Singapore International Festival of Arts features local and international productions that entertain as well as provoke Crowds watch "Noli Timere," an aerial performance, at Singapore International Festival of Arts 2026 in Singapore, May 15. (Arts House Group) SINGAPORE — Art and fun ruled at this year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts, which ended its 16-day run at the Festival Village and various venues across the city on Saturday.Titled “Legacy” with a tagline “Let’s Play,” this year’s edition of the annual festival organized by Arts House Group saw productions from home and abroad entertaining audiences with everything from comedy and lightworks to dance and drama.Commissioned by SIFA, “Makan Culture,” by playwright Jo Tan and director Krish Natarajan, is as comedic as it is provocative. The interactive play was staged at a make-shift hut at the Festival Village on Empress Lawn. Audience members sat around tables typically found in Singapore’s world-famous hawker centers. Each person attending was given a boxed meal of favorite local dishes and a headset to wear during the performance — it blocked out the sound from the rest of the Festival Village, completely immersing the audience in the play. The audience was also encouraged to sit with strangers. Interactive play "Makan Culture" takes place at Festival Village during SIFA 2026 in Singapore. (Arts House Group) “Makan Culture” uses Singaporeans' love for food — a culture closely tied to the identity of the relatively young country that gained independence from Malaysia in 1965 — to address complex issues such as national identity, arts funding, and cultural inferiority complex through humor and audience participation.Food was also on the mind of Yang Derong, who celebrates Singapore’s food culture with “You Are (Not) What You Eat” on display at the Victoria Hall Atrium. While showcasing the many culinary delights of various cultures, the immersive art installation encourages viewers to reflect on the prolific use of single-use plastic containers that have become part of eating culture.Set against the iconic nighttime view of the Marina Bay Sands Singapore across the Singapore River, director/choreographer Rebecca Lazier and sculptor Janet Echelman’s “Noli Timere” is a show fusing contemporary dance and avant-garde circus. In it, eight performers dance and move through large net sculptures as a captivated audience watches in awe.Families were a big part of the festival, too, coming out to the Festival Village for fun, entertainment and food. "The Lighthouse" by Australia's Patch Theatre is performed during SIFA 2006 in Singapore. (Arts House Group) Catering to the young and the young at heart was “The Lighthouse” by Australia’s Patch Theatre at The Arts House at the Old Parliament building. The immersive performance — part installation, part scientific question and part rave — encouraged viewers to explore all the wonders of light across different rooms. The children’s squeals of delight and gazes full of wonder were part of the joyous experience.The festival had its serious moments as well.“Salesman,” a multilingual drama by Jeremy Tiang & Danny Yeo of Singapore, revolves around playwright Arthur Miller’s visit to China in 1983 to direct his “Death of a Salesman” with an all-Chinese cast in Beijing. The two sides discover that cultural understanding is crucial as they seek to collaborate. To an audience unaccustomed to reading subtitles on screens above the stage, paying full attention to the action may be a bit of a challenge. Still, the warmth of characters trying to understand each other through differences carries through. Korean actor Jung Dong-hwan (right) and Singaporean actor Yong Ser Pin perform in "Last Rites" by Liu Xiaoyi at SOTA Studio Theater during SIFA 2026 in Singapore. (Arts House Group) Featuring five iconic performance artists from Asia, including Korean actor Jung Dong-hwan and mime artist Nam Geung-ho, “Last Rites,” by Singaporean director Liu Xiaoyi and staged at SOTA Studio Theater, is the result of a workshop held two years ago. The piece commissioned by SIFA asks the artists to envision their last performance and their very personal responses are compiled in a cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary theatrical work that is deeply personal and humbling.Co-commissioned by Hong Kong’s Asia+ Festival and SIFA, “Strangely Familiar,” directed and choreographed by T.H.E Dance Company’s Founding Artistic Director Kuik Swee Boon, features an evolving presence, a hologram image that is neither human nor machine, and five dancers encountering the shifting digital being. T.H.E. Dance Company performs "Strangely Familiar" during SIFA 2006 in Singapore. (Arts House Group) French drama “Lacrima” by Caroline Guiela Nguye at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre at the Esplanade followed two artisans pursuing perfection literally to their death.A number of reinterpretations of classics made their way to Singapore, including “Hedda Gabler” presented by the National Theater Company of Korea. The production led by NTCK artistic director Park Jung-hee set the drama in the 1970s, drawing Hedda Gabler as an unrestrained character in pursuit of intrinsic beauty.Meanwhile, a bold reinterpretation of “Hamlet” by Teatro La Plaza of Peru featured actors with Down Syndrome who offer their own experiences blended into Shakespeare’s text. The work reflects Festival Director Chong’s commitment to inclusivity, redefining who gets to tell their stories onstage. National Theater Company of Korea production of "Hedda Gabler" is performed during SIFA 2026 in Singapore (Arts House Group)