Get Playful with the Arts at Esplanade's Flipside 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

          Get Playful with the Arts at Esplanade’s Flipside 2018
 Featuring about 200 fun and interactive performances including a Festival Commission by
            Singapore composer Julian Wong, late-night programmes, and more

SINGAPORE, 12 April 2018 – A sonic experience in the dark, a giant puppet coming to life,
an electronic music piece that is composed by you and interactive art installations—these are
among the highlights at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Flipside. The 10-day festival which
returns from 25 May to 3 June 2018 will see Esplanade transformed with unconventional
performances, comedy, large-scale installations, and arts and technology experiences taking
place all around the centre. Take a break this mid-year to play and discover the arts from a
different and refreshing angle, with about 200 performances and activities to choose from.

Shireen Abdullah, Producer, The Esplanade Co Ltd said, “Flipside is a festival of arts
performances and experiences for the adventurous or the uninitiated. It invites you to play,
imagine and consider different ways of seeing and thinking. It is about flipping one’s
conventional idea of what the arts can be and the festival seeks to present works and artists
that spark curiosity and ignite the imagination. This year, we are happy to commission a new
work by Singapore composer and musical director Julian Wong who collaborates with fellow
musicians, vocalists and designers to create a one-of-a-kind musical and sonic experience in
the dark. For those with an appetite for adventure, look out for our late-night programmes
including an after-dark backstage tour of Esplanade, as well as an interactive installation that
allows you to compose your very own electronic music. Whether you are totally new to the

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arts or someone steeped in it, we hope that through Flipside, you will come to Esplanade to
experience and discover something quite unexpected through the arts.”

Igniting Imagination
This year, the festival supports the creation of a new production – Sensing the Dark – helmed
by one of Singapore’s leading composers and musical directors Julian Wong. From writing
scores for both homegrown and foreign productions and even composing the music score for
the fireworks display at the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown, this time for Flipside, Wong
works with other veteran Singapore theatre designers to put together a one-of-a-kind musical
and sonic experience in the dark. Audiences will be treated to a journey of music and voices
with original tunes and familiar favourites such as One Voice by Barry Manilow, Angel by
Sarah McLachlan and Robert Schumann’s Traumerei, in an intimately designed space
combined with subtle lighting effects, an unusual setting that will surprise and awaken one’s
senses.

For both the young and old, Tof Theatre from Belgium presents the work Dans I’Atelier &
Chantier Frigolite where families can look forward to not just a performance portraying a
puppeteer and puppet with a mind of its own, but a hands-on workshop to create one’s own
puppet as well. On the flipside, Urashima Taro by Rogue28 Theatre from the UK which also
features puppetry, tells the compelling ancient Japanese myth of obsession, betrayal, lust and
loss through a fisherman’s adventures after he saves a turtle. The artist Aya Nakamura
switches between being an actress and puppeteer, manipulator and manipulated, shadow and
light, visible and invisible.

Technology and Inventions
Flipside also explores the presentation of work that brings technology into the arts in inventive
ways. Taking inspiration from a game arcade, the Esplanade Concourse will be transformed
into the ARTcade where bite-sized, pop up performances will take place alongside a variety
of interactive experiences involving creative technology and craft. One of which is GRIDI by
Israeli artist Yuvi Gernstein which is an installation that utilises computer software to compose
electronic music. Bringing out the musical side in everyone, this accessible and intuitive piece
is free for anyone to have a go at the Esplanade Concourse daily during the festival.

Sound Maze by Paul Dresher & Daniel Schmidt is another interactive experience featuring a
dozen of Dresher’s invented musical instruments and sound sculptures. With instruments such
as “The Peacock” which is a fan-shaped array of wooden keys extracted from a deconstructed
pipe organ, and “The Octagon” which is a large steel hoop that spins on an octagonal,
amplified wooden pedestal, this experience which comprises a 20-minute demonstration and

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orientation followed by interaction time with the instruments, will unleash the musician in
everyone.

Late Night and Outdoor Arts Experiences
Flipside invites visitors and audiences to experience the arts Esplanade in ways they have
never before, as installations transform the Esplanade waterfront, and as performances take
place late into the night.

For the first time at Flipside, several programmes which are suited for adventurous young
adults looking for a late-night arts experience will take place all around Esplanade. These
include an additional evening performance of Urashima Taro at 9.30pm and Concourse
performances at 10.30pm on top of the regular earlier offerings, and free activities taking place
along the waterfront till 11pm on weekends. A special backstage tour The Spaces in Between
will take place after dark, where tour participants will be taken on a unique journey to lesser
seen spaces of Esplanade where they will be regaled with stories and tales not for the faint of
heart.

Along the Esplanade Waterfront, look out for large thread art installations by Singapore artist
Adeline Loo and String Symphony by Australia’s renowned Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
Using knitting and weaving techniques with materials such as yarn, rope and string, Loo’s
creation of geometric patterns will transform with different lighting states including the use of
ultraviolet light. In String Symphony audiences will flip from being mere viewers to control a
puppet more than four metres tall made from more than a kilometre of rope and 600 LED
lights, together with other audience members. This large illuminated puppet comes to life in a
mesmerising performance when twelve people each take a string and choose to work
together.

