Introduction
Joel Tan (Chinese: 陈文传; pinyin: ‘‘Chén Wén Chuán’’; (born 25 June 1987), is a Singaporean playwright and dramatist.
Biography
Tan is the second son of three; his mother is a nurse and his father is a manager at a maritime company. 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
During his time at NUS, he was mentored by Huzir Sulaiman. He is currently an Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.
Tan is often termed a rising star; his work isdescribed as "beautiful and admirably complex", and has spanned a range of topics, such as single-sex parenting in Singapore, and younger Singaporeans grappling with the impact of progress. His body of work also frequently straddles genre boundaries, including drag theatre, naturalistic plays, and musical theatre.
He has also worked as dramaturge and director for a range of productions.
Works
| 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 Emporer'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 |
| 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 |
| Year | Title | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Joel Tan: Plays Volume 1 | ISBN 9789810958466 | Edited by Lucas Ho |