Joel Tan

Joel Tan (Chinese: 陈文传; pinyin: ‘‘Chén Wén Chuán’’; (born 25 June 1987), is a Singaporean playwright and dramatist.

Joel Tan
Born (1987-06-25) 25 June 1987 (age 37)
OccupationPlaywright
LanguageEnglish
NationalitySingapore

Biography

[edit]

Tan is the second son of three; his mother is a nurse and his father is a manager at a maritime company.[1] He was educated at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and spent one semester abroad at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Dramatic Writing at Central Saint Martins.

Literary career

[edit]

During his time at NUS, he was mentored by Huzir Sulaiman. He is currently an Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.[2]

Tan is often termed a rising star;[3][1] his work is described as "beautiful and admirably complex",[4] and has spanned a range of topics, such as single-sex parenting in Singapore,[5] and younger Singaporeans grappling with the impact of progress.[6] His body of work also frequently straddles genre boundaries, including drag theatre, naturalistic plays, and musical theatre.[7]

He has also worked as dramaturge and director for a range of productions.[8]

Works

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Plays
Year Title Director Theatre Company Notes
2011 Family Outing Glen Goei W!ld Rice, Singapore for Singapore Theatre Festival
2012 City Night Songs Huzir Sulaiman Checkpoint Theatre and NUS Stage, Singapore Tan was a team writer, performer, musical director
2013 Postgrads Joel Tan Take Off Productions, Singapore
2013 The House Joel Tan Flamenco Sin Fronteras, Singapore
2013 The Voices Project - Australian Theatre for Young People, Sydney Tan was a participating playwright.
2013 Jack and the Beansprout! Ivan Heng W!ld Rice, Singapore Tan wrote the book and lyrics.
2013 People Ng Yin Ling (March); Jonathan Lum (December) USP Productions (March), Singapore; I Theatre (December), Singapore
2013 Mosaic Chen Ying Xuan Take Off Productions, Singapore Re-staged in 2015 for M1 Fringe Festival
2014 Hotel Engie Ho, Rizman Putra, Peter Sau The Finger Players, Singapore; commissioned by The Arts House
2014 The Way We Go Claire Wong Checkpoint Theatre, Singapore
2015 Singapore Inside Out: The Actors' Tour Tan Kheng Hua Commissioned by Singapore Tourism Board Staged in Beijing, New York, and London
2015 The Emperor's New Clothes Pam Oei W!ld Rice, Singapore
2016 Cafe Chen Yingxuan The Twenty- Something Theatre Festival, Singapore Nominated for Best Original Script, The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2017[9]
2017 Tropicana the Musical Beatrice Chia-Richmond Tan Kheng Hua, Singapore Lyrics by Tan, book by Haresh Sharma, music by Julian Wong
2017 Tango Tracie Pang Pangdemonium, Singapore Nominated for Best Original Script, The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2018[10]
Books
Year Title ISBN Notes
2016 Joel Tan: Plays Volume 1 ISBN 9789810958466 Edited by Lucas Ho

References

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  1. ^ a b hermes (2015-07-01). "30 of Singapore's rising stars under 30". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  2. ^ "Associate Artists | Checkpoint Theatre". checkpoint-theatre.org. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  3. ^ "Adrian and Tracie Pang on why "thought-provoking" works best for theatre company Pangdemonium | The Peak Singapore - Your Guide to The Finer Things in Life". The Peak Singapore - Your Guide to The Finer Things in Life. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  4. ^ migration (2015-01-23). "Theatre review: Joel Tan's Mosaic critiques our obsession with the past". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  5. ^ "Theatre review: Tango". Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  6. ^ "MOSAIC by Take Off Productions". Centre 42. 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  7. ^ "Profile: Joel Tan". The A List Singapore. 2016-04-26. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  8. ^ "Joel Tan CV (Oct 2017, online).pdf" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  9. ^ Nanda, Akshita (14 February 2017). "M1-The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards: Big recognition for small shows". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  10. ^ Nanda, Akshita (20 February 2018). "Arts fest hits dominate The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2018". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
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