About

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

A critically acclaimed and award winning playwright, his Collected Plays 1998-2012 was published in 2013. His plays have been translated into German, Japanese, Polish, Indonesian and Mandarin. His essays and commentary pieces have appeared in The Star, The Straits Times, and The Huffington Post.

Recent directing includes Thick Beats for Good Girls (2018), FRAGO (2017), The Good, the Bad and the Sholay (2015), Interrogating the Interrogators: Selected Plays of Chong Tze Chien (2015), #UnicornMoment (2014), the 15th anniversary production of Atomic Jaya (2013), City Night Songs (2012), and The Good, the Bad and the Sholay (2011).

Currently an Adjunct Associate Professor with the National University of Singapore’s University Scholars Programme, Huzir has taught playwriting at the NUS English Department; the School of the Arts; New York University Tisch Asia; and Nanyang Technological University. He also heads Studio Wong Huzir, a creative consultancy. 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 Online, 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.

Trained in both Asian and Western performing arts, Claire obtained her Master of Fine Arts (MFA, Theatre Arts) from Columbia University. She directs and acts for the stage and the camera.

As a theatre director, Claire recently directed Dana Lam’s Still Life (2019), Faith Ng’s Normal (2017 and 2015) and For Better or for Worse (2013), Huzir Sulaiman’s The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco (2016) and Occupation (2012), and Joel Tan’s The Way We Go (2014). She co-directed Dream Country: a Lost Monologue, a dance-theatre production by 35 performers for the Singapore Arts Festival 2012.

As an actress, Claire has performed in landmark Singapore productions and in international arts festivals (Edinburgh Fringe; Telstra Adelaide Arts Festival; Theater der Welt). She most recently performed in Checkpoint Theatre’s 2017 production of Recalling Mother at the OzAsia Festival 2017.

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 the Associate Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre.

Faith’s plays include A Good Death (2018), Normal (2015, 2017), For Better or for Worse (2013), and wo(men) (2010). She holds a Master of Arts with Distinction in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) from the University of East Anglia, under the National Arts Council Postgraduate Scholarship. She was conferred NAC’s Young Artist Award in 2018.

Faith has also taught playwriting at the National University of Singapore and was the writer-in-residence for the Singapore Creative Writing Residency 2014. She gives talks and workshops on playwriting in schools and as part of arts programmes and festivals. Her play Normal continues to be read in schools under the NAC-AEP programme.

Izz Sumono is the Senior Production Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

She started out in the industry as a dresser, which later sparked her passion in the performing arts doing production and backstage work. She has worked on various stage productions and major events. A graduate of Victorian College of the Arts (Stage Management), Izz enjoys engaging in productions of different art forms and being part of the collaborative creative process.

Lum E-Sean is the Marketing and Communications Senior Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

A graduate of the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Business Administration (Marketing), she has headed various projects in executing marketing strategies and campaigns. She discovered her passion for the arts and theatre through her Minor in Theatre Studies, where she dabbled in both acting and directing. E-Sean is particularly fascinated with theatre as a form of connection, communication, and healing.

Myle Yan Tay is an Executive and Associate Artist at Checkpoint Theatre.

Yan is an actor, playwright, and director. He graduated from Yale-NUS College, majoring in Global Affairs. His works include Master Race (2018), Overtime: An Original Musical (2017) co-created with Nathaniel Mah, and Lemmings (The Second Breakfast Company, 2017). He played Lucas in Zenda Tan’s Eat Duck (Checkpoint Theatre, 2019), was the Assistant Director for Lucas Ho’s FRAGO (Checkpoint Theatre, 2017) and was a Citizen’s Reviewer for Centre 42 (2017-2019).

He is a recent recipient of the New Artist Fellowship from The School of the Art Institute Chicago, where he will be enrolling next year to pursue a Masters in Creative Writing. Yan’s first comic, Putu Piring, is currently in development with Checkpoint Theatre.

Wong Kar Mun Nicole is an Executive at Checkpoint Theatre.

