Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress

book by Stephen Clark and Dick Lee
music by Dick Lee
lyrics by Stephen Clark

Singapore's most successful original musical, helmed by Cultural Medallion recipient Dick Lee and Olivier-award winning lyricist Stephen Clark, returns for its fourth staging in conjunction with the 15th anniversary of the Esplanade. Kit Chan reprises her role as Empress Dowager Cixi and the cast includes Cheryl Tan, Earl Carpenter, Steffanie Leigh and Sebastian Tan.

Photo Credit: Singapore Repertory Theatre

I had a chat with theatre educator and fellow reviewer Matthew Lyon for Arts Equator about this latest production of Forbidden City. How does it stand as a story and is it worth all the hype? Fifteen years on, does this remain the gold standard of Singapore theatre and the type of production that should be carrying our flag overseas?

Check out our podcast here.

The Crystalwords score: 3.5/5