Live performances are making their way back to us, slowly but surely.

Today (30/9), the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) confirmed that live performance pilot trials are underway and announced a new event, Poetry Under the Southern Bough.

Taking place on 10 October at 3pm and 8pm, the 45-minute hybrid event will comprise of both live performance and virtual streaming elements. For the live show, the festival will be held at the Drama Centre Theatre. At the same time, audiences can also tune in to the show online as tickets for the digital stream will be available for sale, making it accessible to both virtual and live audiences. 

Presented by Arts House Limited (AHL) and produced by Toy Factory Productions, the event will incorporate various aspects of dance, opera, music, and theatre. The contemporary show will be performed in Mandarin with English subtitles, and will celebrate the beautiful poetry of Tang Xianzu, bringing audiences on a journey through the dreamscapes of 20 selected poems from A Dream Under the Southern Bough.

Attendees can also look forward to an excellent show put up by the stellar cast featuring Peking opera actress Zhang Manxi, dancer Ryan Ang, percussionist Eugene Toh, cellist Huang Ting-Yu, and the production will be helmed by creative director Goh Boon Teck. 

For those still feeling uncertain, there's a cap limit of 50 people per show and measures will be implemented extensively to ensure the safety of patrons. These include enhanced cleaning of the theatre, compulsory checking in of SafeEntry and temperature screening, observing a three-metre distance between performers and audience, one-metre spacing between audience members, and no intermission. 

SIFA will also trial the new intelligent “bubble-wrap” seating technology in SISTIC’s booking system during this pilot. Patrons may purchase seats for groups up to five and the system will ensure that neighbouring seats to the left, right, front and back are kept vacant to ensure safe distancing measures are adhered to. 

Following the news of Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and National Arts Council (NAC) looking into trial runs of small-scale live performances, this marks one of the first few events to be introduced. 

Tickets for the live performance of Poetry Under the Southern Bough are available at S$20, while live stream tickets are priced at S$10. For more information, get your tickets here.