Once Upon a Sandscape

Step into a world where tales are told, characters come to life, and landscapes appear and disappear, one grain of sand at a time..

Inspired by two traditional tales, The Enormous Turnip and The Stonecutter, enter an interactive storytelling adventure exploring our relationship with nature, our place in the world, and the surprising strength of working together..

On stage, the storyteller Mathilde Bagein transforms into a colourful cast of characters, inviting the audience to join the action, make choices and lend their voices. Beside her, the sand artist Sock Fong Tan creates the world of the stories live, drawing and transforming landscapes, creatures and characters as the tales visually unfold onto the large cinema screen.

Playful, poetic and full of surprises, Once Upon a Sandscape brings traditional storytelling and live sand art together in a performance where children are not simply watching the story — they become part of it!

Mathilde Bagein 

Mathilde Bagein, a French theatre artist, graduated in Performing Arts and trained at the Conservatoire of Lille (France), where she specialised in mask, clowning, improvisation and directing. In 2015, she joined the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in Singapore to deepen her knowledge of traditional Asian theatrical forms. After graduating in 2017, she began teaching at the Centre Stage School of the Arts and became Artistic Director of The Theatre Factory in 2019, directing works such as “Art”, “Les Précieuses Ridicules”, “Huit Femmes”, “L’Illusion Comique”, and “12 Angry Men.”

In 2022, she founded The Theatre Ensemble, a theatre school promoting French-language courses and inclusive artistic projects. Through her various roles, Mathilde continues to enrich Singapore’s theatre scene with creativity and passion..

Sock Fong Tan

Tan Sock Fong is a prominent glass and sand artist who received the Mobil Art Scholarship in 1988 and an overseas study bursary from the National Arts Council, which allowed her to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Arts and Design (Honors) with a focus on glass from the University of Wolverhampton. Since the 1980s, she has been an influential figure in Singapore's art community, serving as a teacher (LASALLE, Polytechnic, ...) and advocate for the arts through various initiatives such as establishing Singapore's first printmaking studio in 1992 and organizing the country's first glass exhibition in 1993. She has also been commissioned for a diversity of public projects like GlassMorphosis, where she transformed a scrapped Boeing 737 into design funiture.

Her artworks has been exhibited widely, with notable displays at venues such the Singapore Art Museum, the Midlands Art Center (UK), the National Museum Art Gallery, and Changi Airport. Throughout her career, Sock Fong has focused on innovative art practices and community engagement, solidifying her status as a leading figure in Singapore's glass and sand art scene.