About

Huzir Sulaiman is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre.

Huzir Sulaiman is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre. He oversees the company’s development of new work, including plays, audio experiences, video, and comics.
Recent directing includes Session Zero (2021); Vulnerable (2021); Two Songs and A Story (with Joel Lim, 2020); Thick Beats for Good Girls (2018); and FRAGO (2017).

A critically acclaimed and award-winning playwright, his Collected Plays 1998-2012 was published in 2013. Recent plays include Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner (2019); and The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco (2016). His plays have been translated into German, Japanese, Polish, Indonesian and Mandarin.

Huzir has taught playwriting at the National University of Singapore’s University Scholars Programme; at the NUS English Department; the School of the Arts; and other institutions. His essays and commentary pieces have appeared in The Star, The Straits Times, and The Huffington Post.

Huzir was educated at Princeton University, where he won the Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize, and is a Yale World Fellow.

Huzir is in a class of his own.

TODAY, SG

Few people…deserve to be called “creative genius” as much as Huzir Sulaiman does…

Kakiseni.com, MY

Director Huzir Sulaiman approaches [the] text with the precision of a sculptor and the sensitivity of a poet.

Arts Equator, SG

Claire Wong is the co-founder, Joint Artistic Director, and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre.

Claire Wong is the co-founder, Joint Artistic Director, and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre. Trained in both Asian and Western performing arts, Claire obtained her Master of Fine Arts (MFA, Theatre Arts) from Columbia University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the National University of Singapore and was formerly a litigation and corporate lawyer.

As a theatre director, Claire recently directed Adib Kosnan’s Keluarga Besar En. Karim (The Karims) (with Joel Lim, 2021); Zenda Tan’s Eat Duck (2019); Huzir Sulaiman’s Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner (2019), a commission of Singapore International Festival of Arts; Dana Lam’s Still Life (2019); and Faith Ng’s Normal (2017, 2015). As an actress, Claire has performed in landmark Singapore productions and international arts festivals. She co-wrote and performed Recalling Mother which played in Singapore, New York, Brisbane, and Adelaide.

Actress and Director Claire Wong leads the way with excellence.

The Straits Times, SG

Kudos to Wong for drawing out the potential of the text, even down to the smallest details… not only stunning but truly generous.

The Flying Inkpot, SG

…an actress with immense stage presence, charisma and talent…

The Business Times, SG

Faith Ng is a playwright, educator, and Associate Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre.

Her plays include The Fourth Trimester (2022), which won Best Original Script and Production of the Year at the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2023, A Good Death (part of Esplanade’s The Studios 2018), Normal (2017, 2015), For Better or For Worse (2013) and wo(men) (2010).

A Young Artist Award (2018) recipient, she has been the artist-in-residence for Lasalle’s MA Creative Writing programme since 2019 and was the writer-in-residence for the Singapore Creative Writing Residency (2014). Her collection of plays, Faith Ng: Plays Volume 1, was published in 2016. Her play Normal continues to be read in schools.

Manesh Zaveri is the Senior Finance and Development Manager at Checkpoint Theatre.

He is also a Chartered Accountant from England & Wales and Singapore with more than 30 years working experience in various industries and roles, from a humble book-keeper to Chief Financial Officer.

A solid finance professional and business partner with strong ethical values and integrity, he is able to work through operational and financial business challenges and manage change effectively to drive business process improvement, efficiency and cost reduction resulting in bottom-line improvement.

An entrepreneur at heart, Manesh co-founded and manages his own consultancy while supporting the business of his clients. He works with Checkpoint Theatre to further its outreach in Singapore’s art and theatre industries.

Izz Sumono is the Senior Production Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

Izz Sumono has worked primarily in stage management for theatre productions and live events, and is Senior Executive of Production at Checkpoint Theatre. A Victorian College of the Arts graduate, Izz began her career in the industry as a dresser. This sparked her passion to pursue production and backstage work, and she honed her skills under Esplanade’s Stage Management Training Programme. During the pandemic, she has had the opportunity to navigate the art of live-streaming digital works, but her first love will always be live productions. Recent credits with Checkpoint Theatre include Session Zero (2021), Keluarga Besar En. Karim (The Karims) (2021), Eat Duck (2019), and Normal (2017). Izz likes to be challenged, and feels that no show is a ‘simple’ show, no matter how small.

Jayne Lim is the Marketing & Communications Senior Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

Jayne’s interest in theatre and the arts stems from a keen fascination with how art gives voice to multi-faceted, ever-evolving perspectives, and thus paves the way for discourse, dialogue, and potential change. A graduate of the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Theatre Studies, she has at various times been a performer, director, technical crew member, and educator, and continues to advocate for and be inspired by the immense talent of local artists in Singapore.

