Our Story
Freddo Children’s Theatre (FCT) was formed in 2022 with the intent to create an American style of children’s theatre, with a Singaporean twist, for young families living in Singapore, with the view to bring joy and inspire children through the magic of theatre. FCT was incorporated as a Singaporean not-for-profit company in November 2023.
Founder and Artistic Director of Freddo Children’s Theatre, Elisha Xin-Yii Beston, developed a passion for inspiring young audiences whilst she worked for a number of years with the Bay Area Children’s Theatre company in San Francisco. On returning to the theatre scene in Singapore, Elisha missed the productions she was part of in the US. Hence Freddo Children’s Theatre was born, with the aim of bringing acclaimed American theatre for young audiences to Singapore.
Elisha established a relationship with Bay Area Children’s Theatre (BACT) of California to collaborate to bring original and award winning children’s theatre to Singapore. At the time, BACT was the foremost theatre company for young audiences in California, having produced award-winning productions and educational programs over the past 18 years. With the backing and support of BACT, Freddo Children’s Theatre was launched. By licensing acclaimed and successful works originally produced in the US, Freddo Children’s Theatre planned to provide a unique and high calibre theatre experience with a cast, design, production and crew that are all local – thus providing opportunities for young Singaporeans.
Under this collaboration, the TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) production of “Wheels on the Bus” was bought to Singapore by Freddo Children’s Theatre and was performed at the Gateway Sky Garden Theatre in December 2022. The production, featuring a local cast and crew, was sold out, reaching out to over 800 Singaporeans.
Unfortunately, the Bay Area Children’s Theatre was forced to cease operations in the middle of 2023, a victim of the pandemic which forced many theatre companies in the US to close down. However, all was not lost, as Freddo Children’s Theatre has been able to negotiate the acquisition of BACTs library of shows, which are now available for licensing and planned to be staged in Singapore in the near future!
Our Logo
With the view to bring joy and inspire children through the magic of theatre, Freddo Children’s Theatre aims to create a safe and diverse work environment for our cast and crew, and believe people of all genders, races, and body types should be represented on stage with a focus on supporting young and upcoming artists in the local industry.
As such the FCT logo, constituting a frog (Freddo) and a rainbow, encompass our values.
The colors of the FCT rainbow reflect the diversity, equity and inclusion of the community in which we operate, in that the color:-
Pink represents Fun and Joy
Orange – Inclusivity
Yellow – Creativity and Imagination
Green – Accessibility
Blue – Empowerment
In traditional cultures around the world, frogs represent health, potential, transformation, purity, prosperity, and good luck.
Frogs are charming little creatures which are universally loved for their cuteness, for their “chirps, ribbits, and croaks”! From characters like Kermit the Frog to classic fairytales like The Frog Prince and stories such as ‘The Wind in the Willows”, frogs clearly occupy a special place in the hearts and storytelling traditions of human cultures around the world. Of course our most loved frog of all is Freddo – and who doesn’t like chocolate!