Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

professional

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

company founded in 1993. It is located at the KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT at 20 Merbau Road, Singapore. The current artistic director is

Gaurav Kripalani {{Unreferenced, date=March 2019 Gaurav is an Indian and Nepalese male name. The name literally means honor', 'pride' or 'respect'. Notable people named Gaurav

*Gaurav S Bajaj (born 1990), Indian television actor *Gaurav Bhatt, Indian Music Dir ...

while its

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

is Charlotte Nors. The SRT group has five divisions: *Main Stage *The Little Company (TLC) *The Young Company (TYC) *Stage Two *Inclusive Young Company (iYC) SRT also conducts regular Education and Development programmes, as part of its Learning and Engagement (L&E) Department as well as fundraising activities.

Main Stage

SRT caters to different

audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

segments, ensuring that a variety of performances are available with each season showcasing eight to ten

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

s and

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. '' Forbidden City: Portrait of An Empress'' is one of the musicals staged by SRT in 2002 at the

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

as part of its opening festival. It was restaged in 2003, 2006 and is slated for another restaging in 2017. Other original musicals by SRT include ''A Twist of Fate'' (1998). SRT was the first to stage

Broadway musicals Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

in Singapore, such as ''

RENT Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'' (2001) and ''

Avenue Q ''Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody of PBS' ...

'' (2008). Past productions also include ''

The Pillowman ''The Pillowman'' is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read i ...

'' (2007, 2008), ''

God of Carnage ''God of Carnage'' (originally in French ''Le Dieu du carnage'') is a play by Yasmina Reza that was first published in 2008. It is about two sets of parents; the son of one couple has hurt the son of the other couple at a public park. The paren ...

'' (2012) and ''

Venus in Fur Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an Inferior and superior planets, interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury (pl ...

'' (2013). SRT produced ''The LKY Musical'' (2015) for Metropolitan Productions.

Shakespeare in the Park

SRT has been presenting Shakespeare in the Park as part of its theatre tradition for close to two decades at

Fort Canning Park Fort Canning Hill, formerly Government Hill, Singapore Hill and Bukit Larangan (''Forbidden Hill'' in Malay language, Malay), is a small hill, about high, in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area ...

. The first staging was in 1997 with ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. Shakespeare in the Park subsequently became a biennial event from 2007 with ''

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'', and has been an annual affair since 2011. In 2016, ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' was the ninth Shakespeare in the Park production, which attracted close to 30,000 attendees.

International productions

2007: In collaboration with Esplanade – Theatre on the Bay, SRT brought the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

to Singapore for a production of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

’s ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'', starring Sir

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

. 2009: SRT co-commissioned The Bridge Project, a three-year trans-Atlantic project by Oscar-winning

Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honour ...

. The project premiered with ''

The Winter’s Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'' (2009), starring

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...

, Simon Russell Beale and Rebecca Hall. This was followed by '' The Tempest'' (2010), and ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

'' (2011) starring

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...

. 2013: Together with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, SRT presented 3 Titans of Theatre: ''Shun-kin'', ''Musashi'' and ''The Suit'', directed by three legendary directors,

Simon McBurney Simon Montagu McBurney (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, playwright, and theatrical director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films ''The Manchurian Candidate'', ...

Yukio Ninagawa was a Japanese theatre director, actor and film director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He directed eight distinct renditions of ''Hamlet.'' Ninagawa was also emeritus of the ...

and

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

respectively. 2014: Written and directed by

Yaël Farber Yaël Farber is a South African director and playwright. Early life Farber was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1971. Books ''Molora'' was published by Oberon Books in 2008 . Genre drama. Farber wrote the book as an Ancient Greek type ...

, Mies Julie is an adaptation of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

's ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' ( sv, Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of ...

'', presented by SRT and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Baxter Theatre Centre The Baxter Theatre Centre is a performing arts complex in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. The Baxter, as it is often known, is part of the University of Cape Town; it is also the second largest performing arts complex in Cape ...

at the KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT. 2015: SRT co-commissioned Peter Brook’s new play – ''Battlefield'', based on the end of the Indian epic, ''

The Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

''. ''Battlefield'' premiered at the

Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord The Bouffes du Nord is a theatre at 37 bis, boulevard de la Chapelle, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris located near the Gare du Nord. It has been listed since 1993 as a ''monument historique'' by the French Ministry of Culture. History Founde ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, followed by an international tour that premiered in Singapore.

The Little Company

The Little Company was founded in 2001 as a division of SRT. Three to four shows are staged annually for children aged three and above, with one being a Mandarin production. The shows reach up to 70,000 children and adults annually. Productions are written, designed and performed by professionals in the industry. Among several commissioned works by renowned international artistes, a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of musicals for children (''

The Three Little Pigs "The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house t ...

'', ''

The Three Billy Goats Gruff "Three Billy Goats Gruff" ( no, De tre bukkene Bruse) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', first published between 1841 and 1844. It has an Aarne-Thompson type of 122 ...

