M1 Singapore Fringe Festival shifting gears after next year

SINGAPORE — The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival will see a shift in its direction after next year’s edition, moving away from its “Art &” theme which has been its mainstay for at least five years.

While next year’s festival will have the theme Art & Skin (this year’s was Art & the Animal, for instance), subsequent years will see the festival choose a prolific Singapore artist’s work as a jumping off point for artists and their works.

In 2018 for example, the festival will be showing works inspired by the theme Let’s Walk, which is based on renowned local artist Amanda Heng’s performance series of the same name.

Announcing this in a media conference on Tuesday (Oct 4), M1 Singapore Fringe Festival’s artistic director Sean Tobin also revealed that he will be staying on for another three editions of the festival until 2020 — which means he would be helming it for a total of six years.

“I am excited to continue with the festival for another three more years because there is a definite momentum that has been building up, working with the artistic community, pushing to partner with different groups, to make sure the local works develop and have the space to really mature,” said Tobin, 44.

“Historically in festival situations in Singapore, the local works are brand new and have not refined themselves and found their roots,” he added. “They do not compare well with international productions that come here, and that is something I would like to push and change.”

During the conference, the full programme line-up for next year’s festival — its 13th edition, which is happening in January — was also shared. The festival hopes to creatively explore and inspire dialogue into matters of identity, gender and beauty, to name a few, and does so in a rather risqué manner.

Festival highlights include a cast of diverse genders and bodies coming together to form Singapore’s first burlesque troupe known as Skin in Sin, which is produced and mentored by Eugene Tan, who is famous for his drag persona Becca D’Bus in the popular variety show RIOT!, and Madge of Honor who has been a staple of the drag, burlesque and alternative theatre communities in Boston, US, since 2007.

The group’s debut performance Foreign Bodies asks the questions people inevitably face when confronted with otherness, racism and xenophobia today and wonders why “Singaporeans hate each other so much and hate everyone who comes here”, Tan shared.

“There’s a lot of people ready to talk about these things and on the Internet and so many social media platforms, these topics come up so you can’t run away from them and pretend they are not there,” Tobin added.

Other highlights include Labels by Worklight Theatre, an internationally acclaimed hilarious and moving story about the life of a young man from a multicultural background in rural England.

Previously performed at international festivals such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it explores issues on migration, culture, family and prejudice. Another work of note is Undressing Room by Singapore artist Ming Poon, an intimate one-to-one performance between a participant and the artist as they execute the ritual of undressing each other in total silence. Held at the rehearsal studio in Centre 42 and exclusive to just one participant per performance, Poon’s work delves into themes of desire, shame, power and intimacy within a meditative space.

Next year's edition also returns with a new initiative Fresh Fringe, which will introduce works-in-development by up-and-coming artists to audiences who will bring in new and fresh perspectives with their pieces.

These works will explore a variety of themes from relationships to race and the examination of one’s culture and beliefs. They include Deep in the Heart of Me by Melbourne-based writer Kaylene Tan, a collaboration piece between theatre-makers Andrew Sutherland and Chanel Ariel Chan titled Chrysanthemum Gate and Bitten by multidisciplinary artists Nidya Shantini Manokara and Thong Pei Qin.

“I think it’s safe to say to Singapore: Let’s take some risks, let’s take some calculated risks. There are responsible, exciting and intelligent ways to talk about skin, sensuality, race and sexuality — it’s about confronting these issues, not in a damaging (way), but (in a) respectful and intelligent way,” Tobin said.

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival will run from Jan 5 to 14, 2017. Performances and activities take place at Centre 42, Esplanade–Theatres on the Bay, as well as new partners including LaSalle College of the Arts, Khoo Tech Puat Hospital, library@esplanade and Silver Ribbon Singapore.