Conceived by Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen in 1990, the Writers’ Lab has been pioneering in encouraging and developing Singapore playwriting with its carried as well as far-reaching programmes. The Writers’ Lab aims to provide exceptional first-time and emerging playwrights with opportunities to hone their creative writing skills through an incubating environment.
Writers' Lab Publications
TheatreWorks has published 5 compendiums of writings by playwrights from the Writers’ Lab. These publications serve as a resource for those interested in staging Singaporean plays, and those looking beyond standard texts. The year 1993 marks Writers’ Lab’s first publication, Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values, which consists of plays that are diverse in theme and style, reflecting both Western and Asian influences. TheatreWorks subsequently published 2 other anthologies in 1995 and 1996. In 2003, TheatreWorks produced their fourth publication, 5 Under 25, comprising of prize-winning plays from the Writers’ Lab, specially focusing on writings for the young. In 2016, TheatreWorks published its latest compendium, Forty-Four Winning Plays from the TheatreWorks 24-Hour Playwriting Competition.
Fat Virgins, Fast Cars and Asian Values
1993
Individual plays:
Bernard’s Story by Dana Lam
Lest The Demons Get To Me by Russell Heng Hiang Khng
Fast Cars and Fancy Women by Kwuan Loh
Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder by Robin Loon
Three Fat Virgins Unassembled by Ovidia Yu
Home by Tan Tarn How
Blood and Snow by Desmond Sim
Good Asian Values by Chng Suan Tze
Bra Sizes by Theresa Tan
Dirty Laundry, Mergers and Undercover
1995
Individual plays:
Mergers and Accusations by Eleanor Wong
Undercover by Tan Tarn How
Dirty Laundry by Theresa Tan
Watching The Clouds Go By by Robin Loon
Others by Enrico Varella
Breaking Through by Lee Chee Keng
Cetecea by Otto Fong
Playful Phoenix: Women Write For The Singapore Stage
Edited by Chin Woon Ping
1996
Individual plays:
The Woman in A Tree on the Hill by Ovidia Yu
Ordinary Woman by Dana Lam
Wills and Secession by Eleanor Wong
Family by Leow Puay Tin
Quiet The Gorilla by Tan Mei Ching
Diary Of A Madwoman by Chin Woon Ping
5 Under 25
Edited by K.K. Seet
2003
Individual plays:
Hungry by Ng Yi Sheng
All The World’s A Stage by Wong Liang Wei
Footprints In The Sand by Talia Ong
Simon Says by Alex Ye Kentangn
The Road Runners by Leon Foo
Forty-four Winning Plays from the TheatreWorks 24-Hour Playwriting Competition
Edited by Ng Yi-Sheng and Dan Koh
2016
Featuring the Winning Playwrights of the 24-Hour Playwriting Competition from 2008 to 2015
Go to https://tworkscompendium.wordpress.com for more info on our latest compendium.