Parable looks at anti-foreigner sentiments

ANYONE looking for solid productions of classic plays might by now be familiar with Nine Years Theatre, a Mandarin theatre company that has staged to much acclaim Edward Albee's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Yasmina Reza's Art and Reginal Rose's 12 Angry Men, among others.

Its new production, Red Demon, is written by Japanese playwright Noda Hideki and marks a departure from the company's usual staging of Western classics translated into Mandarin. The original 1997 script is in Japanese which was translated into English by Australian playwright Roger Pulvers in 2003, before being translated into Mandarin by Nine Years Theatre's Neo Haibin.

The somewhat winding route towards its Singapore debut feels worthwhile for director Nelson Chia, who says that the play tackles a very timely issue facing Singapore - namely, xenophobia.