Nicole’s love for theatre stems from a deep belief in the unique ways through which theatre allows us to understand and engage with the world. A graduate of Stanford University (BAH International Relations, Art History), she has previously worked on Ram’s Head Theatrical Society’s production of Hairspray (2015). At different points in her life, she has also been a researcher, educator, and community builder. At Checkpoint Theatre, she can be all of the above.

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 most recently presented at least I have words now, as part of Checkpoint’s first online video series, Two Songs and a Story (2020). Directing credits include Beside Ourselves (2020) by .gif as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. ants was also an Assistant Director and Musician on Checkpoint Theatre’s Displaced Persons’ Welcome Dinner (2019) and Thick Beats for Good Girls (2018). In 2018, they co-wrote, co-directed, and performed in Flamingos, an original creative work which explored vulnerability and intimacy.

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. He currently teaches playwriting at the National University of Singapore, and is an Adjunct Faculty of Literary Arts at School of the Arts, Singapore.

Outside of 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 the Associate Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre.

Faith’s plays include A Good Death (2018), Normal (2015, 2017), For Better or for Worse (2013), and wo(men) (2010). She holds a Master of Arts with Distinction in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) from the University of East Anglia, under the National Arts Council Postgraduate Scholarship. She was conferred NAC’s Young Artist Award in 2018.

Faith has also taught playwriting at the National University of Singapore and was the writer-in-residence for the Singapore Creative Writing Residency 2014. She gives talks and workshops on playwriting in schools and as part of arts programmes and festivals. Her play Normal continues to be read in schools under the NAC-AEP programme.

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, educator, and Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.

Cheyenne’s new work A Grand Design was presented by Checkpoint Theatre as an audio experience in 2020, and its live performance is under development with them. She has co-written and performed in two plays focusing on Eurasian narratives and personal history: In The Twine (commissioned for Singapore Writer’s Festival 2018) and For The Record (Centre 42’s Basement Workshop Residency 2017).

She has hosted eco-literary walks around MacRitchie Reservoir in collaboration with the Public Utilities Board (PUB) as part of Singapore Water Month 2018. Cheyenne’s writings can be found in Contour: A Lyrical Cartography of Singapore (2019) and Who are you my country? (2018). She is also a licensed Tourist Guide.

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. Other significant works include The Untitled Funeral Play (2012) — which was published in the Checkpoint Theatre anthology This Is My Family: New Singapore Plays Vol. 2 — Paper Men (2012), and Postvorta (2011). He has also contributed sketches and microplays to Late Night Texting (2016), The Rishi and Sharul Show (2015), and Orh Hor! (2013).

When he isn’t writing, Luke does improv comedy with The Modern Schemers and The Latecomers, two of Singapore’s premiere improv troupes. He has performed at festivals in Singapore, Shanghai, Manila, New York, and Bengaluru.

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. She is also a Teaching Award holder and is currently completing the Postgraduate Diploma in Education programme at the National Institute of Education. 

Zenda 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, Creative Director at The Film Guys, and Founder of Castiko.

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 Club Desire (Actor), Normal (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 featured at the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2018.

Myle Yan Tay is an Executive and Associate Artist at Checkpoint Theatre.

Yan is an actor, playwright, and director. He graduated from Yale-NUS College, majoring in Global Affairs. His works include Master Race (2018), Overtime: An Original Musical (2017) co-created with Nathaniel Mah, and Lemmings (The Second Breakfast Company, 2017). He played Lucas in Zenda Tan’s Eat Duck (Checkpoint Theatre, 2019), was the Assistant Director for Lucas Ho’s FRAGO (Checkpoint Theatre, 2017) and was a Citizen’s Reviewer for Centre 42 (2017-2019).

He is a recent recipient of the New Artist Fellowship from The School of the Art Institute Chicago, where he will be enrolling next year to pursue a Masters in Creative Writing. Yan’s first comic, Putu Piring, is currently in development with Checkpoint Theatre.

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).