Forum: If your company name includes the word Singapore, further consideration is required

It is unfortunate that the National Arts Council (NAC) supported the renaming of the Singapore Repertory Theater (SRT) to the Singapore Theater Company (‘No company can become the Singapore Theater Company’: SRT’s The name change invited criticism from the theater community, February 1).

In past cases where arts companies have rebranded over the years, such moves have tended to clarify practices within the art form, so this has not been unfortunate.

For example, the Singapore Lyric Theater became the Singapore Lyric Opera in 1999, underscoring its focus on promoting Western opera. The broader name Singapore Dance Theater was renamed Singapore Ballet in 2021 to establish itself as a professional ballet company so people wouldn’t expect hip-hop, ballroom dancing, swing, etc.

The angst surrounding SRT’s rebrand lies in its specialized genre, now a name that stands for an entire art form.

And if the arts are a means of fostering national identity and pride, then when a company bears the word Singapore in its name, as with national flagship companies such as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra or the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, requires sufficient consideration.

NAC should not simply check eligibility criteria with little understanding of the nuances and significance of a name like Singapore Theater Company.

I don’t think there is a single theater company that can legitimately claim that name as a patron of the arts. And this is very true of Singapore Theater Company. Since his founding in 1993, the Singapore Theater Company has hardly reflected the multicultural structure and social discourse of Singaporean society in its repertoire, and has not been prolific in producing original local plays.

For audiences unfamiliar with local theater productions, Singapore’s canon is richer than Shakespeare in the Park and occasional local productions like Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress and the LKY musical.

We hope that NAC and Singapore Theater Company will reconsider their decision.

Angela Lau Jia Hui