The Singapore Festival of Arts 1992 is the first festival organised by the National Arts Council.
One important aspect of the Festival of Arts is its role in generating local works as well as showcasing the best of our local talent: local professional groups such as TheatreWorks, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Dance Theatre and Practice Performing Arts Centre Ltd, have been invited to participate.
Singapore's first and only opera company, Lyric Theatre, formed only last year, will make its appearance in the Festival for the first time with the production of Franz Lehar’s 'The Merry Widow’. Other local amateur groups will offer Malay and Chinese drama, Indian dance, etc. in the Festival to whet the cultural appetites of Singaporeans.
Besides local programmes, the Festival offers to Singaporeans a repertoire of cultural programmes from all over the world. This year's Festival features more non-conventional, more innovative and avant garde works, like the Multi-media Theatre by the Lindsay Kemp Company from the United Kingdom and the dancers-illusionists Momix from the USA. The renowned Ninagawa Company brings to Singapore their productions of ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Medea’, which received critical acclaim at the 1987 Edinburgh Festival. Another festival highlight features Singapore-born pianist, Margaret Leng Tan, who has established herself as an avant garde musician in New York. These are but a few of the exciting programmes of international standard that we have lined up for you.
This year, we are featuring Indonesia's Bagong Kussudiardja Dance Theatre. The dance company, headed by Indonesia's acclaimed choreographer, Bagong, will stage works that combine traditional and contemporary elements.
In all, there will be 37 productions, giving a total of 126 performances over the month of June.
In addition, there is an extensive Festival Fringe programme, running concurrently with the main Festival programme. This also promises to be different, exciting and enjoyable. The Fringe is the outreach arm of the Festival.
I would like to thank our sponsors, donors and all volunteers, whose generous support in money and kind have helped to make this Festival a reality.
I have great pleasure in welcoming you to the Festival, and trust that you will find its programmes challenging, stimulating and entertaining.
– Professor Tommy Koh (National Arts Council Chairman)
(Source: National Arts Council Programme)