PUBLISHED February 16th, 2022 06:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 02:49 pm
As the year moves along, Singapore’s theatres are leaping towards an exciting new season of productions and shows. Tune in and catch performances on a range of thought-provoking topics, ranging from like women’s health issues to scars from the past. That’s not even mentioning dance productions, symphonies, and multi-sensory experiences that await. To help you mark your calendars, we’ve curated the upcoming theatre shows and productions that you simply must catch in the first half of 2022.
Lotus Root Support Group
3 – 6 March 2022 | T:Works Gallery
With International Women’s Day coming up in March, director Renee Yeong, along with theatremakers Miriam Cheong and Shannen Tan, is bringing the struggles of Singaporean women to the stage. In Lotus Root Support Group, we’re introduced to Jane, an average Singaporean girl who seems to have everything going for her, from relationships to career. The only thing holding her back? Her ovaries.
Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Jane and her partner-in-crime Xin Yi embark on an investigative journey to free themselves of this complex endocrine disorder, said to affect as many as one in ten young women. A light-hearted play based on the two actresses’ personal experience, Lotus Root Support Group hopes to shine a light on a women’s health issue that few talk about enough.
Tickets for Lotus Root Support Group are priced at S$37.74, available here.
L’Inganno Felice (The Blissful Deception)
5-6 March 2022 | NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre
Presented by Lirica Arts, catch the dramatic beauty of Gioachino Rossini’s Opera music, finally in Singapore. Watch Joyce Lee Tung, who takes on the role of Isabella, a faithful wife who gets unjustly accused of infidelity and cruelly abandoned at sea. Find out how Isabella wins back her husband’s love and is happily reconciled with him, through a series of schemes and manoeuvres. Joyce is joined by Singapore’s most prolific tenor Jonathan Charles Tay, Martin Ng, Conductor Lien Boon Hu and the Wayfarer Sinfonietta.
Tickets for L’Inganno Felice (The Blissful Deception) are priced from S$28, available here.
Singapore Ballet Gala 2022, and Introduction to Coppélia
4 – 5 March, 8 – 10 March 2022 | Esplanade Theatre Studio
Catch the Singapore Ballet (formerly known as Singapore Dance Theatre) as they spring into a new year with a line-up of classics like Timothy Rushton’s Evening Voices and George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations. If you’re looking for an intriguing story along with a well-performed ballet, go for the Dance Appreciation Series 2022: Introduction to Coppélia. The light-hearted story feature follows a mysterious Dr Coppélius and his life-sized Coppélia that springs to life. As Coppélia becomes the talk of the town, getting attention from boys, will Dr. Coppélius’ secret be revealed to the village? This timeless ballet with enchanting costumes and set designs will definitely win you over.
Tickets for Singapore Ballet Gala 2022 (from S$40), and Dance Appreciation Series 2022: Introduction to Coppélia are priced (from S$14), available here.
The Glass Menagerie
11 – 27 March 2022 | Victoria Theatre
Breathing fresh life into Tennessee Williams’ play, Pangdemonium is starting its 2022 season strong with The Glass Menagerie. This semi-autobiographical work follows protagonist Tom Wingfield and his memories of his broken family through a collection of glass figurines. Dreaming of becoming a writer, Tom works in a factory due to familial and financial responsibility. Along a gentleman caller, who symbolizes the promise of love for Tom’s sister, social and financial respectability for their mother, and freedom for Tom. This gentleman caller may cast a magical spell over their delicate world – or shatter all their dreams like glass.
Tickets for The Glass Menagerie are priced from S$40, available here.
Opposition
17 March – 3 April 2022 | The Necessary Stage
A collaboration between Drama Box and The Necessary Stage, Opposition takes an inside look at the lives of Production Manager Ramlah Zee and Director Jackie Oh, as they establish their own theatre company and a blooming relationship. From attraction and hope to heartbreak, disappointment and stasis, the performance maps the ups and down of life and love in our materialistic and hungry-for-success-minded nation. As the two souls feel trapped in other’s memories, the evocative tale questions how do we live freely by our own identities and dreams? And how do we determine when it is time to leave, in order to begin again?
Tickets for Opposition are priced from S$38, available here.
Incandescent – A City That Never Sleeps
18 March 2022 | UCC Hall at National University of Singapore
Conceived by Yarra Ileto and directed by Jeremiah Choy, NUS Dance Synergy is coming together with NUS Guitar Ensemble (GENUS) for NUS Arts Festival 2022’s opening act. With music by Dr Robert Casteels and dance multimedia elements designed by Mervin Wong, the piece looks at how our body responds to artificial light and the harmful impact of light pollution in urban cities today. A bold investigative piece, the production gets to the bottom of our modern lifestyle and questions the modern-day relationship between our body and the environment.
Tickets for Incandescent – A City That Never Sleeps are priced from S$15, available here.
Brilliant Traces
18 – 27 March 2022 | Method Productions
Stuck in the middle of a blizzard in remote Alaska, Rosanna DeLuce, a distraught bride, finds herself knocking on Henry Harry’s door for shelter. Two strangers stuck in an enclosed space, burdened and deeply hurt from the scars of their past – what could go wrong? Watch how opening up and getting to know each other leads to a ruse of repulsion and seduction. Catch Steven Murphy and Adi Amon Mesika in Method Productions’ gripping tale.
Tickets for Brilliant Traces are priced from S$25, available here.
The Chamber Readings
5 April – 10 May 2022 | Checkpoint Theatre
This year, celebrate the Checkpoint Theatre’s 20th Anniversary in style. The theatre is treating us to a full calendar of reimagined iconic classics as well as new original works. Start off the year right with The Chamber Readings series, focused on the celebrated works of playwright and Joint Artistic Director Huzir Sulaiman. Presented at the Esplanade Recital Studio, let dramatic readings, symphonic music, and lyrical language enchant you as a talented ensemble of performers bring works such as Atomic Jaya, The Nuclear Family (5-7 April), and Occupation and The Weight of Silk on Skin (10-11 May) to life.
For more information, please visit https://checkpoint-theatre.org/.
Around The World in 80 Days
February-April 2022 | Andsoforth
Inspired by Jules Verne’s classic, Around The World in 80 Days presented by Andsoforth is a multi-sensory experience that whisks guests away to the likes of London, Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Japan and New York – all without the need for travelling or quarantine. With flamboyant theatrical performances woven with an omakase experience of six courses and two boozy drinks, this 120-minute experience will fly by in a trice. An adventurous multi-room, multi-environment production, the details are very hush-hush and participants are given the location only 24 hours before the workshop – to keep a sense of secrecy alive!
Tickets for Around The World in 80 Days are priced from S$133, available here.
Top Image: Hudson Hintze on Unsplash