The Capitol Theatre, located at the junction of Stamford Road and North Bridge Road, opened in 1930 and was considered one of the finest cinemas of that era. Originally owned by the Namazie family, Capitol Theatre, along with the four-storey adjoining building ...

The Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) is an independent theatre school for contemporary artists, offering training in intercultural theatre. First established in 2000 as the Theatre Training and Research Programme (TTRP), the school was closed in 2008 and ...

Ivan Heng (b. 1963, Singapore–), an accomplished stage actor and director, is the founding artistic director of theatre company Wild Rice. He has acted and directed many Singapore theatre productions and his works have been performed internationally in Europe, ...

Sabri Buang (b. 1964, Singapore–d. 26 March 2021) is both a writer and director of theatre and television in Singapore and abroad. In his earlier days, Sabri acted in Malay dramas for both theatre and television, and has built up a body of directorial works in ...

Lin Chen (b. 1919, Singapore–d. 29 August 2004, Singapore) was a pioneer theatre director and playwright who was active in the local Mandarin theatre scene in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also an accomplished writer who wrote short stories and prose under the pen ...

Ong Keng Sen (b. 1964, Singapore–), the critically acclaimed artistic director of TheatreWorks, a local theatre company, is best known for his intercultural Shakespeare-inspired trilogy of works – Lear, Desdemona and Search: Hamlet. He was the artistic director ...

Kuo Pao Kun (b. 1939, Xiaoguo village, Hebei, China–d. 10 September 2002, Singapore) was a playwright who produced plays in both English and Chinese. He is considered one of the most significant dramatists in Singapore and a pioneer of Singapore theatre. Many of ...

Ng Yi-Sheng (b. 25 November 1980, Singapore–) is a fulltime writer whose controversial literary works have garnered much critical acclaim. Besides writing fiction, poetry, drama, critiques and non-fiction, he is also actively involved in theatre, with his plays ...

Elangovan (b. 1957, Singapore–) is a bilingual poet and playwright known for exploring controversial themes and the grimmer aspects of society. He was a teacher, arts administrator, freelance journalist, screenwriter, literary editor and the artistic director of ...

Desmond Sim Kim Jin (b. 1961, Singapore–) is a playwright, poet, short-story writer and painter. He is best known for his short stories and plays that he has penned and staged. He has won the Singapore Literature Prize for Poetry (Merit) for his collection of poems ...

Goh Soo Khim (b. 1944, Singapore–) is a ballerina, choreographer and dance educator. She was one of the co-founders of the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT), and has been the director and principal of the Singapore Ballet Academy (SBA) since 1971. Goh has played a ...

Staged on 10 August 1988, Kuo Pao Kun’s Mama Looking for Her Cat was Singapore’s first multilingual play. Performed by the Practice Theatre Ensemble, the play focuses on the theme of Singapore’s multiracial, multicultural and multilingual society, brought out by ...

Wayang kulit is a form of traditional theatre in Southeast Asia. It involves a puppet shadow play performance with origins that are possibly linked to the Indian shadow play. There are many forms and types of wayang kulit in Asia. Those performed in Peninsular ...

Methodism is a Protestant Christian religion. The first Methodist church in Singapore was formed following the arrival of Bishop James Mills Thoburn (Dr) and Reverend William Fitzjames Oldham on 7 February 1885. Daily prayer services commenced the following day ...

Chin Woon Ping’s Details Cannot Body Wants was the first Singapore play to receive a Restricted (R) rating, which grants admission only to viewers at least 18 years of age. First performed at The Substation’s Guinness Theatre on 12 September 1992, it was one of ...

Isa Kamari (b. 1960, Singapore–) is a prominent figure in Singapore’s Malay literary scene. He has gained critical acclaim for many of his works, which range from novels and short stories to poetry and essays. He is also a musician, and has crafted scripts for ...

Phan Wait Hong (潘月红) (b. 1914, Shanghai, China–d. 1 September 2016, Singapore) is a key figure in the history of Beijing opera in Singapore. She came to Singapore from Shanghai at the age of 14 and rose to become a lead actress in a professional company that toured ...

Lee Peng Boon (b. 1956, Singapore–), popularly known as Dick Lee, is one of Singapore’s best-known personalities in the arts scene. Besides his creative output as a musician, playwright and designer, Lee is also involved in events management and advertising. In ...