SINGAPORE – The Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) is now officially the Singapore Theatre Company (STC). The name change comes on the heels of the company celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023.

Artistic director Gaurav Kripalani says the company had been mulling over dropping “repertory” from its name for a year. 

“No one knows what it means. We’ve never been a repertory company,” he says.

A repertory company comprises a group of full-time actors on payroll who perform works from an accepted canon of works.

Mr Kripalani points out that even in the West where the term originated, very few contemporary theatre companies can afford to keep a full complement of actors and repertory has become an old-fashioned term. 

He says: “We have ambitions to go international. To be the Singapore Theatre Company will help us fly the flag better.” 

While acknowledging the “brand equity” built up by the SRT name over the years, he says: “We feel that going forward, we need to refresh. This is the correct step to position Singapore and the Singapore Theatre Company.” 

STC’s managing director Charlotte Nors adds that the name change will also better reflect the company’s offstage enterprises, which include corporate courses as well as educational programmes for the young.

All these will be consolidated under a new Centre for Creative Learning and Ms Nors says they want to be “the partner for theatre-related learning programmes”. 

Beyond the name change, the company remains at 20 Merbau Road, where it has been based since 2001. The Kewalram Chanrai Group has renewed its sponsorship of the KC Arts Centre, which includes a 380-seat theatre. 

STC has announced its 2024 season, which kicks off with a triple bill of one-man shows: Grounded in March, Taha in April and Paradise Or The Impermanence Of Ice Cream in May. 

But the blockbuster show will be the award-winning The Lehman Trilogy, which tells the story of the family behind the 163-year-old financial services firm that collapsed spectacularly in 2008.

The National Theatre production, directed by Oscar-winning English film-maker Sam Mendes, will be presented in partnership with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay in November.