LGBT cabaret, anthem composer’s life heading to Singapore stage in 4 Wild Rice shows

At left, poet Pooja Nansi in a promotional image for her show ‘You Are Here.’ Actress Pam Oei, star of ‘Faghag,’ at right. Photos: Wild Rice

By Coconuts Singapore

Mar 15, 2021 | 1:27pm Singapore time

One of Singapore’s most popular theatre companies will bring LGBT culture and the author of Singapore’s national anthem to the stage in an exciting slate upcoming shows.

Wild Rice’s four newly announced performances kick off next month at the Ngee Ann Kong Si Theatre with Agathi / Refugee, a dance performance about the refugee experience, followed by You Are Here, a poetry performance on immigrant identity by literary artist Pooja Nansi.

Actress Pam Oei, a longtime LGBT ally, will tell jokes and stories while taking on hot-button issues such as the gay sex ban in her Faghag cabaret act, which is 18 and up.

Clocking in at 80 minutes, Agathi / Refugee is an ode to the lives of refugees fleeing for greener pastures. Its three-night engagement kicks off April 2 and is a collaboration with the Apsaras Arts Dance Co. The 75-minute show You Are Here begins April 22 and runs several nights weekly through May 2. It features Nansi, who moved to Singapore as a toddler, examining the ways migrants forge new identities in foreign lands and adapt to a new sense of belonging and concept of home.

Faghag will open to audiences on June 3 and run through June 27. The 90-minute show touches on the ongoing fight to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalizes sex between consenting men in Singapore.

Come July, the 20-year-old, government-supported company will celebrate Singapore’s independence with an 18-day run of Don’t Call Him Mr. Mari Kita, a concert covering the legacy of national anthem composer Zubir Said. The anthem, Majulah Singapura (Onward Singapore), is often simply referred to as Mari Kita for its first two words.

Ticket sales for all shows open today starting at S$25.