Chaney Chia is the Development & Engagement Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

A graduate of SOTA (Theatre) and LASALLE (BA(Hons) Arts Management), Chaney is an actor and arts manager. He made his professional acting debut with Zenda Tan’s Eat Duck (Checkpoint Theatre, 2019). Deeply fascinated with the arts and an avid believer in its power of reminding us how to live, he deeply values immersing himself in the intersection between its existence and its administration, exploring its myriad of possibilities and practices.

Tricia Tan is the Marketing & Communications Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

Having grown up with theatre, Tricia’s immense love and respect for the art form is rooted in the belief that it fosters compassion, engagement and healing. A graduate of Goldsmiths, University of London (BA (Hons) Drama & Theatre Arts), she developed a strong interest in arts administration while studying theatre-making during her time there. She hopes to create open, collaborative spaces for artists, audiences, and everyone in between to share their stories.

Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips is a writer, performer, Associate Artist and the Publications & Communications Executive with Checkpoint Theatre.

She was also conferred as a Young ASEAN Storyteller in 2022. Cheyenne’s writing revolves around the environment, culture and identity. Her writing and performance credits include A Literary Trail of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (2022), Vulnerable (2021), an eight-part podcast, and A Grand Design (2020), an audio experience with Checkpoint Theatre, as well as In The Twine: A Tapestry of Stories (Singapore Writer’s Festival 2018) and For The Record (Centre 42’s Basement Workshop Residency 2017). Cheyenne is also a licensed Tourist Guide and has hosted eco-literary walks around MacRitchie Reservoir in collaboration with the Public Utilities Board (PUB) as part of Singapore Water Month 2018. 

Cheyenne was the Editor of singpowrimo.com, an online literary journal by SingLit Station. Her other writings can be found in the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore (QLRS), Contour: A Lyrical Cartography of Singapore (Poetry Festival Singapore, 2019) and Who Are You My Country? Writing about Identity, Past and Present (Landmark Books, 2018). She writes a weekly newsletter: Field Notes From The Poetic Scientist and runs a bi-monthly spoken word competition called Outspoken.

Catherine Tan is the Finance Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

Catherine brings with her decades of accounting experience in various MNCs, SMEs and professional firms across multiple sectors, from oil & gas, automotive to information & communications.

Catherine is passionate about learning. To her, the Chinese saying ‘活到老, 学到老’ (learn as you age) rings true. She has participated in numerous SkillsFuture courses and also successfully attained a Diploma in Integrated Digital Delivery with the BCA Academy during the pandemic, thereafter undertaking a brief stint as an Autocad Drafter.

Returning to her accounting roots as she joins Checkpoint, Catherine looks forward to making a valuable contribution to the organisation and learning more about the local theatre industry.

Adib Kosnan is a theatre practitioner, educator, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

Since his professional debut in 2003, Adib has performed in numerous productions for the English and Malay-language stage. He is also a founding member of Singaporean playwright collective Main Tulis Group. He writes and directs extensively in both languages. His play 28.8 (2017) was nominated for Best Original Script at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards 2018.

As an educator, Adib conducts and facilitates Checkpoint Theatre’s NAC-AEP programmes. He especially enjoys the collaborative nature of theatre and sharing what he has discovered from wearing his multiple hats.

ants chua writes, directs, performs, and is an Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

ants’ upcoming script, Unnamed Lesbian Play, was recently read as part of Checkpoint Theatre’s Works in Development 2021 showcase. Other recent works include writing and performing at least I have words now for Checkpoint Theatre’s Two Songs and a Story (2020), directing Beside Ourselves (2020) by .gif as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, and collaborating with Salty Xijie Ng on the community art project Buangkok Mall Life Club (2020). ants is currently working on voices in a room (2021) with the support of Feelers, an initiative housed under Potato Productions. 

They are interested in careful critique, disruptive play, and reimagining the social world.

Lucas Ho is a writer, director, educator, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

As a writer, his debut play FRAGO was presented by Checkpoint Theatre in 2017 to critical acclaim. In 2020, his stage play The Heart Comes to Mind premiered as an audio experience. In 2023, Checkpoint Theatre presented his third play, Tender Submission. Lucas taught playwriting at the National University of Singapore, and was part of the Faculty of Literary Arts at School of the Arts, Singapore.

