Taking Singaporeans ‘around the world’ saved this local F&B company
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Taking Singaporeans ‘around the world’ saved this local F&B company
Taking Singaporeans ‘around the world’ saved this local F&B company
Why settle for a traditional (read: Staid) Michelin-star meal when you can enjoy a bit of theatre with your finely wrought dinner? That’s the premise behind Restaurant Absurdities, which, as its name implies, is more immersive theatre than restaurant; a wild and much-needed romp for guests at time when most of the country hasn’t seen the outside of our diminutive borders for the best part of two years.
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Without giving too much away, Restaurant Absurdities is a tightly run show that takes guests through an infinity mirror tunnel to six fantastically designed rooms in which each course is served. One might resemble a suburban American kitchen circa the 1950s, another a tent in the middle of a Moroccan dessert.
“Absurdities is a fun, anti-fine dining experience. It’s the most absurd restaurant in the world,” explained Stuart Wee, founder of AndSoForth, the company which purveys this experience.
FROM THE GROUND UP
Wee founded AndSoForth with his wife Emily Png. The company has come a long way since it debuted its first immersive theatre dining experience in 2014. Held at Lower Case, a cafe within the grounds of Lasalle College of the Arts, the event dragged on for four hours as the kitchen struggled to keep up with service and guests complained about the lack of wine.
“An alcohol company sponsored our spirits with the caveat being that we couldn’t serve wine,” Wee said. “There was a huge backlash because people really wanted wine!”
Earlier this year, Wee was invited to speak at the Immersive Industry Home Coming Summit in Area15 Las Vegas, a gathering of the world’s best creators of immersive experiences including big names such as Disney, Meow Wolf, Broadway, and David Byrne’s Theatre of the Mind. Suitably stoked, Wee said, “That’s kind of cool because it recognises the work we’ve been doing for the past eight years. That really helped and encouraged us.”
AROUND THE WORLD, AT HOME
In a now-familiar plot twist, the pandemic hit and threatened to put paid to all the hard work of building sets, casting actors, creating fantastical meals and selling tickets. At around the same time Png lost her father to COVID-19, exacerbating an already difficult period.
“We were like, ‘how’??” Png recalled. “[While the business was on shaky ground], I had to deal with the grief of my dad’s passing. But we chose not to give up because we thought there would be a light at the end of the tunnel.”
As the pandemic wore on, what was initially a bane slowly untangled into a boon. With people seeking new and novel experiences at home, Around The World became an easy sell. “People were like, ‘you cannot travel now, right?’ Come, let me take you somewhere around the world,” she added. |
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