Hydro Sapiens, Bedok Reservoir: A dark water tale

Why Bedok? No idea really. The arts fest has ventured in the past into the heartland, to places such as Choa Chu Kang in 2006, so I guess this is another one of those forays, this time in partnership with the PUB.

On a huge floating platform overlooked by HDB blocks, theatre group The Lunatics from the Netherlands has constructed a marine rig/theatrical spectacle from scratch. 

There was lots of water play in this story. The artistes made music from it, fished things out of it, jumped in occasionally, romanced on it, emerged out of, and, naturally, sailed on it to touch on the various aspects of people's relationship with water. There was even a Singaporean touch in the form of twelve volunteers in the show. All very colourful.

 

Be warned, however. For a family show, the themes were quite dark and included some death and destruction; a baby near me even cried. Disappointingly, the fireworks were minimal, apparently the proximity to the Paya Lebar airbase limited their use.
 

Hydro Sapiens is on till Sunday, 22 June at 8pm, Bedok Reservoir Park. Remember to get off at Block 744 on the main road and walk toward the reservoir.

Centrestage holiday workshops start 23 June

Drama, art, dance and music workshops for age 31/2 - 11 at their studios in Wessex Estate. Check website for details.

Stories to Grow - review

We went to watch Stories to Grow at Act 3 this morning. Turned out to be everything I expected and much more - and importantly, LO enjoyed it hugely too. No wonder the theatrette was packed. Simple stories told with a lot of love in a very ingenious way using puppets made with lots of love. The lighting and music helped set the pace and mood, which is really important for a non-verbal piece, and the performers - one of whom had the same tragicomic face as Roberto Benigni of Life is Beautiful fame - were stalwarts.

I'm glad that I took LO to it even if the show said it was for over 4s. There was one story with an environmental message - about cutting a tree - which LO talked about the whole day. There are two more shows tomorrow - Sunday, May 25.

Now if they can only get those plastic child booster seats that SRT has. With the slippery foam ones at Act 3, most kids ended up on their parents' laps.

Shakespeare or Moliere?

Not strictly for very young kids but notice that there's lots of classic theatre for those who are fans. Shakespeare on Love, Hamlet for a modern audience and The Hypochondriac by Moliere which is even funnier than The Miser which we did in school. The principal was a fan of Moliere and Sheridan, so lots of their plays got staged. They were the equivalent of today's sitcoms but so much more clever at farce.

Magicbox - 12-20 July

Homegrown illusionists pastor Lawrence Khong and his daughter Priscilla are going to try and do a David Copperfield and fill a whole week in the cavernous Esplanade Theatre. Well, they've done it before in the region and overseas. Wonder if he's going to use the theatre as his pulpit.

Another magician Kiki Tay has his own show at Jubilee Hall on 29 June as well.

Mum and Dad, Where are You? - 17 - 18 May

Arts Theatre of Singapore brings us children's theatre in Mandarin for over 2s.
The synopsis looks dark: Sam, lives with his famous response "I can't do it", almost every daily task is done by his mum, dad and the maid. Can Sam change?  Is one children's theatre piece going to create a social revolution?

Scotty & Lulu - 24 - 25 May

I've been intrigued by the news that the singing dancing Kiwi-Brit pair Scotty & Lulu who are apparently bonafide sensations in Hong Kong performing here.

We're listening to their Popcorn CD right now and it is....perky. Many of the songs on the CD are mostly set to a really hard driving beat and the one thing I hate is overproduced music for kids.

Our favourite CDs have always been those that emphasise voice over musical arrangement. It doesn't matter whether it's adults or kids singing as long as there is voice clarity. The few that are set to simpler arrangements almost always work better. Doesn't mean it needs to be slow and boring. The Charming Charlie song from The Little Red Hen with its banjo riff is a favourite around our house.

Well someone says their music is for The Wiggles show fans who have grown up is probably right. They're still letting in kids above 1 to their shows here though.

Out of the Box puppet theatre fest - 12 - 16 May

The Out of the Box puppet festival returns. Homegrown outfit Mascots & Puppets whose puppets for the 2006 show of The Little Shop of Horrors by Dream Academy was nominated for an award, contributes The Story of Bukit Merah and The Legend of The Moon.

The Reluctant Dragon/Wind in the Willows - 22 - 24 May

The Singapore Lyric Opera has a Kenneth Grahame double-bill for the hols.

The musical adaptation by English composer John Rutter "was originally written as an ‘entertainment’ for The King’s Singers (six male voices) and the City of London Sinfonia to perform at a family concert." 

Little Women - 28 - 31 May

In the Anglophone world, most girls go through a phase of loving Louisa May Alcott's book Little Women. I know I did though I can't remember if it came before or after the Pride and Prejudice phase...probably before, though the Pride and Prejudice phase continues till adulthood for lots of people! Anyway, The Stage Club is doing a theatrical version for 7+ year olds.