Edward Choy has the cheat sheet to this year’s M1 Singapore Fringe Festival

The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is back, that smorgasbord of performances and events encompassing and, in some cases, combining just about every conceivable art form: theatre, dance, visual arts, music, film and even workshops. That’s a lot of stuff over 12 hectic days. And with more than 15 experimental, thought-provoking shows on offer – many of which take place in small theatres and galleries, where audiences sit close to the action onstage – what’s really worth seeing?

Make Eclipse your first stop. The theatre performance headlining the festival, it’s a collaboration between Singapore’s The Necessary Stage and Scotland’s 7:84 Theatre Company. The show’s a one-man play about a young Singaporean bringing his father’s ashes to Pakistan, written by local Haresh Sharma and directed by Jo Ronan from Scotland. The play deals with weighty issues such as the Partition of India and Pakistan, culture, identity and territory. It’s especially worth catching if you’ve never watched a play with just one actor. Umar Ahmed plays three different characters from the same family – grandfather, father, son – in a story that will enthrall you regardless of how much or little you know about the Partition, by exploring familiar themes like family, tradition and the search for identity.

Next up we have Above Us Only Sky, written and directed by Singaporean Zizi Azah. She takes on the daunting challenge of creating a play about discrimination, with three female actors telling the stories of women in Singapore, Israel and Palestine. Azah explains: ‘I want to bring across that, while the stereotyped perceptions we have over other groups of people may seem trivial and negligible, this habit of pigeonholing may lead to a more dangerous level of bias.’ On the surface, she might appear to have bitten off more than she can chew with this production, taking on such a big issue with a small show, but it looks like her earnestness and sincerity will make this a key production for one of Singapore theatre’s most promising creative talents.

While we’re on the topic of discrimination, The Workers from Samsui is a series of photographs by Sim Chi Yin that examines Singaporeans’ attitudes toward foreign workers today. Best known by their red headdresses, Samsui women are spinsters who came to Singapore from China to work in construction and other physically demanding jobs. Most of those still alive today are in their eighties and nineties, and the pictures offer a peek into how they live now. Sim makes several statements through the series. The Samsui women are celebrated in the national media, and treated like celebrities at the public events they’re invited to. But on a more personal level, they lead quiet, often desperately lonely lives.

Looking at the larger picture, there is also the issue of our perception of foreign workers today. ‘I don’t think the regular Singaporean puts the Samsui woman and the present-day migrant worker in the same category in their minds. Yet there are many parallels,’ Sim says. ‘So why the disparity in thinking about them? We can only hope that the posters do something for people, to reach into their own hearts and minds.’ Best of all, you don’t have to pay or even go very far to see the photographs of these tough ladies – a selection of their pictures will be placed at bus stops across Singapore.

The festival also comes with representation for the physically handicapped, in the form of Japanese group Taihen, a performance-art group made up exclusively of physically handicapped people. Taihen’s artistic director and founder Manri Kim will be performing two pieces, Howl Under the Moon and My Mother. Severely disabled since contracting polio at the age of three, Kim’s expressions of physicality and movement are entirely unlike anything one expects from a dance performance – which also means that you will be taking a chance by attending her shows, because it won’t be like anything you’ve seen before. But that’s precisely why you should watch this, because it will challenge and probably transform your impressions of handicapped people, of the human body and of what dance is.

Last but certainly not least, there is the notorious Complaints Choir Project. The idea is simple: invite anyone in the city who fancies a good old moan to join the choir, regardless of singing ability. Collate the complaints. Set it to music. And voilà – beautifully melodic whining, unique to the city in which the choir was created, cities as diverse as Jerusalem, Chicago and Hamburg. Soon, Singapore will join this distinguished league of complaining, singing city-folk. As of press time, 45 Singaporeans have already signed up to gripe and bitch about a raft of issues. The group is an eclectic bunch: students, nurses, teachers, engineers, housewives and even retirees.

Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, one of the founders of the project, wanted to harness the power of complaints for a good cause. ‘The project challenges people to deal with their complaining,’ he says. ‘Complaints carry lots of passion and have the inbuilt potential to transform.’ Considering how much Singaporeans enjoy bitching, that’s a lot of untapped energy. And don’t worry, you won’t have to complain about the cost of listening to your fellow islanders – the Complaints Choir show is also free.

The M1 Singapore Fring Festival lets you get up close and personal with performance theatre. In fact, this is where the heart of theatre lives, without show-stopping numbers, huge sets or elaborate costumes – just the performers an arm’s length away from you, telling you a story. About themselves, about the world and, if you listen closely enough, about you.

The M1 Fringe Festival runs from 16-27 Jan.