Aside from playwriting, he was Assistant Director for The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco, and continues to direct and facilitate Checkpoint Theatre’s NAC-AEP programmes. Lucas has also edited various play anthologies by Checkpoint Theatre, including Joel Tan: Plays Volume 1 and Faith Ng: Plays Volume 1.

Dana Lam is a visual artist, writer, performer, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

Dana’s semi-autobiographical work, Still Life, developed and presented by Checkpoint Theatre (2019), showcased her flair for working across disciplines.

Dana has performed in Jerome Bel’s Gala (TheatreWorks, 2016), Joavien Ng’s Incarnation of the Beast (TheatreWorks, 2015) and Dream Country – a Lost Monologue (Singapore Arts Festival, 2012). Her writing credits include the book Days of Being Wild: GE2006 Walking the Line with the Opposition (Ethos Books, 2006), while her visual art has been shown in the Singapore Art Museum and the Substation Gallery. Her 500-piece installation When Bellies Speak: You are your own work of art was hosted at Hong Lim Park on 8 March 2015.

Outside of performance, Dana has worked as a newspaper reporter and volunteered with the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), serving as its President in 2000-2002 and again in 2009-2011.

Dana is one of 54,548 babies born in 1953 according to the Singapore census.

Faith Ng is a playwright, educator, and Associate Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre.

Her plays include The Fourth Trimester (2022), which won Best Original Script and Production of the Year at the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2023, A Good Death (part of Esplanade’s The Studios 2018), Normal (2017, 2015), For Better or For Worse (2013) and wo(men) (2010).

A Young Artist Award (2018) recipient, she has been the artist-in-residence for Lasalle’s MA Creative Writing programme since 2019 and was the writer-in-residence for the Singapore Creative Writing Residency (2014). Her collection of plays, Faith Ng: Plays Volume 1, was published in 2016. Her play Normal continues to be read in schools.

Oon Shu An is an actor, writer, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

Shu An first worked with Checkpoint Theatre on the ensemble-devised City Night Songs (2012). Her one-woman play #UnicornMoment (2014), which she wrote and performed in, was nominated for Best Original Script at the M1-Theatre Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards 2015. Her work with other theatre companies include This is What Happens to Pretty Girls (2019), Mergers and Accusations (2019), and Chinglish (2015), for which she received a Best Actress nomination.

Shu An has appeared on screen in television series Code of Law and Netflix’s Marco Polo. She recently represented Singapore at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, under the Best Actress category, for her role in HOOQ’s How to Be a Good Girl. Her feature film credits include 4Love, Our Sister Mambo, and Rubbers.

Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips is a writer, performer, Associate Artist and the Publications & Communications Executive with Checkpoint Theatre.

She was also conferred as a Young ASEAN Storyteller in 2022. Cheyenne’s writing revolves around the environment, culture and identity. Her writing and performance credits include A Literary Trail of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (2022), Vulnerable (2021), an eight-part podcast, and A Grand Design (2020), an audio experience with Checkpoint Theatre, as well as In The Twine: A Tapestry of Stories (Singapore Writer’s Festival 2018) and For The Record (Centre 42’s Basement Workshop Residency 2017). Cheyenne is also a licensed Tourist Guide and has hosted eco-literary walks around MacRitchie Reservoir in collaboration with the Public Utilities Board (PUB) as part of Singapore Water Month 2018. 

Cheyenne was the Editor of singpowrimo.com, an online literary journal by SingLit Station. Her other writings can be found in the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore (QLRS), Contour: A Lyrical Cartography of Singapore (Poetry Festival Singapore, 2019) and Who Are You My Country? Writing about Identity, Past and Present (Landmark Books, 2018). She writes a weekly newsletter: Field Notes From The Poetic Scientist and runs a bi-monthly spoken word competition called Outspoken.

Luke Somasundram is a writer and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

His play Swipe Right (2017), directed by Claire Wong, was commissioned as the graduation production for the final-year BA(Hons) Acting cohort from LASALLE College of the Arts. His comic Rebranding for Sea Monsters (2021), illustrated by Ethan Sim, is published by Checkpoint Theatre. 

Other significant works include The Untitled Funeral Play (2012), published in the Checkpoint Theatre anthology This Is My Family: New Singapore Plays Vol. 2, and A.I. Love K-Drama (2021), a Viddsee Original series he co-created and co-wrote. 

Luke is also an award-winning advertising copywriter, with work recognised internationally by D&AD, One Show, and Webbys.

