Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, an enchanting interactive fairytale inspired interactive exhibition has opened its doors.
Housed within an event space in Pandan Gardens, stories and legends come to life at this quirky, fascinating and very Instagrammable place, dedicated to one thing and one thing only: the magic and wonder of storybooks.
Organised by theatre company Andsoforth Junior, 22 Stories, is a 22,000 square foot multi-room theatrical art installation that encourages the young and young at heart to dive into a world of dreams and wild imagination through play, shedding light on classic stories like Alice in Wonderland and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
As the name of the exhibition suggests, there are 22 experiential rooms, each decked out with Instagrammable backdrops, think neon lights and bright colours. These rooms are spread out across four zones – Grimmsneyland, Storyland, Land of Nights and Wonderland. Hardly surprisingly, the imagination is teased every step of the way.
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Land of Nights draws inspiration from the Middle Eastern collection of classic stories like Aladdin; Storyland is a fresh take on well-loved nursery stories such as Hansel and Gretel; Grimmsneyland is where you can spot Disney crowd favourites like Cinderella while Wonderland is based off the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice in Wonderland.
To bring the rooms to life, each of these rooms will house a character that will entertain audiences with performances that last about ten minutes per session.
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Rather than having the actors deliver monologue, Andsoforth, made it a point to make the show interactive. Visitors can go down a rabbit hole with Alice, slide down the beanstalk with Jack and dive under the sea with The Little Mermaid.
Besides the performances, there are also other interactive elements like a mini golf course in the “Wonderland’s Garden” room and a slide in the “The Magic Beanstalk Climb & Slide” room.
Besides your Instagram feed that will get a load of feeding – you can also eat up at the dedicated rest area, Wonder Foodland, where meals are thoughtfully prepared by farm-to-table restaurant Farm Appetit.
Certain characters like Cinderella and The Little Mermaid will only be making an appearance on alternate weeks during the elaborate production’s two-month run, so we definitely recommend checking the schedule beforehand if there’s a character you would like to meet.
Another thing to take note of is the show timeslots, there are a total of three ten minutes long slots ( 5.30 – 5.40pm, 5.45pm – 5.55pm and 6.00pm – 6.10pm) and you have to queue to catch the performances. So, you’re not likely to have enough time to catch all performances.
That is why we recommend checking out the schedule before deciding on the three characters that you would like to see. Since the event space is quite huge, we would even recommend picking a zone and situating yourself in one of the four zones to prep for the show. For instance, on our visit, we went to “Grimmsneyland” and was able to catch Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in action.
The perfect place for those who love miracles and the wonder of fairytales, your interest is bound to be piqued by well-loved images from your childhood and spectacular interior decor that blend real and imagined worlds and make you feel like there is no end to the adventure of life.
In the words of wise Ariel, “Who says dreams have to stay just dreams?” The exhibit runs from 1 May to 30 June.
22 Stories
200 Pandan Gardens (Beside Ayer Rajah CC)
Fri: 5.30 – 9.30pm
Sat, Sun: 10am – 2pm, 5.30pm – 9.30pm
Ticket prices start from $38
