Endless Return Orchestrates 4LLEN, A Four-Part Performance Event Akin To Rave Theatre

Endless Return doesn’t deliver your conventional rave experience (Credit: Courtesy of Endless Return)

Trying to plaster a definition to raves in this evolved day and age has become an obsolete affair. We’re snug in an era where party norms have diversified and gatekeeping is tasteless. Singapore’s become a breeding ground for experimentation in the event space, and Endless Return is an entity that’s familiar with that potential. Since catching our attention back in pandemic-stricken 2020 with their regenerative virtual raves, Endless Return has etched itself into the scene as a nonconformist promoter, collective and record label that’s vandalised the rulebook. And just when you thought they’d run out of tricks, well, have you heard of rave theatre?

On 13 April, Endless Return launches 4LLEN (pronounced “fallen”) that’s described as a durational rave performance. While most parties in Singapore lack themes or synopses in their programming, 4LLEN purports to explore the “tragic archetype of the fallen (4LLEN) angel… tapping into conditions of otherness, estrangement and alienation, symptomatic of contemporary Singaporean society”. It’s a language that speaks to the outsider mindset of ravers who wish to tread beyond the status quo, one that’s poetically inviting and valiantly composed. 4LLEN is also the kick-off event of the T:>Works Per°Form Open Academy of Arts and Activations, an 18-day arts programme featuring intersectional practitioners from the disciplines of activism, film, fashion, design, education, spoken word and more. Endless Return is the academy’s sole Singaporean offering.

4LLEN features the avant-garde gamelan performance of Rosemainy Buang (Credit: Courtesy of Endless Return)

And performances from The Philippines’ obese.dogma777 and Teya Logos (Credit: Courtesy of Endless Return)

For 4LLEN, Endless Return has tailored a rave performance of four distinct parts that tackle the themes of contemporary urban existence and where we sit in it. The programme comprises a multidisciplinary performance between butoh dancer XUE and composer-producer Mervin Wong (also co-founders of Endless Return), alongside local gamelan musician and soundscaper, Rosemainy Buang. They’ll be joined by international performances from The Philippines, including the post-modern club sounds of obese.dogma777 and the maximalist hard dance of Teya Logos.

All of this takes place at The N3st, a speculative environment at T:>Works that encourages audience participation and contributions throughout the show. Whatever that entails exactly remains to be seen, but we’re certain you won’t experience anything quite like it.

4LLEN by Endless Return, 13 April 2024, 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 239007. Get your tickets here. 72-13 is wheelchair-accessible. Follow Endless Return on Instagram for more information.