Zenda Tan is an educator, playwright, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

Zenda wrote Eat Duck (2019, Checkpoint Theatre), Phase (2017, Dark Matter Theatrics), and has two competition-winning short plays published by T:>Works. In 2019, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Literature (Highest Distinction) from the National University of Singapore, where for two years she helmed the Literature journal NUS Margins as its Editor-in-Chief. She is a Teaching Award holder and most recently passed the Postgraduate Diploma in Education Programme at the National Institute of Education with Distinction. During her time there, she was a contributing writer and editor for the Literature publication Enl*ght. As an actor, she has worked on and starred in projects both on stage and screen. 

She believes in the restorative capabilities of Literature and the creative arts, and that they can cultivate empathy and compassion within us, allowing us to take better care of ourselves and our world. This conviction is manifest in both her writing and pedagogy.

Shiv is an Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

Shiv has worked across film, television, and theatre as a writer and director. Shiv wrote and co-directed The Good, the Bad and the Sholay with Checkpoint Theatre for Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Art 2015. He also co-devised and co-directed #UnicornMoment in 2014.

Besides his work with Checkpoint Theatre, he was co-writer for Google Creative Lab Australia and Griffin Theatre Company’s transmedia experiment, The Next Stage (2014). Other credits include Payday (Actor), Club Desire (Actor), Normal (2015) (Assistant Director), and Mind Games (Director and Choreographer). More recently, Shiv’s play A Fistful of Rupees came second in the international Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Awards, and was staged at Prithivi Theatre (2023). Shiv is also the Founder of Castiko, and the writer-director-lyricist of And Now Live (2023), a drama audio series.

Myle Yan Tay is an Associate Artist at Checkpoint Theatre.

Yan is a writer of plays, prose, comics, and reviews. You can find his work on his website, myleyantay.com. His debut novel, catskull, is being published by Ethos Books in 2023. Brown Boys Don’t Tell Jokes (2023) is his debut professional play.

weish is a composer, musician, writer, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

A versatile artist whose work spans diverse genres and disciplines, her compositions have taken her around the globe – from Sundance Film Festival to the Golden Melody Awards.

With electronic duo .gif and experimental group sub:shaman, weish has performed across Europe, Australia and Asia. International collaborations also saw her building sound art installations in London, and working with DJs in Tokyo.

weish played musical director to Checkpoint Theatre’s Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner (2019), wrote and performed Beside Ourselves (2020) by .gif for the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, as well as Be Here, With Me as part of Checkpoint’s first online video series, Two Songs and a Story (2020).

Paul Anthony Drayson is a Board Member of Checkpoint Theatre.

Born in Esher, England, Paul Anthony Drayson studied at Cranleigh School. He enrolled on the Chartered Accountancy programme and qualified as a member of the Scottish Chartered Accountants. Appointed as a travelling auditor with British American Tobacco (BAT), Paul worked in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. He subsequently joined Contactor Switchgear in Wolverhamton in the United Kingdom.

Paul was appointed an accountant with The Straits Times Press in Singapore and subsequently the Financial Controller of the New Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur. He returned to Singapore to rejoin The Straits Times, and was later appointed Chief Financial Controller of Singapore Press Holdings. On leaving SPH, Paul worked with other companies.

Huzir Sulaiman is a Board Member and Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre.

Huzir has three decades of multidisciplinary creative practice, ranging from creative consultancy for large organisations to award- winning work in theatre and film, with a particular focus on training, education, and mentorship.

Consultancy engagements include high-level executive coaching for DBS in Singapore and Hong Kong, Credit Suisse, and Orbium; editorial services for Temasek Holdings (writing a 60,000 word history of the organisation for internal use), the Malay Heritage Foundation, and the National Library Board; research for Samsung Asia; and experience design for the National Museum of Singapore and the Burj Khalifa observation deck in Dubai (serving as the Creative Director).

Huzir oversees the development of new work at Checkpoint Theatre, and directs productions for audio, video, and theatre. A critically acclaimed and award winning playwright, his Collected Plays 1998-2012 was published in 2013.

As a screenwriter, he won Best Screenplay at the 2018 Malaysian Screen Awards for Dukun. His essays and commentary pieces have appeared in The Star, The Straits Times, and The Huffington Post.

Most recently an Adjunct Associate Professor with the NUS University Scholars Programme, Huzir has also taught playwriting at the NUS English Department, SOTA, Yale-NUS College, NYU Tisch Asia, and NTU. He has served on the Cultural Medallion Specialist Panel, the Singapore Biennale Advisory Committee, and the Young Artist Award Specialist Panel.

Huzir was educated at Princeton University, winning the Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize, and is a Yale World Fellow, having undergone Yale University’s highly selective public policy and leadership training programme.

Phan Ming Yen is a Board Member of Checkpoint Theatre.

