Joel Tan (Chinese: 陈文传; pinyin: ‘‘Chén Wén Chuán’’; (born 25 June 1987), is a Singaporean playwright and dramatist.
| Joel Tan | |
| Birth Date: | day=25 month=6 year=1987 |
| Nationality: | Singapore |
| Occupation: | Playwright |
| Language: | English |
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.
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] 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]
| 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] |
| 2016 | Joel Tan: Plays Volume 1 | Edited by Lucas Ho |