Events

Absolutely blown away by the brilliant [musical]. This is going to be a HUGE hit!

— Audience member Sally on the London research and development showcase in August 2025

Charlie is on a mission to write a musical. She's sick of the lack of happy lesbian love stories and has decided she’s going to change this. Her musical will be the happiest, shiniest, most magical love story the world has ever seen. And the queerest! If only her real life would stop interfering with her masterpiece.

Created by Rosie McGowan and Kluane Saunders from the multicultural, queer, female-led theatre company Woody Avenue, with original music composed by Henry Allen, get ready for a fierce, fun, and unapologetically queer musical! Starring Coco Wang Ling, Melissa May Garcia, Mitchell Fang, and Natalie Yeap, A Lesbian Love Story: The Musical takes a heartfelt look at what a love story really is.

There will be a dialogue with the artists after the 8pm performance on 16 January 2026, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com by 5 December 2025.

Artist Statement

Desperately want to see more lesbian characters onstage? We did too! Are you tired of your favourite lesbian characters being sidelined, dying of cancer, or having their heart broken? Same! Look no further because we have created just the show for you!

We ditched the usual lesbian tropes and wrote a show that centres queer love and gives us all the love story we deserve! A Lesbian Love Story: The Musical is a fun, funny queer musical that celebrates love and explores what love stories are through a queer lens—can we have a love story with ourselves and others? Inspired by real life events (but with more singing and dancing), we bring you A Lesbian Love Story: The Musical.

Hearing you made me feel seen and less alone

— Audience response to an early iteration of Celup in March 2025

Celup is a Malay girl’s musings on not feeling Malay enough.

In this interactive one-woman show, Sofie Buligis embarks on a quest towards becoming a little more Malay. With humour and heart, she reflects on her kekok accent, the cultural baggage that comes with her ethnicity and the internalised racism so many in the Malay community face.

At its core, Celup is Sofie’s love letter to anyone who has ever struggled with the awkward twist of their tongue around a language that was meant to be their mother tongue.

Supported by BinjaiTree

There will be a dialogue with the artists after the 8pm performance on 23 January 2026, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com by 5 December 2025.

Artist Statement

My work explores the complexities of being a young Malay woman navigating cultural identity in Singapore. Growing up in a mixed-race family, I grapple with the cultural baggage tied to being labelled “Malay” on my identity card—a label that can obscure the rich mix of Javanese, Boyanese, and Pakistani heritage within. In a society where racial categories are often simplified, my work highlights the nuances and internal contradictions many Malays face. I move beyond the usual rhetoric of cultural pride to confront the shame and internalised racism that can shape our self-perception. My work seeks to heal inherited insecurities and open space for more honest conversations about identity and belonging. It is both a reckoning with my past and a love letter to my community—messy, multifaceted, and worthy of deeper understanding.

When Malini, a young disabled woman, starts her new job as a hotel cleaner, she is determined to do her best. Tensions rise when guest Anita loses her prized possession. Supervisor Safiah and hotel manager Jane attempt to diffuse the situation. However, the characters’ hidden struggles begin to surface, unveiling deeper questions about what disability means.

Written by award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma and co-directed by Sharma and Grace Kalaiselvi, Invisible is a compelling exploration of disability, empathy, and the unseen and unspoken personal battles many of us face.

There will be a dialogue with the artists after the 8pm performance on 22 and 24 January 2026, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com by 5 December 2025.

Artist Statement

In Invisible, playwright Haresh Sharma explores the complexities of disability through the story of Malini, a young disabled woman starting her new job as a hotel cleaner. The narrative unfolds when tensions rise between Malini and guest Anita over a lost possession, revealing the hidden struggles of each character. Co-directed by Sharma and Grace Kalaiselvi, the play examines themes of empathy and the often-unseen battles individuals face in society. It challenges assumptions about disability and encourages audiences to engage with the realities of those who are marginalized. By highlighting these personal stories, Invisible fosters a culture of inclusivity and understanding, reminding viewers of their shared humanity. Through this compelling work, the creators aim to inspire dialogue and advocacy for the rights and recognition of disabled individuals within the community and the world at large.

We often speak about and are surrounded by discourse about why representation is crucial in media, arts and culture, and everyday life. But what does representation actually mean? Is it simply about recognition and visibility of underrepresented communities? Who gets to represent them—just those with these authentic lived experiences or can allies speak for them too? And how can we distinguish true allyship from performativity and appropriation?

Join us for a thought-provoking panel discussion featuring Fringe theatre-makers Rosie McGowan (A Lesbian Love Story: The Musical), Sindhura Kalidas (Invisible), Sofie Buligis (Celup), and Wang Ping-Hsiang (Retina Manoeuvre) in this important conversation facilitated by Kathy Rowland, Co-founder of ArtsEquator. They will share their collective insights from their experiences not only with respect to their artistic creations at the Fringe, but also from their lives as part of diverse minorities.

Speech to text interpretation is available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com by 5 December 2025.

WIn a span of less than five years, the Singapore arts and cultural scene has seen the demise of several independent arts spaces. From The Necessary Stage’s black box theatre in 2022 to The Projector in 2025, and to The Substation and Centre 42 having to relinquish their venues back to the authorities, these losses have been deeply mourned by the local arts community and audiences. In 2024, the Singapore Fringe Festival lost their title donor. But the support from the public and artists rallying around the festival’s crowdfunding initiative made it possible for the 2026’s ground-up Fringe to take place.

There is cause for alarm in the diminishing spaces for the incubation and presentation for bold, inventive, and socially pertinent art-making. We are suddenly left bereft of spaces for crucial discourse, collaboration, and civic engagement amongst diverse communities. It compels the question: does this spell the end of fringe arts? Are independent creators who push the envelope and challenge the mainstream being edged out because of market forces, or worse, a dismaying decline of interest? What can we collectively do to ensure that fringe arts will not only survive but thrive in our landscape?

Join us for a candid and insightful panel discussion with Anais Adjani, Kok Heng Leun, Melissa Lim, and Noorlinah Mohamed, facilitated by theatre educator and dramaturg Charlene Rajendran.

Speech to text interpretation is available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com by 5 December 2025.