Fridae

Back in 1997, The Necessary Stage (TNS) introduced a little theatre festival named "Youth Explosion" - a lineup of local and international plays in March, comfortably separate from the pomp of the Singapore Arts Fest.

Ten years down the road, the festival's changed its name three times and expanded to include all art forms and all ages, but its kooky, soulful energy remains the same. It's now titled the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, reaching out to all generations and exploring all art forms.

"It's a big battle between mainstream and fringe," says Haresh Sharma, who's co-Artistic Director of both TNS and the Singapore Fringe along with his business partner Alvin Tan.

"Mainstream always has the budget. You hear about My Fair Lady and you immediately buy ten tickets. But what if you've got this show from Hungary and it's really good, but no-one knows about it?"

"But there is an audience of people who want something different," he reiterates. "By having it in a Fringe Festival, you give it prominence."

The Singapore Fringe runs this year from Jan 30 to Feb 11, centred around the theme of "Art and Disability."

Inspired by the disability festivals in the UK, Alvin and Haresh sent out a plea for applications by artists and theatre groups with works that relate to disability - physical, mental, psychological and social.

The hip, diverse selection of works that got in is a testament to the edgy spirit of the Festival. Fridae brings you the highlights of the festival in three different categories: drama, dance and visual/sonic art.

Drama
One of the big highlights of the festival programme has to be TNS's Fundamentally Happy (Feb 9-10). First staged locally in September 2006, the work's been greeted with popular and critical acclaim for its solid, intelligent treatment of the topic of pedophilia. This reporter attended the premiere, and can vouch for the fact that it rocks.

The play tells the story of Eric (Chua Enlai), a 30-year-old social worker, who returns from Australia to confront his ex-neighbour Habiba (Alin Mosbit) with the claim that her husband molested him as a child. The plot's inspired by the true story of a gay Singaporean man who, as an adult, decided to press charges for the child abuse he suffered.

Unlike many TNS productions, this show is a realist, naturalistic drama - none of your experimental gimmicks here - but it's got none of the maudlin "General Hospital" melodrama you'd expect of a paedophilia documentary. Instead, you're drawn into a subtle, powerful web of emotions between the two characters, driven by anger, denial and love, bamboozled by their uncertain memories, wounded by the past.

One witnesses the twisted logic of juvenile sexual abuse: boys often come to crave the attention and contact of their abusers - and even as adults, understanding their mistreatment, may waver between love and hate for those who molested them. It's a more complete story of pedophilia than most: the lasting trauma of juvenile sexual abuse is revealed on the part of both victims and the loved ones of the perpetrators.

"We had talkback sessions after almost all of the performances and they were very positive," recalls Haresh, the playwright. He's especially relieved after a successful run in Kuala Lumpur, where he was afraid the religious treatment of Islam would offend viewers.

Annoyingly, the local Media Development Authority has refused to lower the RA-18 rating to NC-16 - but fortunately, it's not the only play worth going for.

TNS' and Cake Theatre's Survivor Singapore (Jan 30 - Feb 1), for instance, is a satirical farce set in a discipline master's office, as students are cross-examined in the aftermath of their catastrophic school projects, one of which culminates in a racial riot. Director Natalie Hennedige explains that it's about "the inability to see outside, to step out of your comfort zone, of communicating with and understanding each other."

Kumar, the renowned local drag queen comedian, will be playing multiple roles, including a TV talk-show host named Leslie Putucheary, while one his guests will be a bimbotic out-and-proud student named Amiruddin bin Maarof - to be played by straight boy Najib bin Soliman, for comic effect. Sign language interpreting will also be provided.

Teater Ekamatra will also present How Did the Cat Get So Fat (Feb 1-3), performed in Malay and written and directed by Zizi Azah Bte. Abdul Majid. It's a parable criticising the corruption of a prosperous Singapore society, as viewed from the eyes of a nine-year-old girl riding an imaginary lion.

Dance
Diskodanny.com's Vermillion (Jan 30 - Feb 11) is an experimental quartet of dance items, inspired by the tortured, dynamic paintings of the renowned gay painter Francis Bacon. Daniel K, the choreographer, started out studying fine art in London on a PSC scholarship, but eventually got carried away by his love of dance.

Daniel's footwork will be featured in a solo item inspired by male go-go dancers. Clothed in only his underwear, he'll be doing some pole dancing, allowing the "crutch" of a pole to take his movements in new directions. "Pushing and pulling, working flat against the pole allows me to move in a different way - the pole works as a centre for everything," he says.

He also compares the pole to the use of tree trunks as props for musclebound men in Renaissance art. "It's like St Sebastian, or Michelangelo's slave - at the moment, my physique can't carry off a Michelangelo, but I'll adjust the lighting," he jokes.

Another performer will be Cyril Wong, who's an acclaimed gay vocalist and poet in Singapore, with his writing often examining homosexual love with unabashed honesty. Daniel's coy about revealing too much of the programme, but he notes that audience members will be given leave to enter the performance space, mingling with the dancers.

Fans of studly male dancers may also want to check out Trace II/Mennono (Feb 10-11), a dance performance by French-Hungarian choreographer P�l Fren�k, drawing on his memories of being raised by deaf parents. In homage, he's created a visually sensitive, sign language-based dance event, describing the liberation of the soul. For our pleasure, he's having it performed by topless men in blue skirts and swimming caps.

The Fringe has also included some dance performances so edgy, they're recommended more for "veterans" than "virgins" - best appreciated by experienced aficionados of dance. These include Joji Inc's (Belgium) Erase-Ex (Jan 30-31) and Very Special Arts/Van Body Theatre's (Singapore | Taiwan) Red Dust (Feb 3-4).

Visual/Sonic Arts
There's a slew of visual arts and music events, too numerous to mention, included in this Festival - wheelchair guided tours, photography of amputees, artworks by the blind. Still, we'll zoom in on a few pieces that might be of special interest to a queer audience.

Jan Rothuizen of the Netherlands will be presenting The Self Collector (Jan 30 - Feb 11, free), an exhibition of his artwork, at the Singapore Art Museum. The sense of his personal quest into exploring the notion of the self may best be captured in Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a timeline of photographs of different men of different ages, from infancy to death - all selected because they look like the artist himself. Local sound artist Ang Song Ming will coordinate a listening party in response to The Self Collector at the Singapore Art Museum (Glass Porch) on Fri, 2 Feb, 8pm and Sun, 4 Feb, 4pm. (RSVP to: info@circadiansongs.com)

Should I Be in My Bodi? (Feb 1-4, free) by Tim Jeeves of the UK is yet another topless male showcase, at the Art Museum, but not calculated for sexual arousal at all - it's a performance art event at the consisting of the presentation of his naked body, scarred and crippled by chemotherapy.

For the club queens among you, HOME Club (www.homeclub.com.sg) will be partnering the Fringe in certain events, with all ticket holders given free admission into the club during the period of the Fringe on regular nights. They'll also be hosting international DJs and a forum on 'Tackling Social Disability Through Music and Art'.

All tickets for Fringe events will be sold via SISTIC- though many visual art events will be free of charge. More information can be found at their website, www.singaporefringe.com, or by picking up one of their brochures at Sistic outlets and theatre venues throughout Singapore.