SINGAPORE: A performance by theatre company Wild Rice has been banned for undermining anti-drug policy and public confidence in the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a joint statement on Friday (Jun 20).
A revised script for a dramatised reading, titled Homepar, was submitted on Jun 5, with IMDA assessing it to be in breach of the Arts Entertainment Classification Code (AECC). This was done in consultation with the MHA, it added.
IMDA noted that the revised script had “substantially changed” from the version that was submitted on Apr 21.
“The new material depicts and glamorises drug abuse and portrays an undercover CNB officer shielding abusers from detection,” it said.
“It undermines Singapore’s anti-drug policy, our drug rehabilitation regime, and public confidence in the CNB. Performances that undermine Singapore’s national interest are not permitted under the AECC.”
IMDA said it had previously informed Wild Rice that the earlier script submitted met classification requirements and could be staged under an R18 rating.
“However, Wild Rice has chosen not to revert to that version,” the authority added. “Consequently, IMDA has disallowed the performance in its current form.”
IMDA reiterated that Singapore’s firm stance against drugs remains unchanged, and it will continue to uphold the AECC to “protect national interest”.
According to a synopsis on the Wild Rice website, Homepar – a reference to house parties in the gay party scene – is about a protagonist who hosts one such party to “power through a tough break-up and celebrate their evolving gender identity”.
Actor and theatre director Ivan Heng is the founding artistic director of Wild Rice. It has a 20,000 sq ft performing arts facility across three floors of Funan Mall.
CNA has contacted Wild Rice for comment.
In 2013, the then-Media Development Authority banned a play titled Stoma by production house Agni Kootthu (Theatre Of Fire). Its arts entertainment licence was denied due to “sexually explicit, blasphemous and offensive references and language which would be denigrating to the Catholic and the wider Christian community”.
In December 2016, IMDA also said it had denied ratings to two shows that were set to be screened at an upcoming festival over “excessive nudity”.