By Clara Chow

THE Singapore Arts Festival may have opened last weekend to a flame-tastic start, featuring a three-day "fire
garden" installation by France's Compagnie Carabosse at Empress Place and Esplanade Park, but it's not too late yet to score seats at the $7-million festival's hottest shows.

Between you and me (which, incidentally, is the tagline of this year's festival), the offerings have more than enough pop hooks to reel in the casual arts-goer, while still packing enough intellectual bite to satisfy the more culture-hungry patron.

With tighter curation of the free-events section (just five these year, down from 400) and big-name collaborations, it
seems that the main ticketed programmes have become less interested in being "something for everybody".

Here are my bets on what's worth the money, time and, for parents like me, babysitting arrangements:

THE HEAVYWEIGHTS

Wind Shadow, May 25 and 26, Esplanade Theatre, 8pm

Taiwan's famed Cloud Gate Dance Theatre - who enthralled critics and fans alike when it last performed here in 2006 -  has just got more explosive.

For Wind Shadow, renowned visual artist Cai Guo-qiang will use gunpowder to create images of the dancers' shadows, which are projected via video through fluttering flags during the performance.

11 And 12, May 26 to 28, Drama Centre Theatre, 8pm

English director Peter Brook's latest play, 11 And 12, was awarded five stars by the Guardian's Michael Billington three months ago. It revolves around a bitter doctrinal dispute over whether a Sufi prayer should be said 11 or
12 times.

LELONG, LELONG!

Gatz, May 21 to 23, Esplanade Theatre Studio, 2pm

Gatz, by New York City-based theatre group Elevator Repair Service, is a production that has been described as "The Great Gatsby meets The Office".

And it is, really. In a dingy office, an employee finds a ratty old copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920s American novel of ambition and longing, and begins reading it aloud, word for word, gradually involving his colleagues, until the end.

It takes six hours, not including two intermissions and a dinner break (sustenance not provided). With tickets at $45 a pop, that works out to $7.50 per hour - cheaper than a movie.

Football! Football!, May 20 and 21, Victoria Theatre, 8pm

For those who refuse to subscribe to World Cup telecasts, Football! Football! by Croatian director Haris Pasovic is a festival co-production which explores the Beautiful Game through dance, theatre, video, music and technology.

Made up of interwoven tales about football players and ordinary supporters, it features an international cast of 10, including three Singaporeans, in stories such as robots playing soccer, and Chinese immigrants in a Napoli ghetto seeking salvation in football. Top-tier tickets don't even bust the $50 mark.

GAGA OVER FASHION

Eonnagata, June 4 and 5, Esplanade Theatre, 8pm

Eonnagata is a study in androgyny centred on the intriguing figure of Charles de Beaumont, a diplomat, writer and transvestite spy from the time of King Louis XV.

The fact that the late British fashion designer Alexander Mc-Queen - who was responsible for many of pop star Lady Gaga's jaw-dropping outfits - did the costumes for this production is a big selling point for the fashion-forward.

In The Mood, May 27 to 30, VivoCity (East Boulevard, Level 1), 6.30 to 9.30pm

Take off your clothes and hand them over to this pair of seamstresses-cum-entertainers from The Mobile Sewing Company, and they will transform them into original works of art on the spot.

To power their antique sewing machines, the participants must pedal on two classic bicycles.

New outfits and a workout to boot? Fashionistas will be pleased.

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