S'pore Repertory Theatre ditched new name after 6 months
The Singapore Theatre Company (STC) will be called the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) again, the company announced in a July 31 statement on its website.
The post reads: “For the past 30 years, we’ve been known as Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) – a name recognised and loved by many. We have decided to continue using our SRT name, given the legacy and foundation of our brand.”
In response to The Straits Times’ queries, SRT’s artistic director Gaurav Kripalani says that the company had been engaging with colleagues, peers, sponsors, patrons and its audiences on the matter. He adds: “The overwhelming response was to go back to a name everyone knows and loves.”
SRT’s rebrand as STC on Jan 31, which came on the heels of the company’s 30th anniversary, was fraught and short-lived, lasting all of six months. The Singapore theatre community swiftly objected to the new name as the company was seen as appropriating the label of “Singapore Theatre” in a diverse and multilingual scene.
On Feb 8, following outcry from its peers, STC announced on its website that it will be walking back its name change and would announce a new name before its show in August 2024. The National Arts Council, which supported the name change, said then in a statement that it accepted the community’s “valid concerns which ought to have been considered when discussing the name change with SRT”.
Members of the theatre community welcomed the latest announcement.
Ivan Heng, founding artistic director of Wild Rice and a former artistic director of SRT from 1998 to 1999, says: “This could not have been easy. I applaud Gaurav, Charlotte and SRT’s board for listening and taking the feelings of our theatre community to heart, and in so doing, demonstrate that SRT is, and wants to be, a part of Singapore Theatre.”
Multilingual theatre company The Theatre Practice’s artistic director Kuo Jian Hong adds: “There have been many voices on the ground and I’m sure there are many who appreciate that the team of SRT was open to the concerns of different voices, and have the courage to reverse their decision.”
She earlier told ST that the Singapore theatre scene is “too diverse, too multi-faceted, too colourful” for any one company to claim the name of STC.
Rama Chandran, founder and director of children’s theatre company Act 3 Theatrics, who earlier told ST that no company should have the right to call itself “Singapore Theatre Company” says that he is “very happy” about SRT’s latest decision. He applauds the company for “taking in a cross-section of opinions and comments”.
He hopes, however, that this incident would not cause the community to practise “complete self-censorship”, adding: “Every one of us, from time to time, chooses less-acceptable options and are capable of misjudgement. We are better people when we are prepared to listen to opposing views and are ready to take a different opinion.”
Over 30 years, SRT has made a name for itself staging quality blockbusters from the West End and Broadway, which has earned it a reputation for being Westernised. But it also produced homegrown blockbuster original productions such as Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress (2002) and The LKY Musical (2015), as well as the well-loved Shakespeare In The Park series at Fort Canning.
Even as SRT reverts to its old name, its sign will be sporting a brand new look. The signage on SRT’s building will be updated by mid-August.
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