Year in Review 2017

From Citizens' Reviews. Casidhe is currently serving his national service, having just graduated from the School of the Arts, Singapore. He enjoys reading and writing, and believes that theatre reviewing is an excellent motivator for artistic improvement when done right. Aside from writing, his true passion is for the stage and enjoys acting, designing and occasional dramaturgy.

From Citizens' Reviews. Christian has been away from the theatre scene for over ten years as he focused his time in running and managing the family business of Boncafé International Pte Ltd – A Pioneering Gourmet Coffee Roasting and Manufacturing Company in Singapore. Christian stepped down from the company earlier this year to pursue his other interests and to spend time with his family of four. He continues to look after another family business, as well as to pursue his renewed interest in the arts.

Christian is a C42 Boiler Room 2016 playwright, and enjoys being an audience member to different mediums of the arts. He finds arts invigorating to the soul, and truly believes that the vibrant arts scene has come a long way from its humble beginnings. He looks forward to appreciating, experiencing, and exploring more of it as a Citizen Reviewer!

From Citizens' Reviews. Cordelia is a second-year Theatre Studies and English Linguistics double major, who is currently trapped in a full-time relationship with the National University of Singapore. When life with NUS gets too overwhelming, she purchases student-discounted tickets to local plays, slips into the theatre, and savours every moment of her temporarily bought freedom.

She views the theatre as a liminal space providing far more than simply entertainment. It is there where inspiration strikes, where beliefs are challenged and discussions are sparked. While she appreciates a wide range of theatrical styles, she admits to being especially intrigued by avant-garde performances. Often, the more perplexing and thought-provoking they are, the better.

Outside of university and the theatre, she finds herself spinning to Spanish music on the salsa dance floor, torturing her obliques in the gym, and routinely singing to ’90s hits in the shower.

From Citizens' Reviews. Isaac graduated from the National University of Singapore with a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, and he took Theatre Studies as a second major. He started reviewing plays for the student publication, Kent Ridge Common, and later developed a serious interest in theatre criticism after taking a module at university. He is also an aspiring poet and his poems have appeared in Symbal, Eunoia Review, Eastlit, and Malaise Journal.

To top it off, he is equally passionate in acting and flamenco dancing, and hopes to pursue all his passions in equal measure. He blogs infrequently at pre-lude.blogspot.com, while his portfolio and other reviews can be found at www.isaactanbr.com.

From Citizens' Reviews. Jocelyn holds a double Masters in Theatre Studies/Research. She is a founding member of the Song and Dance (SoDa) Players – a registered musical theatre society in Singapore. She is currently building her portfolio career as an educator and practitioner in dance and theatre, while pursuing an MA in Education (Dance Teaching).

From Citizens' Reviews. Yan is currently studying in Yale-NUS College, where he enjoys spending his free time in far too many productions. Having tried acting, writing, and directing for the stage, Yan looks forward to reviewing. He believes that theatre should challenge both the audience and creators. Theatre, to him, is about constantly pushing the boundaries of what the medium can do while telling a compelling story.

From ArtsEquator. Kathy Rowland, as is glaringly obvious from her name, is from Malaysia. A chance encounter with a commedia dell arte troupe in her teens led to a career in the arts (also, lifetime penury). Since 2011, Kathy has lived in Singapore, where she teaches part-time at LASALLE College of the Arts. She is a writer, editor and producer. Her articles on the politics of culture have appeared in publications in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the US and South Korea. Kathy edited and introduced Staging History: Selected Plays from Five Arts Centre 1984 – 2014 (2015), Huzir Sulaiman: Collected Plays 1998 – 2012 (2013) and Krishen Jit: An Uncommon Position, Selected Writings (2003). Kathy has produced theatre and visual arts events in Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, New York, Australia and Thailand. She is part of the Asia Europe Foundation’s ASEAN Researchers’ program, Regionally Speaking (2016-2017) led by Prof Dr Ruth Bereson of Griffith University and is the Lead Researcher in a theatre archive project run by Five Arts Centre Malaysia.