'' and ''

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

'') was written and composed by

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

-winning duo George Stiles and

Anthony Drewe Anthony Drewe is a British lyricist and book writer for Broadway and West End musicals. He is best known for his collaborations with George Stiles. Education He was educated at Maidstone Grammar School between 1974–1980. He read Zoology at ...

. The Three Little Pigs has toured internationally. The show embarked on a UK Tour in 2015, before its West End premiere at London’s

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

. It has played at The

Greenwich Theatre Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London. Theatre first came to Greenwich at the beginning of the 19th century during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair at which the Ric ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, The Emerald City Theatre in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, The

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, as well as

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and several major cities in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. SRT has also worked with London-based duo

Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary are a London-based musical theatre writing partnership. They met at Bristol University, where they were studying Drama and Music respectively. Musicals Their first musical '' Jet Set Go!'' ran at the 2008 Edinburg ...

to present ''

Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Broth ...

'' (2013) and ''Treasure Island'' (2015). Other past productions include: ''

The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" ( da, Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. Fir ...

'' (2005, 2007, 2011), Dr. Seuss’ ''

The Cat in the Hat ''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by the American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow ...

'' (2012, 2015) and ''Junior Claus'' (2014)

The Young Company

The Young Company is a two-year

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

and

performing A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

platform for 16 to 25 year-olds. Twenty young people are selected from open

auditions An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

to form the core of the company and receive practical training in all aspects of theatre. The Young Company also launched a

playwriting A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

programme for

youths Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as b ...

in 2012. Past productions include: ''

The Trojan Women ''The Trojan Women'' ( grc, Τρῳάδες, translit=Trōiades), also translated as ''The Women of Troy'', and also known by its transliterated Greek title ''Troades'', is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC during ...

'' (2013), ''

The Laramie Project ''The Laramie Project'' is a 2000 play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project (specifically, Leigh Fondakowski, writer-director; Stephen Belber, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Stephen Wangh, Amanda Gronich, Sara Lambert, ...

'' (2014) and ''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a b ...

'' (2015).

Stage Two

Stage Two is a theatre division that develops and stages original Singaporean work. It incorporates the Playwright Incubator Programme. Past productions include ''

Fried Rice Paradise Fried may refer to: Music * ''Fried'' (album), a 1984 album by Julian Cope *Fried (band), a band made up of U.S. soul singer Jonte Short and ex-The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals guitarist David Steele *"Fried", a song by E-40 from his 2011 album, ...

''.

KC Arts Centre - Home of SRT

The KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT is located along the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

Robertson Quay Robertson Quay is a wharf near the source of the Singapore River. It is the largest and most upstream of the three wharfs (the other two being Boat Quay and Clarke Quay) on the river and is named after a municipal counsellor Dr J Murray Robertson. ...

along 20 Merbau Road. The 380-seat theatre is a hub for the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

. This remains the only fully furnished

venue Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

run by a theatre company in Singapore. The KC Arts Centre is named after the Kewalram Chanrai Group in recognition of their donation to SRT.

Education and development

Education programme

Student Education Fund

The SRT Student Education Fund (SRTSEF) was set up in 2012 to reach young minds who may not otherwise have the opportunity to come to the theatre. The fund fully subsidises student

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

s to any production by the SRT Group, as well as covers transport costs for them, where needed, to and from the performance venue.

Beneficiaries A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the person ...

include an Alma Mater chosen by the donor,

underprivileged Social privilege is a theory of special advantage or entitlement, which benefits one person, often to the detriment of others. Privileged groups can be advantaged based on education, social class, caste, age, height, weight, nationality, geogra ...

children from local schools,

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

organisations or student care centres, and Arts Schools.

Residency programme

The National Arts Council and SRT has a shared focus on developing the young arts industry. Conceptualised in 2013, the SRT Residency Programme has four Singaporean individuals who are offered an 18-month position in a learning environment. They are mentored by SRT and its creative team, focusing on industry's areas of expertise such as direction, stage design, producing and musical composing/arranging. The programme provides a monthly

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

to assist the Resident for the duration of the skill development programme.

Fundraising

SRT is a

granted Institutions of A Public Character (IPC) status, and issues

tax deductible Tax deduction is a reduction of income that is able to be taxed and is commonly a result of expenses, particularly those incurred to produce additional income. Tax deductions are a form of tax incentives, along with exemptions and tax credits. T ...

receipts for

donations A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provid ...

made. Friends of SRT is a

donor A donor in general is a person, organization or government which donates something voluntarily. The term is usually used to represent a form of pure altruism, but is sometimes used when the payment for a service is recognized by all parties as rep ...

programme that offers benefits for donors that include complimentary tickets and backstage tours.

The Theatre Ball

The Theatre Ball is a fundraising event for SRT to continue to offer meaningful, high calibre theatre to a diverse audience and focus on grooming and nurturing the next generation of

actors An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

and

designers A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

. In 2016, proceeds from the Theatre Ball went to a variety of initiatives including the SRT Student Education Fund.

References

{{authority control Entertainment in Singapore Performing arts in Singapore Theatre companies in Singapore Theatre in Singapore