare on Channel 5 on Aug 19 at 8pm. Following episodes will be aired on Tuesdays, 8pm.(No worries, we’ve got updates here for you too: check below)
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Read ArtZine’s latest update on Calefare HERE! Find out what everyone’s talking about and which character they like the best – Aug 12
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Filed under: Theatre | Tags: Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit, Alfian Sa’at, angel-ism, Apocalypse: LIVE!, Art and Life Sessions, art forum, art magazine, artzine, Bernise Ang, Choo Zheng Xi, Constance Singam, Dr Kenneth Paul Tan, Dr Paul Rae, Dr Quah Sy Ren, Dr Syed Khairuddin Aljunied, i am queen, Ken Kwek, Kok Heng Leun, laremy lee, Lim Kean Bon, Ng Yi-Sheng, OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival, ocbc theatre fest, ocbc theatre festival, Seelan Pillay, session 2, Session 3, singapore art, singapore art magazine, singapore theatre fest, Singapore Theatre Festival, Tan Pin Pin, the last temptation of stamford raffles, The Swordfish, Theatre Fest, then The Concubine, To Build A **** Society: Uncharted Territories, Uncharted Territories, unsung heroines, Untested Waters, unwritten histories, valerie oliveiro, W!LD RICE, we the citizens
The OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival opened on Aug 6 to warm and enthusiastic reviews, as reported by Friends of Wild Rice! Read the full review from TODAY here.
Tickets are selling like hotcakes! If you weren’t quick enough to grab tickets, fret not as you can still be part of the action during this theatre fest period.
The Art & Life Sessions (Free Forums)
You’re invited to The Art and Life Sessions, which is a series of forums. (free admission, of course) Delve, examine and discuss issues of today with artists, activists and academics. Not to be missed!
Where: National Library, Drama Centre, Level 3, Function Room 3
It’s free admission so being ‘kiasu’ and turning up early will ensure you the best seats in the house!
Session 1’s over!
LIFE: Regardless of Race: Uncomfortable Silences, Unfounded Fears
ART: The Swordfish, then The Concubine, angel-ism
Date: Sunday, 10 August 2008
Session 2’s over!
LIFE: We The Citizens: Unsung Heroines, Unwritten Histories
ART: The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles, I Am Queen
Date: Saturday, 16 August 2008
Session 3’s coming up! MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
LIFE: To Build A **** Society: Uncharted Territories, Untested Waters
ART: Apocalypse: LIVE!
Date: Saturday, 23 August 2008
Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm
“In the future, an environmentally-conscious Singapore will be a multiparty democracy, supported by a free press and a vibrant civil society. In a worldwide poll, Singaporeans are reported as the happiest people in Asia. We can dream, can’t we? We speak to some young people about their wishlist for Singapore’s future.”
Panelists:
Laremy Lee – Playwright, Own Time Own Target
Choo Zheng Xi – Editor, The Online Citizen, http://theonlinecitizen.com
Bernise Ang – Founder, SYINC – a network of Youth in Singapore for social change
Seelan Pillay – Artist and Social Activist
Moderator: Ken Kwek – Playwright, Apocalypse: LIVE!
Session 3 is the last art forum in the Singapore Theatre Festival’s Art and Life Sessions series. If you haven’t caught any of the forums yet, make sure you catch this one! See you there..
- By: Valerie Oliveiro
Updates and views on the forums will be posted on ArtZine.
Last updated on Aug 16.
Forum Excerpt from Theatre Fest’s Webpage.
Read HERE about Own Time Own Target, a production about NS that’s part of the Theatre Fest as well!
Filed under: Commentaries | Tags: art magazine, singapore art, singapore art magazine, artzine, valerie oliveiro, weekend today, commentary, singaporean talent, local art scene, art discussion
Weekend Today reported about Singapore’s talents on Aug 9. Befitting topic for a National Day edition but a rather old topic, I thought. Nevertheless I did skim through the pages and found this rather interesting poll done by Weekend Today.
177 were polled, and the results are as such. What intrigues me is that people still think that R&D needs the most Singaporean talent despite that A*Star was set up, multi-million dollar investments in the R&D industry and countless scholarships by the National Research Foundation. Stop letting money go to waste.
Nevermind that. We’re artists so I’m interested to know what they thought of the art industry. Art came in second! Singaporean artists are you listening? There’s a national call for more local talent in the arts industry – now that’s quite amusing.
Take a look around our industry, dear friends. I do believe that Singaporean talents are thriving in the arts and breathing life into the arts scene. Unlike the R&D and Sports sector where we see many foreign talents being ‘’shipped” over to help us, the arts scene has been built, planned and nurtured by local talents. That’s something we all should be proud of.
What we should be concerned with is why some Singaporeans do not see our force of local talent.
Here’s what Weekend Today said:
‘Comparing his experience directing local and international plays, he said he spends more time training local thespians during rehearsals compared to international actors who are already equipped with basic acting skills. “With international projects, I can get involved in the secondary level of creation because of a more skilled talent pool,” Mr Alvin Tan, The Necessary Stage’s Founder and Artistic Director said.’
If freelance actors want to get more famous and draw a certain salary, they have to take on many projects — including modelling jobs — and not just focus on projects with quality,” Mr Tan said.
Sadly that’s true. But don’t give up, dear local talents.
Or one day, we’ll be watching a play on Singapore – foreign talents acting as our coffeeshop uncles and ice-kachang aunties.
Shudders.
- By: Valerie Oliveiro
Filed under: Design | Tags: art magazine, artzine, design competition, logo competition, logo design, Singapore 2010, singapore 2010 logo, singapore art, singapore art magazine, valerie oliveiro, Youth Olympics 2010, Youth Olympics logo
Even before the Beijing Olympics kicked off with a grand opening on Aug 8, Singapore’s Ministry of Information Communications and the Arts (MICA) had their heads heavily bent in the plans they had for the Youth Olympics 2010 that will be held in Singapore.
Keen to exhibit Singapore’s talents, the committee has called out to all designers to put their skills to test and design the first Youth Olympic Games logo. Fancy that! Imagine your logo flying high on flags and banners everywhere in Singapore, souvenirs embedded with your design, stickers, car decals and more…
Like our favourite phrase from the pledge: “regardless of race, language or religion”, we’re glad that this competition is open to anyone – regardless of design experience too.
There are two categories for this design competition:
1) Youth category (18 and below)
2) Open category
Not convinced? Let us entice you with the prizes.
Prizes include a chance to be one of the torchbearers during the torch relay for the Singapore 2010 Games, a Samsung F480 phone and tickets to see the Opening and Closing ceremonies!
Before your marvellous mind starts whizzing away with ideas for the Singapore 2010 logo, take a peek at the competition details here.
May the best designer win!
- By: Valerie Oliveiro
