When Funan closed for a major overhaul late last year, they told us to expect big changes and that they would aspire to be a “creative hub”. They sure weren’t kidding (we had our doubts) when they said that because they have now dedicated a 18,000 sq ft space to the construction of a 380-seat theater designed, managed and owned by one of favorite theater companies, W!LD RICE.
“This marks a milestone for W!LD RICE, and we trust that it will make a significant contribution to Singapore’s theatre scene,” said Founding Artistic Director of W!LD RICE, Ivan Heng, in a heartfelt note to the public. “The new theatre will be an intimate, independent, state-of-the-art facility. Our hope is that it will be the most inclusive and accessible theatre in the country, providing a supportive platform for artists to develop and present the best of Singapore theatre.”
He further mentioned that they had always wanted to have a theatre to call their own, and with this, they can now live up to their “true potential” and realise “a more ambitious future for Singapore theatre”. We are fully in support of this endeavour for sure, and can’t wait to see it for ourselves when the mall finally reopens at the end of 2019.
Other cool features at the revamped Funan includes a 50-lane climbing facility called Climb Central that boasts a 15m wall extending from Basement 2 to Level 2 of the mall; a high-tech foodcourt; and a multi-sensorial (whatever that means) cinema by Golden Village. For now, Funan has opened a showcase suite located at the junction of High Street and Hill Street where you can check out their various offerings ahead of time.