Tickets for Flipside 2018 are available at Esplanade’s Box Office at the Mezzanine level (Tel:
+65 6828 8377), over the SISTIC Hotline (Tel: +65 6348 5555) and at all SISTIC outlets.
Please refer to the Annex for full line-up and details. More information on the festival may also
be found at www.esplanade.com/flipside.

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About Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Esplanade is Singapore’s national performing arts centre. It has a year-round line-up of about
3,000 performances presented by Esplanade, its partners and hirers. As an arts centre for
everyone, Esplanade also creates opportunities for seniors, youth, children and underserved
communities to experience the arts. More than 70% of the shows that take place each year at
the centre are non-ticketed. The centre works in close partnership with local, regional and
international artists to develop artistic capabilities and content, push artistic boundaries and
engage audiences. It also develops technical capabilities for the industry nationally.

This architectural icon, with its distinctive twin shells, houses world-class performance spaces
complemented by a comprehensive range of professional support services. Its two main
venues are the 1,600-seat Concert Hall and a Theatre with a capacity of 2,000.

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is operated by The Esplanade Co Ltd (TECL), which is a
not-for-profit organisation, a registered Charity and an Institution of a Public Character. The
Charity Council awarded TECL the Special Commendation Award – Clarity of Strategy in
2016, and the Charity Transparency Award in 2016 and 2017.

In October 2017, Esplanade launched #mydurian—a year-long celebration for its 15th
anniversary—comprising programmes and activities that bring together people and stories
that have helped shape the iconic arts centre fondly dubbed the Durian.

Visit www.esplanade.com for more information.

                                           ~ End ~
Issued by The Esplanade Co Ltd.

For more information, please contact:
Gina Koh
Communications Specialist
The Esplanade Co Ltd
Tel: 6828 8332
Email: kgina@esplanade.com

Cynthia Tan
Arts Marketing Strategist
The Esplanade Co Ltd
Tel: 6828 8316
Email: tcynthia@esplanade.com

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Annex

TICKETED PROGRAMMES

Sensing the Dark: A journey of sound without sight (Singapore)
Esplanade Theatre Studio
Festival Commission
26 – 29 May 2018

A sonic, musical experience...in the dark! This one-of-a-kind sensory experience features
live music, vocals and ethereal soundscape in a journey of original music, classic tunes
and subtle lighting effects. Mindful and life-affirming, Sensing the Dark explores the
darkness as a space to rejuvenate, grounding you firmly in the present and the now, away
from the constant bombardment of information in our daily lives. Put together by a team
of veteran Singapore theatre designers led by composer and music director Julian Wong.

Music & show direction – Julian Wong
Vocal direction – Irene Jansen
Sound design – Sandra Tay & Shah Tahir
Lighting design – Alberta Wileo
Performers: Katryna Tan, Rizal Sanip, Feri Susanto, Rit Xu, Ryan Sim, Leslie Tay, Remah
Diamante, Rohaniah Bte Said, Hannah Nordin, Ashley Gerard Perry, Malcolm Lim

(Approximately 50 minutes, no intermission)
No entry for late-comers & no re-admission once the performance starts
Recommended for audiences aged 10 and above. Admission for ages 6 and above only.

$35
Sat 7.30pm
Sun & Tue (PH) 3pm

$28
Sun – Tue 7.30pm

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Sound Maze by Paul Dresher & Daniel Schmidt (US)
Esplanade Annexe Studio
25 – 27 May 2018
Fri: 7.30pm & 9.30pm
Sat & Sun: 2pm, 4pm & 8pm

"Paul Dresher [is] a sort of musical Thomas Edison."
– San Francisco Chronicle

Enter an immersive and interactive sonic and visual world of sound, featuring over a dozen
newly invented musical instruments and sound sculptures! Unleash your inner musician in this
engaging experience suitable for all ages.

Listen and enjoy an ear-opening experience, and then explore, play and discover a whole new
world of sound and music. Created by wildly inventive mind of instrument inventor and
composer Paul Dresher with builder-designer Daniel Schmidt.

The Sound Maze experience begins with a 20-min orientation and demonstration of the
instruments by Paul Dresher, after which you’re free to interact with the instruments for the
rest of the programme.

About Paul Dresher
Ever since he began building musical instruments as a high school student in Los Angeles,
Paul Dresher has been deeply engaged with instrument invention. Over his long career, in
close collaboration with builder-designer Daniel Schmidt and their design team, Dresher has
invented dozens of remarkable instruments, many for use in his acclaimed music-theatre
works Sound Stage (2001) and Schick Machine (2009). Dresher created his latest instruments
for Sound Maze in 2015.

(Approximately 1hr 30mins)
Re-admission is allowed
Recommended for ages 4 and above. Tickets required for admission, including infants-in-arm.

