About this Event
About the Programme:
Throughout Singapore history, the theatre has been key to how people advocate for change. As keen observers of society, theatre practitioners have continuously taken risks to stage the unsayable and unimaginable. And when the curtains fall, the arts critic’s work begins: carrying the conversation outside the theatre and shaping how we talk about the issues that matter to us as a society.
Yet, the space for sociocultural critique is rapidly shrinking with the decline of traditional media. What does a society lose when its art slips from memory? Join us for the launch of Critical People to take stock of how Singapore’s social and cultural life has evolved, what has been lost and what still remains to be done.
About the Book:
In Singapore, the stage has long been a home for people who dare to be critical. Clarissa Oon’s Critical People is a collection of essays on how Singapore theatre and its stalwarts, from Kuo Pao Kun to Alfian Sa’at, have shaped the ways Singaporeans talk about essential social issues like race, queer advocacy and censorship.
And out in the audience, sitting among us, is the critic. In these pages, Oon distils a wealth of insights from nearly three decades of observing Singapore theatre and culture. How far have we come as a society, and where are we headed? In an age when anyone and everyone can criticise, what do we stand to lose if the professional critic disappears? Written from the perspective of a critic who has grown up and grown old with the stage, Critical People is an incisive yet intimate look at what we as a society must care about.
About the Speakers:
Clarissa Oon is a seasoned cultural critic who has written hundreds of reviews and op-eds mostly on theatre but also film, literature, visual arts and culture at large. She spent seventeen years at Singapore’s flagship daily The Straits Times as a journalist and then arts editor and deputy editor of the Life section. The author of a book chronicling the history of Singapore’s English-language theatre, she has also been published in anthologies as well as Asia-Pacific media publications and journals. Since 2016, she has worked at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, where she is currently head of digital and content marketing, overseeing the Esplanade Offstage arts content site and the national performing arts centre’s archives. A mother of two teenagers, she unwinds by writing and reading, and wishes she could get more sleep.
Corrie Tan makes sense of art through intimate writing. A wayfarer between journalism and academia, her literary practice traverses criticism, conversation and creative nonfiction. She is the arts editor of Jom, an independent digital magazine; director of the Asian Dramaturgs’ Network; and, most recently, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Arts at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (2025-26). Corrie holds a Ph.D. in theatre and performance studies from King’s College London and the National University of Singapore. She has written extensively about the arts and culture for publications such as The Guardian, ArtsEquator, Exeunt Magazine and The Straits Times. www.corrie-tan.com
Myle Yan Tay is a writer of plays and prose. His debut novel, catskull, won Book of the Year and Best Literary Work at the Singapore Book Publishers Awards. His plays Statement Piece and Brown Boys Don't Tell Jokes were staged by Checkpoint Theatre; both plays were nominated for "Best Production" and "Best Script" at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his writing has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, The Hong Kong Review, and other publications. He recently represented Singapore at the International Writers Program, hosted by the University of Iowa Writers Workshop, is a MacDowell Fellow, and was a recipient of the Arts House Limited Fellowship.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Theatre Practice, 54 Waterloo Street, Singapore, Singapore
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