The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival will return for its 11th edition from Jan. 14 to 25, 2015, with a series of 18 events. The theme for next year’s festival is “Art & Loss”, which looks at art as a form of remembrance and release, and art with literal “loss” in its structure.
There are many attention-grabbing local works in the programme including Loo Zihan’s With/Out (top photo) which documents the 1999 staging of Completely With/Out Character, a monologue delivered by Paddy Chew. The first person in Singapore to go public about their HIV-positive status, Chew would die just three months after the original production. 15 years on, With/Out revisits his performance through multimedia, video recordings and archival material – it’s a performance after the loss of its performer.
Another highlight is The Malay Man and His Chinese Father by ponggurl – led by Noor Effendy Ibrahim – which explores the relationship between a man and his dying father as he searches for the identity of his mother.
Providing a bit of comic relief, Mosaic by Take Off Productions tells the story of a group of twentysomethings and their fight to save a neighbourhood playground slated for demolition. It’s a depiction of the Generation Y way of thinking that questions the respective costs of nostalgia and progress.
Beyond the stage, the photo exhibition How Loneliness Goes by Nguan examines modern isolation in densely populated Singapore.
International performers will also feature prominently at the festival. Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit is a production with the loss of its director – Soleimanpour cannot leave his native Iran due to his refusal to perform the country’s national service – while Under Pressure – Temporary Title by French outfit Groupe ACM delves into the loss of control that comes with taking on a theatrical project.
After a decade at the helm, co-Artistic Directors Alvin Tan and Haresh Sharma have handed the reins over to Sean Tobin, a theatre-maker and educator who heads the Faculty of Theatre at the School of the Arts. The duo will still be on hand, however, to present a masterclass during the festival.
Tickets are available for $22 from Sistic. For more information and a full list of events, visit the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival website.
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