In a letter dated October 25 to Agni Kootthu, the theatre staging the play Talaq, the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit (PELU) said the play would not be allowed, but gave no reasons for not issuing a permit.

"After taking into consideration views from the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Majilis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), I regret to inform you that we are unable to approve your application at this stage," PELU's assistant director for operations Gan Ah Lek said in a statement.

Last week, the theatre questioned the NAC's decision to bring in two Muslim men from the all-male South Indian Jamiathual Ulama (SIJU) to sit on a 13-member panel to preview the play about oppressed Muslim women

The theatre cancelled the preview in protest when the NAC insisted the two men be included.

Talaq -- which means divorce in Malay -- is based on real life accounts of Indian Muslim women in Singapore and explores oppression, marital violence and rape, and the culture of silence forced on these women by their families.

The play had previously been staged in the Indian Tamil language and the theatre was planning to stage the play in English and Malay if the permit had been granted.

The Singaporean playwright, Elangovan, last week received death threats.

Public performances in Singapore remain subject to the issuance of a licence from police authorities, based on recommendations from the NAC.

A licence will not be granted if the performance is deemed sensitive to any of the ethnic groups in the city-state.