Now Playing
Fatimah and Her Magic Socks
44:28
Now Playing
The Feelings Farm
1:23:53
Time taken : >15mins
Premieres 10 Jul, 12pm
Available online until 31 Dec, 11.59pm
Young audiences deserve good theatre as much as adults. Indeed, because of the considerations involved in communicating with children of different age groups and backgrounds, Theatre for Young Audiences is an art form in itself. Grab your young ‘uns and enjoy these two recordings from Esplanade’s Archives. One is an immersive work originating from the arts centre’s PLAYtime! series for three- to six-year-olds. The other is a musical theatre work for primary and lower secondary students to help them express themselves and connect with positive and negative emotions.
Texts by Woo Yu Ning
An Esplanade Production
Created by Daniel Jenkins and adapted by Terrance Tan (Singapore)
Join Fatimah — a cheerful and imaginative six-year-old, on her journey to embrace her quirks and differences in a world which expects her to conform. Fatimah loves wearing different coloured socks, making up rules to the games she plays with her grandfather, Atuk, and her best friend, Sally.
One day Fatimah, being too engrossed in playing, loses her way home. She meets the affable Magic Socks, and the humorous Tall Red and Tall Black, who help each other realise that being unique and true to oneself is all that matters. Temporarily losing her way is only symbolic of Fatimah learning to walk her own path, leading to a heartwarming reunion back home.
Fatimah and Her Magic Socks was staged in 2017, 2020 and 2024. It is a part of Esplanade’s PLAYtime! series, which aims to create an immersive environment for young children to respond to an interactive work of theatre. They are seated on the floor while the performers move and act around them, and have the flexibility to move around too and respond in their own way.
Adapted from the children’s book Fatimah and her Magic Socks, written by Zizi Azah Abdul Majid.
Experience a live PLAYtime! production for yourself and your kids – find out more here.
Created by: Daniel Jenkins
Adaptation Director: Terrance Tan Junyan
Script Consultant: Daniel Jenkins
Performers: Andrea Joy Alingalan, Sharon Sum, Fadhil Daud, Liew Ai Wen
Understudies: Melissa May Arcangeles Garcia, Rino John Junior
Music: Stan x Soap
Lighting Designer: Gabriel Chan
Set Designer: Petrina Dawn Tan
Costume Designer: Tan Jia Hui
Movement Coach: Tan Rui Shan
Production Manager: Carolene Ruth Liew (The Backstage Affair)
Stage Manager: Jiong Ling (The Backstage Affair)
Assistant Stage Manager (Rehearsals): Wann Nurul Asyiqin (The Backstage Affair)
Assistant Stage Manager (Show): Kareen Low (The Backstage Affair)
Accessibility Consultant: Grace Lee-Khoo
Series Dramaturg: Sindhura Kalidas
An Esplanade Commission
Directed by Edith Podesta, written by Amanda Chong & music by Julian Wong (Singapore)
While on a school field trip, three classmates, Mira, Kai and Shan stumble upon the Feelings Farm: a magical and mysterious place where both positive and negative emotions lie in wait for them. They meet Cloud, the measured, compassionate Keeper of the Farm, who gently guides the children to uncover deeper layers in their unchartered emotions, resolving tensions which inevitably arise out of relationships.
Combining multimodal mediums of music, dance, poetry, and visual media on the theatrical stage, The Feelings Farm becomes an entry point for young audiences to shape their relationships with the arts and self-expression. This recording is from the 2024 iteration of the work in the Feed Your Imagination (F.Y.I) series for schools. The production was commissioned and first staged in 2021 as part of the inaugural edition of March On, Esplanade’s annual festival for young audiences.
Whilst teaching young minds to identify and name feelings which may first appear overwhelming to them, The Feelings Farm does not stop at neat categorisations. The work is both an arrival site and departure point for children who are starting to reconcile with a mélange of feelings and emotions. Every emotion explored and yet to be explored goes back to fulfilling our human desire for companionship, connection and acceptance by others.
Book & Lyrics: Amanda Chong
Music: Julian Wong
Director: Edith Podesta
Cloud: Elisha Beston
Shan: Udaya Soundari
Mira: Shafiqhah Efandi
Kai: Marcus Cheong
Puppeteers: Syaiful Hairi, Bib Mockram
Ensemble: Benjamin Lye, Fiona Chua
Musical Director: Joel Nah
Rehearsal Accompanist: Jonathan Shin
Puppetry Designer/Consultant & Props Designer and Maker: Myra Loke
Set Designer: Akbar Syadiq
Costume Designer: Max Tan
Lighting Designer: James Tan
Set Assistant: Aida Sa’ad
Sound Operator: Jed Halisay
Producer: Shridar Mani (The Public Space)
Production Manager: Cindy Yeong
Technical Manager: Huang Xiang Bin
Stage Manager: Jeannette Irabu
Assistant Stage Manager: Nurul Asyiqin
Recording Musicians
Percussion: Rizal Sanip
Cello: Ryan Sim
Bass: Brandon Wong
Harp: Christabelle Sheum
Violin: Christina Zhou
Video Production
Dancing Legs Productions
Connect with luminaries and compelling stories from Singapore and the region’s performing arts history through Esplanade's first extensive release from its rich archives and those of longstanding artistic collaborators. Experience over 30 full recordings, films and excerpts of performances, across nine thematic collections. Available on Esplanade Offstage from 10 Jul 2025 to 31 Mar 2026. Find out more.
If you’ve enjoyed Replay – Screenings from the Esplanade Archives, help us do more. With as little as one dollar, you can support Esplanade’s mission to make the arts accessible to everyone through original content and gems from our archives, freely available online. As a charity and not-for-profit organisation, every contribution helps keep the arts alive and within reach for all.
Support usContributed by:
Woo Yu Ning is an English Literature major at Nanyang Technological University. When she’s not tackling her never-ending reading list, she can be found biking through Singapore.
