GAURAV KRIPALANI

Festival director of Singapore International Festival of Arts and artistic director of Singapore Repertory Theatre

If Gaurav Kripalani’s approach to theatre could be summed up in a single phrase, it would be “make it accessible”. The festival director of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and artistic director of the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) has mentioned his dislike for productions that are pretentious or self-indulgent, saying that theatre should always be created for the audience.

The importance of access to Kripalani is easily understood if one dives into his upbringing. Born in Calcutta to parents who share a love for theatre, he grew up watching his father, who works in insurance, acting in community theatre and his mother making costumes. Kripalani made his first appearance on stage as a child, and has never left since.

Clearly, access from young has played a pivotal role in cultivating Kripalani’s passion for the performing arts. And now, he hopes to bring local theatre to greater heights by providing the same access to the local public.

Unfortunately, this has been a challenge in the past year due to Covid-19. But Kripalani has managed to see the good in the situation, saying: “One of the silver linings of 2020 was that audiences learnt not to take the arts for granted. We were fortunate to have art venues open, albeit at 25 per cent capacity, and every show we put on sale sold out right away.”

He intends to navigate the current crisis with his favourite mantra in mind—to learn at least one new thing every day that will make him better at his job. “It doesn’t have to be something big. Even small lessons can contribute to having fresh ideas, innovating, developing the artistic landscape and helping young artists flourish.”

This mindset has certainly helped SRT survive a tough year and put it in good stead for the one to come. The company has explored different ways of working, such as creating performances that can be streamed digitally and experiences that can be enjoyed by one audience member at a time.

“The arts have to innovate in order to survive. Different forms of delivery are going to be here to stay,” Kripalani asserts. “One upside is that audience reach can now be global and not just local.”