Theatre Criticism module

TS3240 Theatre Criticism (August - November 2019)

When I first wrote the description of this Theatre Criticism module at the National University of Singapore (NUS), I knew I wanted to create a space for my students to play, explore, and overcome their insecurities around producing critique.

This module will support you in developing a critical practice when writing about and responding to performance. We will survey various approaches to performance criticism while taking stock of both its colonial lineage and contemporary practices in Singapore and Southeast Asia. We will pay particular attention to the shifting role of the critic and criticism in an age of opinion, as well as the different vantage points the performance critic can take in the dynamic relationship between writer, practitioner and spectator. This includes looking at feminist practices in criticism, criticism as a political act, embedded criticism and creative criticism. This is also a hands-on module where you will get to develop your voice as a critical writer and researcher in tandem with the seminar’s theoretical underpinnings, and we will attend performances together and look at how we can respond to work with both emotional and intellectual rigour. 

For many of these students, this class marked the first time they were practising performance criticism. I wondered if we could collectively orient ourselves away from criticism as a fault-finding, classist and elitist approximation of taste, and towards a practice of empathy and generosity that is also fierce and unflinching. I also wanted to advocate for more collaborative and creative approaches to criticism, with an emphasis on feminist, queer and postcolonial theory. From August to November 2019, the students of this module attended three different performances in Singapore and responded and engaged with them in a variety of ways:

• The Adventures of Abhijeet by Patch & Punnet (August 23 to 25)

• A Clockwork Orange by Teater Ekamatra (September 26 to 29)

• Tanah•Air 水•土 by Drama Box (October 16 to 20)

We also had a wonderful group of guest speakers, including the inimitable Katrina Stuart Santiago, cultural critic and fierce arts advocate from Manila, the Philippines (where cultural critique is always a political act), and Singaporean dance company P7:1SMA who gave us practical and intimate insights into embedded writing and documentation. I’ve learnt so much from my inaugural group of students: they are passionate, committed, generous and sensitive, and I’ve loved reading and engaging with their various critical practices, both in writing and in conversation. I will forever be grateful to these women for helping me to develop the cornerstones of my pedagogy over the past few months.

My students suggested creating an online platform that could house the work they’ve collaborated on and created over the course of four months. You can explore the site here: www.tcritters.art.blog.