Standard of Singapore theatre ... comments please ...

I must admit that the last few local productions I caught were really disappointing. Big name stars .. big name production companies .. usually dependable writers … so much hype … BAD show.  Local theatre has sadly deteriorated to the funny shows which are not funny with actors who can't act and singers who can't sing. I find a lot more enjoyment from the smaller productions. Small budgets but full of emotions. They know they have a lot more to prove and the actors / actresses try their best to actually act. There is only so much that the big names can do with ticket sales. Read my review of Great World Cabaret to understand how a big name like Mark Lee could not even fill 30% of the venue on a Saturday evening !!!!

I was talking to a local theatre producer a few weeks ago and he also agrees that the standard of local theatre is declining … FAST. He suggested that someone should form a “theatre critic circle.”

 I may not be the best qualified to say this but then my opinion is that other reviewers are generally “very nice” and do not write negative reviews. They are always very politically correct .. and if a show is ‘bad’ .. no review is done. (I am guilty of this as well … didn’t write reviews of W!ld Rice’s Monkey Goes West and Dim Sum Dollies History of Singapore Part 2 because I felt they were below the usual high standards set by W!ld Rice and Dim Sum Dollies respectively)

Again I stress that this is my opinion and I am no theatre practitioner or have a degree in the performing arts. I just write based on my feelings of what I see, hear and experience during the show. I have received severe flak from some production directors, writers, actors, fanboys before because of my negative reviews. I take it in .. it is part and parcel of a writing blog .. not everyone agrees with what I write. So these theatre practitioners should also understand that not everyone agrees with that they write and what they think is ‘perfect.’

Anyways, I want to know what my readers think? Do you all also feel that local theatre is losing its quality? Please comment as I want to know whether it is only me feeling this way. Is it that my expectations are too high? What can we do to improve the quality of local theatre?