$12
$18 (Door Sales)

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Urashima Taro by Rouge28 Theatre (UK)
Esplanade Theatre Studio
31 May – 3 Jun 2018
Thu – Sun: 7.30pm
Fri & Sat: 7.30pm & 9.30pm

“…transcends both Japanese traditions and Western modernity with its truly unique duet
between actor and puppet.”
– The Japan Society, UK

Stunning visuals and mesmerising puppetry create a contemporary vision of an ancient
Japanese myth.

Step into the realms of Urashima Taro, a poor fisherman who, after saving a turtle, is invited
by the beautiful and captivating Otohime to stay in her palace deep in the ocean. Seduced by
promises of a life eternal pleasure, he abandons his duty at home, but the dream slowly turns
into an unceasing nightmare as his fate unfolds.

The award-winning Rouge28 Theatre presents this fascinating tale of lust, obsession, betrayal
and loss told through the skilful and seamless meeting of puppet and performer, with video
projection and shadow play.

Solo artist Aya Nakamura reveals a world based on duality; she is simultaneously actress and
puppeteer, manipulator and manipulated, shadow and light, visible and invisible.

About Rouge28 Theatre
Founded in 2005, Rouge28 Theatre is an award-winning company of international theatre
artists based in London, that has performed in Britain, France, Poland and Greece. The
company fuses puppetry with different performance genres to produce original and intriguing
visual theatre. Their work investigates the notions of perception and imagination through a
non-verbal dialogue between realistic live-sized puppets and humans.

(Approximately 1hr, no intermission)
Advisory: This performance contains some mature content.
Recommended for audiences aged 13 and above. Admission for ages 10 and above only.

$38

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Dans l’Atelier & Chantier Frigolite by Tof Theatre (Belgium)
Esplanade Annexe Studio
31 May – 3 Jun 2018, Thu to Sun

 “It’s sheer madness, clever, brilliant!”
– Catherine Makereel, Le Soir

A puppet slowly comes to life...by itself?

The mystery of puppet creation unfolds as mishap after mishap befalls the construction
process. Not to be undone, the puppet decides to complete the project itself, struggling with
the elements, its materials and even its own puppeteer! The award-winning Tof Theatre
presents an experience that captivates and enlightens you on traditional puppetry techniques.

Add to your experience and take a stab at making styrofoam puppets of your own at the
Chantier Frigolite (workshop). No guarantees that your puppet won't come to life and take over
the task!

About Tof Theatre
The award-winning Tof Theatre, headed by master puppeteer Alain Moreau, was established
in 1986 and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Tof Theatre puppets can measure
anywhere from five centimetres to five metres in height, sometimes designed exclusively for
adults, sometimes only for children and often for both. An adept of “miniature realism,” Tof
Theatre deconstructs the traditional techniques for manipulating puppets and lets the
audience see how the puppeteer manipulates the puppet.

Please note:
The Dans l’Atelier performance is followed immediately by an optional one-hour Chantier
Frigolite workshop. Audience members can choose to purchase a ticket to just the
performance or to both the performance and workshop.

Performance only: $12 per person (Approximately 20 mins)
Thu & Fri: 5pm & 7.30pm
Sat & Sun: 2.30pm & 5pm

Performance & Workshop: $28 per person (Limited availability, approximately 1hr 20
minutes in total)
Thu & Fri: 5pm
Sat & Sun: 2.30pm & 5pm

Admission age 7 years and above

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FREE PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

String Symphony by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre (Australia)
Esplanade Courtyard Green
25 May – 3 Jun 2018

You’re not just watching a puppet performance here—you are the puppeteer! Take hold of a
rope and bring this giant to life together with your fellow puppeteers, creating an enchanting
and entertaining spectacle completed by lights and music.

Hand-woven using more than one kilometer of rope, the giant illuminated puppet is waiting to
be brought to life. This mesmerising performance invites twelve audience members to become
puppeteers. As the participants manipulate the giant interactive puppet, onlookers marvel at
the beauty of this magnificent creation.

GRIDI by Yuvi Gernstein (Israel)
Esplanade Concourse
25 May – 3 Jun 2018

Become a music composer instantly! GRIDI is an accessible and intuitive installation that puts
the power of music composition in the hands of anyone that encounters it.

GRIDI consists of a table measuring 9.1' x 5.4' in size with a 16 X 16 array of indents embedded
with LEDs.

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Music is made by placing transparent balls at different spots on the grid. You have an option to
create drum patterns, a melody, and bass lines simultaneously — seven rows for the melody,
five for drum sounds and the remaining four for bass. Each instrument is assigned a color.

Yosuke Ikeda (Japan)
Esplanade Concourse
Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
25 – 26 May 2018

Ikeda Yosuke presents a totally new style of performance blending mime with graphic and
acoustic arts. “Hello Goodbye” is one of his well-known pieces based on The Beatles famous
song.

All his works based on juggling/pantomime/magic techniques are surprisingly precise and
sophisticated and absolutely entertaining. His non-verbal performances are popular with all
ages and countries.

Babymime (Thailand)
Esplanade Concourse
Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
1 – 2 Jun 2018

Babymime is the number one pantomime theatrical group in Thailand. The three actors have
created and produced a number of pantomime performances, then, performed at both national
and international theatrical festivals for 12 years, including Flipside 2015.

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