Artsgoers give the thumbs up to this year's Singapore Arts Festival for being more accessible
By
adeline chia and tara tan
Foreign festival programmers, too, like what they see in local festival productions such as Toy Factory's Crab Flower Club. -- PHOTO: TOY FACTORY PRODUCTIONS
THIS was the year the Singapore Arts Festival turned a corner.
Dogged by criticisms that the programme was too avant garde and by lacklustre ticket sales last year, the annual event retooled itself.
Fest best and worst
Life! arts journalists Adeline Chia and Tara Tan pick the best and the worst in this year's Singapore Arts Festival:
BEST PERFORMER
Who: Juan Carlos Zegal in Sin Sangre (Compania Teatrocinema) Why: The artistic director of the Chilean drama company showed who was boss - in the acting stakes - in this violent tale of murder and revenge. With a change of clothes and the donning of a mask, he played multiple roles as a lumbering gun-slinger and an old man wracked by guilt. His performance led the audience through suspense and heartbreak. Bravo!
Life! interviewed three regular artsgoers before the Singapore Arts Festival started and asked what shows they were going to watch. Now that the festival has ended, Life! gets their verdict on the shows.
LEE CHOR LIN , 46, director of the National Museum of Singapore
The gamble paid off. Midway through the festival, 11 of the 25 core shows had sold out.
Artsgoers were drawn to a more accessible programme featuring dancing Shaolin monks, an old-school classical ballet and identifiable big names such as Japanese theatre master Suzuki Tadashi.
Going all out to woo audiences, the festival also slashed ticket prices by 20 per cent across the board. Early birds received discounts of up to 30 per cent.
The festival was moved forward by a week to coincide with the last week of the school term. This, coupled with generous student discounts, encouraged schools to book tickets for their students during the lull period after their mid-year examinations.
As a result, students were seen everywhere at performances. About 36 schools bought 4,200 tickets this year.
The final ticket sales and attendance figures will be announced only next Monday but it is likely that there will be good news.
Festival director Goh Ching Lee told Life! that the festival 'well exceeded its targets'. It had aimed for 80 per cent ticket sales and house attendance.
She said: 'We've done exceptionally well this year. People have come up to me to say that the programme was very attractive and that the pricing made the festival accessible to them.'
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times Life!
