Childlike tale with a timely message

IN the past decade, xenophobia has emerged as a problem afflicting Singapore as the country grows more diverse, crowded and expensive.

Singapore theatre, frequently alert to the issues of the day, has tackled the subject in various ways in plays such as W!ld Rice's Cook A Pot Of Curry (2013) and Pangdemonium's Chinglish (2015).

The latest take on the subject is Nine Years Theatre's Mandarin production of Red Demon. Written in 1997 by Noda Hideki in Japanese, it was translated into English by Australian playwright Roger Pulvers in 2003, before being translated into Mandarin recently by Nine Years Theatre's Neo Hai Bin.