Urinetown

When: 27 September to 13 October 2019 
Where: Drama Centre Theatre, Level 3 National Library Building
What: Urinetown might have been written by American playwright Greg Kotis in the late 1990s, but its main themes of natural resource and capitalist greed are deeply resonant with present-day Singapore. The satirical musical comedy is set in a fictional "most expensive city in the world" that's facing a "cross-border water crisis". Does that sounds eerily familiar? Pay-to-use lavatories have been erected by the Urine Good Company, while public-peeing offenders are banished to the mysterious "Urinetown". A hero comes a long to rescue the city's poor citizen and spark an uprising, but he falls desperately in love with the daughter of the corporation's megalomaniac leader. Mayhem and hilarity ensues.

Archifest 2019

When: 27 September to 9 October
Where: Various
What: Archifest returns with founder of Formwerkz Alan Tay as festival director. Based on the theme "Craft", the festival has put together an ambitious programme of exhibitions, tours, workshops, and film screenings. Highights include exclusive tours of some of Singapore's award-winning conceptual private homes, hands-on workshops that deal with traditional Japanese techniques such as indigo-dyeing as well as screenings of design documentaries Bauhaus Spirit: 100 years of Bauhaus, McQueen, and Tadao Ando at The Projector.

DA:NS Festival

When: 10 to 20 October 2019
Where: Esplanade — Theatres on the Bay
What: Esplanade's DA:NS Festival is all about illuminating the possibilities of our bodies through dance. This year, world-renowned Cuban ballet superstar Carlos Acosta headlines the programme with his company Acosta Danza. Carlos Acosta was raised far away from the glitzy, previledged ballet world in Havana, Cuba. Through his relentless determination and sheer talent, he rose to become the principal dancer of London's Royal Ballet. His inspiring life story was chronicled in Yuli, which will be screening on 5 October at The Projector.

Another noteworthy event, FULL OUT!, will showcase of some of the most talented street dance crews from Taiwan, Japan, France, the U.S., and Singapore. Their unique hard-hitting choreographies break the traditional notions of how dancers should move and what they should look like.

Merdeka / 獨立 /சுதந்திரம்

When: 10 to 27 October 2019
Where: The Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre @ WILD RICE, 107 North Bridge Rd  
What: The Singapore Bicentennial is coming to an end in a few months, and there've been plenty of exhibitions and events this year in its honour. You might have caught the Asian Civilisation Museum's 'Raffles in Southeast Asia' exhibition, or checked out the 'From Singapore to Singaporean: The Bicentennial Experience' at the Fort Canning Centre. In my humble opinion, they saved the best for last.

Written by acclaimed playwright Alfian Sa'at and emerging talent Neo Hai Bin, Wild Rice's upcoming production examines Singapore's colonial legacy through a diverse cast of six young people who analyse old speeches and newspaper clippings as well as re-enact key moments in our history, all in hopes of understanding our country's colonial past, democratic present, and undetermined future.