Water world By Adeline Chia
Publisher:The Straits Times - Publication Date: 23-05-2008

The Singapore River will be transformed into a liquid stage tonight.

No river taxis are allowed to ply the river for one hour, and up to 5,000 people are expected to crowd the banks at Boat Quay to watch Water Fools, the outdoor spectacular that opens the month-long Singapore Arts Festival.

The festival, organised by the National Arts Council, will feature 25 main productions and more than 400 free outreach events.

One of these free events is Water Fools, by French street theatre troupe Ilotopie, featuring 15 actors acting out a mystical storyline involving fire, lights and water.

There will be three 50-minute shows from tonight to Sunday, which will be performed on a 100m stretch of water along Boat Quay.

It is co-sponsored by PUB, the national water agency, and is the first time that the art festival's opening act, typically an outdoor event, is performed on water.

Lau Yew Hoong, deputy director of community relations at PUB, said: "Exciting and colourful water performances that turn the river into a water stage will attract more people to be closer to water and enjoy water.

"Through these efforts, we hope to encourage them to take guardianship of waters by keeping the reservoirs and catchment areas clean."

President SR Nathan, his wife and Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, will grace the opening ceremony tonight.

Some of the strange scenarios people will see tonight include a spluttering car moving on the water, a woman in a large red hooped skirt on top of a huge hamster wheel and a man retiring to his floating bed.

Most of the props have electric motors attached to them, to propel them seamlessly through the water. Others, such as the 3m-high hamster wheel, are operated manually by the performer walking in them.

These fantastic sights are the work of Ilotopie, a 28-year-old company that specialises in performances on water and in public spaces.

Water Fools was created in 2005 and has been performed more than 30 times in Europe and Australia.

The company had chosen Boat Quay over places such as the beaches at Sentosa or Marina Bay as it was in the heart of the city and hopping with nightlife.

The props float down from Merchant Loop near Riverside Point.

Larger ones, such as the tree and the bed, have to be broken down into parts and transported by land as they cannot fit under the three bridges, Coleman Bridge, Read Bridge and Elgin Bridge. They are re-assembled at the Asian Civilisations Museum before they get to glide across the river.

The show's technical director, Dominique Noel, said: "We want to make a magical experience which is open to interpretation by the audience."

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