(UPDATE: OTHER YEAR-END PICKS COMPILED BELOW) Surely this is a first for this RAT: One measly blog post for this month! Apologies to my three avid readers for not updating as regularly as in the past—but seeing as the Mayans were proven wrong, I’ll make up for it next year. What a year 2012 has turned out to be, ey? Anniversaries for/by The Esplanade, Kuo Pao Kun and The Necessary Stage. “Sticker Lady”. Janice Koh stepping up as a most impressive Arts NMP. Gillman Barracks. The David Copperfield moments of our Venice Biennale participation and the Singapore Arts Festival. The Transformers moment of MICA into MCCY and MCI. The shocking news of Benson Puah’s cancer diagnosis. The tragic passing of Emma Yong and others… And then there’s everything else. Thought I’d share my picks of shows for 2012. Admittedly, for some reason or other, I’ve missed out on or didn’t really follow through with a lot of stuff, many of which have earned raves from fellow followers of the visual and performing arts scene: Patricia Toh’s Homogenous and Pretty Things, Checkpoint Theatre’s Occupation, the Mandarin version of A Language Of Their Own, the KPK exhibition at NMS or the site-specific performance 11 Kuo Pao Kun Devised, The Finger Players Oliver Chong-show Roots, the inspiring Contact dance festival, those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it exhibitions at Gillman Barracks’ cool galleries side, etc. But hey, I did catch a few others.

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1. NATIONAL BROADWAY COMPANY by TheatreWorks “While all of this is happening—this trip down memory lane, this effusive celebration of local theatre’s rich heritage, this generous unpacking and sharing of stories—there’s also OKS’ excellent mindf**k running throughout the entire thing. Because NBC is also a complex exercise in viewing performance itself.” 2. THE SONG OF THE BROKENHEARTED TIGER by Ho Tzu Nyen “TSOTBT is an angry, angry piece. And it’s an anger that is directed at the audience. The fury of sound and light and smoke can be disturbing. But in the context of its own story, the extinction of an entire subspecies, surely it’s a discomfort that becomes meaningless. When the chest constricts at the end, as the sound volume briefly peaks to its breaking limit, surely this is the “truth of sensations” that Ho talks about.” 3. MY GRANDFATHER ROAD by sklo The artwork that got everybody talking in 2012. `Nuff said. 4. LEAR DREAMING by TheatreWorks “Aggressive beats, laser lights, some wailing, a bit of gruff stomping by the guy in a traditional Japanese costume (of sorts). Good ol’ Lear was having the ultimate tech-Noh moment.” 5. CANE by Loo Zihan “Yes, questions of authenticity, of simulacra, of what it means to “perform” a performance. But also, of perceptions of historical truths and facts, etc. What happened tonight has proven to be different from what many of us expected. In some ways you could say it has also proven to be bigger that that image of Cane we had in our mind.” 6. LUCID DREAMS IN THE REVERIE OF THE REAL by Lee Wen “Its fluid, open door idealism allows us not just to stand back, take stock of and belatedly applaud a visionary artist but, in fact, to immerse ourselves in the most pertinent questions regarding the very experience of art. What does it mean to experience art? What does it mean to be an artist?” (From an article that came out in TODAY) 7. THE BOOK OF THE LIVING AND DYING by The Finger Players “Funny, menacing, absurd, and dramatic (although not at full-on Poop levels), its ruminations on death and reincarnation seamlessly blended with its little touches of sci-fi/fantasy, a delicate balance that I thought Chong (Tze Chien) realised well.” 8. TURN by Susie Lingham “Here’s where Lingham’s “alchemical” comment resonates deeply—dioramas on plinths comprising layers partially peeled away to reveal texts, images of the Mayan calendar, ancient cosmological and geographical maps, old medical diagrams. Peer inside and before you know it, you’re sucked into Lingham’s delicately crafted works that funnel and spiral down with the distinct sensation that it could just go on forever.” 9. SIDEBYSIDE by Tammy L Wong, Ming Poon, Scarlet Yu, Joavien Ng, Daniel Kok “Yours truly, however, was at the Theatre Studio, catching the totally delightful SideBySide showcase of works by independent choreographers—that ended with the unforgettable moment where a certain dude, whom followers of the Singapore Biennale and the Singapore Arts Festival may recognise as Low Kee Hong, egged audiences to cuss their hearts out… Four bite-sized pieces paying tribute to a variety of things—and revealing just how inventive our local dance scene can get.” 10. NEW STRANGE FACES by Valentine Willie Fine Art “As many have pointed out, Valentine Willie Fine Art’s Singapore survey show New Strange Faces is a hit-and-miss show. But such is the urgency of its topic that, compared to the two previous annual shows, IMHO, it’s the most important of the series to date. Some might think it’s ironic that such a show is being presented in a private gallery by a Malaysian gallerist, but I don’t think so. The distance it affords (in a non-state museum, encouraged by a non-Singaporean) is precisely why we have it.” (UPDATE: As a curator joked, I should get a better diary. I can't not add this gem of a small show, which again, slipped my mind.) 11. EVERYTHING THAT HAS A POINT MAKES A CIRCLE by Sai Hua Kuan "Judging by the works, which range from photographs and sculpture to readymades and drawings, it’s a solid way of getting re-acquainted with one of the art scene’s most refreshing voices… The best thing about the show is that, for all its conceptual rigour, many of the works displayed are rendered in a delightfully deadpan manner." (From an article that came out in TODAY)

*** And, again, because, you know, lists are fun... other notables.

• The Perfection Of 10 by Sean Tobin
• Prism by Institute Of Policy Studies/DramaBox
• Spring Awakening by Pangdemonium Productions
• Goh Lay Kuan And Kuo Pao Kun by TheatreWorks
• October by The Necessary Stage
• Future Proof by Singapore Art Museum (UPDATE: For some reason, I thought it took place last year. Oh well, better late than never.)

*** Here are others from fellow arts followers (and if you know of anyone else who came up with theirs, let me know). The Flying Inkpot’s annual lists from their reviewers can be found here. If you want more of Inkpotter (and occasional TODAY reviewer) Naeem Kapadia, check out his blog here. Meanwhile, the two-in-one blog Buttons In The Bread also released theirs here (Jeremy’s) and here (Ilkosa’s). Artinfo Southeast Asia have also weighed in on theatre here and visual art here.