{"id":35252,"date":"2014-01-01T17:06:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T09:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=35252"},"modified":"2021-06-01T17:09:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T09:09:46","slug":"touched-by-an-angel-hugh-sutherland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/touched-by-an-angel-hugh-sutherland\/","title":{"rendered":"Touched By An Angel: Hugh Sutherland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anyone who attended Jack & The Bean-Sprout!<\/em> last year might have met Hugh Sutherland without realising it. Playing Santa Claus for the children in our audience, Hugh added immeasurably to the festive atmosphere that filled the Drama Centre Theatre foyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our chat with Hugh, he reveals that he\u2019s \u201calmost Singaporean\u201d \u2013 he\u2019s been resident here, off and on, for twenty years come February \u2013 and talks to us about how W!LD RICE first came to his attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did W!LD RICE come onto your radar?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Before I became an Angel, I wasn\u2019t particularly active or interested in the theatre scene here in Singapore, although I had been a member of the Stage Club. When I saw that W!LD RICE was doing a production of Animal Farm<\/em>, I thought that this was a very edgy thing to be doing in Singapore. I assumed what the allegory was going to be and, of course, I was correct. That piqued my interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I discovered that Ivan Heng had studied in Scotland. Ivan will tell his friends that we actually met in Scotland many years ago, but I don\u2019t think so! [laughs] By the time Ivan got there, I had already left. When I discovered that he had studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, I thought that this was a good thing and that I would like to support these guys. So I started going to a few more W!LD RICE events and became an Angel a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What aspects of W!LD RICE\u2019s shows appeal to you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m by no means a theatre critic and no judge of what\u2019s good and what\u2019s bad. I suppose I just like what I like, and what I like is the freshness to W!LD RICE\u2019s productions. There\u2019s always a questioning and a stretching \u2013 getting people to think differently and contemplate what it is that\u2019s being presented to them. It\u2019s not just a silly piece that\u2019s being provided for entertainment; it\u2019s being provided to encourage people to consider alternate views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have a personal favourite among the W!LD RICE shows you\u2019ve seen?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing that disappoints! I\u2019ve been to see the various productions of Animal Farm. I\u2019ve seen Emily Of Emerald Hill<\/em> several times. And The Magic Fundoshi<\/em> \u2013 that was great. It\u2019s only been put on once or twice, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I missed, unfortunately, La Cage Aux Folles<\/em> in 2012, which I\u2019d have loved to have seen. By complete coincidence, I was in Glasgow and they were doing a production of the very same play at the very same time. So, as a second prize, I went to see it in Glasgow, though I\u2019m quite certain it was nothing like the production here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You helped add some Christmas cheer to last year\u2019s pantomime\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I tell all my friends about the pantomimes! It\u2019s amazing that people even know what a pantomime is \u2013 coming from the UK, going to the pantomime was an integral part of our Christmas celebrations. The magic that they\u2019ve been able to create here: the silliness, the guys dressed up as women, the talking cows\u2026 It\u2019s completely ridiculous! [laughs]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W!LD RICE goes to such tremendous effort to put these on. The scripts are well thought-out and I love the way they get some subtle political messages through, and include observations or contemplations on whatever\u2019s current in Singapore at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your views on the theatre scene in Singapore? How has it evolved since you\u2019ve been here?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Things have changed dramatically for the better. That\u2019s not to say that it was bad when I came here, but I arrived in Singapore from the vibrant, exciting, internationally-recognised city of Hong Kong \u2013 which had a flourishing arts scene. They put on things as outrageous as Aida<\/em>, for example, which was just a massive production. I quickly recognised that Singapore, in comparison, moved at a different pace \u2013 which was probably appropriate for where it was at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that what has really changed is that Singapore\u2019s grown up. It\u2019s far more outward-looking than it was fifteen or twenty years ago. I think it\u2019s become a lot more accepting of different things. I remember when I was first onstage here in 1994, in a production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/em>, there was a lot of caution about what could be said onstage; there was a sensitivity of opinion and about what was acceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also all these black boxes opening up, which is lovely. When I first got here, there was the Jubilee Hall, the old National Library and Victoria Theatre. Now there\u2019s no shortage of shows to see. The Biennale is on and the Festival Fringe is on \u2013 there\u2019s a lot happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that W!LD RICE plays a part in that \u2013 it\u2019s not directly responsible for a lot of these new things, but it\u2019s been a great influencer in opening people\u2019s minds and encouraging them to enjoy and participate in live, vibrant theatre. That\u2019s what makes me very happy to support W!LD RICE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who attended Jack & The Bean-Sprout! last year might have met Hugh Sutherland without realising it. Playing Santa Claus for the children in our audience, Hugh added immeasurably to the festive atmosphere that filled the Drama Centre Theatre foyer. In our chat with Hugh, he reveals that he\u2019s \u201calmost Singaporean\u201d \u2013 he\u2019s been resident here, off …<\/p>\n

Touched By An Angel: Hugh Sutherland<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":35253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[418],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}