An independent producer, writer and researcher, Phan Ming Yen has been involved in Singapore’s music scene variously as a music critic, journalist, writer, arts manager, producer and educator for the past 30 years. He has written on music in 19th century Singapore and also on the Syonan Symphony Orchestra during the Japanese Occupation for Cultural Connections, the journal of the Culture Academy of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and a contributing writer to Singapore Soundscape.

As an educator, Phan has taught music writing and music promotional skills at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in the mid and late 2000s and Western Music in Singapore at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) from 2021 – 2022 and will be teaching a module on Social and Cultural Studies Through Music in the upcoming academic year at the conservatory.

Aside from his ongoing research on music during the Japanese Occupation, Phan is at present setting up a heritage and documentation centre on the history of a prominent tin ore dealer in Perak, Malaysia. Phan’s fiction and poetry has been published online in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore and by Ethos Books and appeared a featured writer in the 2016 and 2022 editions of the Singapore Writer’s Festival.

Ming Yen is the former Chief Operating Officer of The RICE Company Limited and former director of the Global Cultural Alliance Limited.

Teo Teck Weng is a Board Member of Checkpoint Theatre

Teo Teck Weng is a director of Hong How and Tong Eng Group, which are award-winning real estate developers with projects across different sectors including landed housing, condominium, apartments, offices, retail mall and warehouses. Teck Weng was formerly a journalist with The Business Times. He has been a champion of local drama groups since 1985.

Claire Wong is a Board Member and Joint Artistic Director, and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre.

As Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre, Claire is responsible for the company’s artistic vision, strategies and programmes, and oversees the company’s business, operations, legal and regulatory matters. Claire often produces and directs the company’s productions, and also writes and performs for the stage and camera.

Claire graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Law (Hons). She was admitted to the Singapore Bar and practised as a litigator and a corporate lawyer. She worked in Sydney at Freehills and in Singapore at Allen & Gledhill, Helen Yeo & Partners and Rodyk & Davidson (now known as Dentons Rodyk).

She has performed in, and helmed, numerous productions to critical and popular acclaim in Singapore and in major international arts festivals and in cities in Europe, USA, Australia and Japan. Claire’s work has received nominations and awards over the years at the annual ST Life! Theatre Awards.

Claire was an Adjunct Fellow at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. As a consultant, she provides corporate leadership training and creative consultancy services. She has served on various National Arts Council award and scholarship panels, and is a mentor for the Young Women’s Leadership Connection.

Actress and Director Claire Wong leads the way with excellence.

The Straits Times, SG

Kudos to Wong for drawing out the potential of the text, even down to the smallest details… not only stunning but truly generous.

The Flying Inkpot, SG

…an actress with immense stage presence, charisma and talent…

The Business Times, SG

Annabelle Yip is a Board Member of Checkpoint Theatre.

She is a corporate lawyer with over 30 years’ experience. She is a Senior Consultant at Wong Partnership LLP and was the Joint Head of the Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice until March 2022. Annabelle is an independent non-executive director of UOL Group Limited, a leading Singapore-listed property and hospitality group, and AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited, a licensed financial adviser and exempt insurance broker in Singapore. She is also a fellow of the Singapore Institute of Directors.

Annabelle was previously Vice President (Corporate Services) and Head of Legal and Risk Management of Singapore Airport Terminal Services Limited (now known as SATS Limited), and a board member of The Substation Limited, a registered arts charity which was an Institution of a Public Character in Singapore.

Annabelle graduated from the National University of Singapore. She is admitted to the Singapore Bar. She obtained her LL.M. from King’s College London, University of London, specialising in Corporate and Commercial Law.

Dr. Joanne Yoong is a Board Member of Checkpoint Theatre.

Joanne Yoong is the Founder and Chief Executive of Research for Impact, Singapore. Joanne is an applied microeconomist and interdisciplinary researcher. She holds multiple faculty appointments – Visiting Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Honorary Senior Lecturer, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Adjunct Faculty, Department of Economics, Singapore Management University. She is the author of over eighty peer-reviewed articles in leading economics, medical and public health journals. Her work includes the evaluation of healthcare policy and practice as well as the economic assessment of new health technologies.

Joanne has worked on projects around the world including Singapore, the United States, India, China,

Ghana, Kenya, Cambodia, Indonesia and Iraqi Kurdistan. She is an experienced educator at the university and professional level. Joanne received her PhD in Economics at Stanford University as an FSI Starr Foundation Fellow after an early career in financial services and her AB summa cum laude in Economics and Applied and Computational Mathematics from Princeton University.