Huayi Brewery

About Huayi Brewery

The Huayi Brewery is an incubation programme by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay that supports independent artists based in Singapore, creating works in the Chinese‑language medium or exploring themes of Chinese identity and culture.

Designed as a process‑driven, open‑ended artistic laboratory, the programme offers a fertile environment for artists to deepen their practice through exploration, play, and collaborative development.

Over a 12‑week incubation period across two years, each selected artist works closely with their team to devise, experiment and shape their work. Their journey culminates in a work‑in‑progress showcase at Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts, shared with invited arts practitioners and industry peers to garner meaningful feedback and dialogue.

The inaugural edition, launched in 2023, led to the commissioning of Alvin Chiam’s Last Luncheon, which was presented at Huayi 2025.

For this second iteration, we’re thrilled to welcome theatre practitioner Ric Liu and choreographer‑dancer Li Ruimin into the Huayi Brewery family.

Why Do Birds Fly?

By Li Ruimin

Why do birds fly? When the end is in sight, where does the motivation to act come from? Birds will fall, humans will perish, and nothing withstands the test of time.

So, why do birds bother to fly?

Perhaps when the first bird looked up at the sky, it thought it was safer up there. Perhaps it’s simply because birds have wings, and they must do something with them. Maybe birds want to make their descent in this world somewhat unique, or perhaps they want to prove to their peers that we can try to reach higher “skies”, even if the first bird falls, the heights it reached can become the meaning for others to fly.

Indeed, some say, since you are bound to reach the physical end of the human species eventually, why not settle down early for that conventional ending?

But if a “story’s” beginning and end are already set, does the process also have to unfold step by step? It must be different, for better or worse, otherwise, this “story” would just be too boring....

Ten

By Ric Liu

Twenty years ago, a band of chivalrous heroes known as the Ten Eccentrics clashed with the reigning villains of the time—the Ten Kings of Hell—in a battle that raged for ten days and ten nights. In the end, the Ten Kings were defeated and eradicated. From that day on, however, the Ten Eccentrics vanished from the martial world.

The adopted daughter of the Ten Kings of Hell, determined to avenge her foster fathers, has spent years tracking down the whereabouts of the Ten Eccentrics. During one such pursuit, she accidentally consumed a poisonous fruit in the mountains and nearly died. Luckily, she was saved by nine misfits.

These nine misfits are all outcasts, rejected by society and forced to hide deep in the mountains. They are in fact, being hunted by a formidable figure who goes by the name, the Great Sage of Bullying.

To repay the debt of saving her life, the adopted daughter decides to stay with the nine misfits to join them in resisting this Great Sage.

Why is the Great Sage of Bullying relentlessly pursuing the nine misfits? And will the adopted daughter ever find the Ten Eccentrics and exact revenge for her foster fathers?

Ten is a comedy inspired by the well-known folktale, The Ten Brothers. This showcase features a partial script read along with some dramatised scenes.

Interested audience members are welcome to write in to huayi@esplanade.com to register their interest to attend the showcase. Audience members are expected to give feedback during the Q&A session after the showcases.