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Dr Charlene Rajendran** Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Dr Charlene Rajendran is a theatre educator, researcher and practitioner currently based at the National Institute of Education – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her work involves developing arts-based dialogic pedagogies that draw on contextually-based knowledges to deepen critical and aesthetic thinking.
Dr Janet Pillai Senior Lecturer, School of Arts University Sains Malaysia
Dr Janet Pillai is a researcher, practitioner and activist in the field of arts and culture education, specializing in creative pedagogy, cultural research and community-outreach. She chairs Arts-ED a non-profit organization which works in community area revitalisation projects in partnership or consultation with professionals, local agencies and community. Pillai also contributes as an expert resource person with the education training units of UNESCO Bangkok and APCIEU Korea and has authored numerous articles.
Dr Julie Dunn Associate Professor, Drama Education and Applied Theatre Griffith University
Dr Julie Dunn is an Associate Professor at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Her research work focuses on play, playfulness and drama education. She has published widely in these areas, with a specific interest being their points of intersection. With research projects involving participants as varied as young children, adult drama learners and people living with dementia, the contexts for Julie’s research work are highly diverse. Julie is keenly interested in the role of creativity and artistry in education and has devoted most of her professional life to expanding the role these play in education.
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Dr Peter Duffy** Head, Master of Arts in Teaching Program University of South Carolina
Dr Peter Duffy heads the Master of Arts in Teaching programme in theatre education at the University of South Carolina where he teaches courses on drama-pedagogies and arts integration. He is a director and is a former public school teacher, education director and a New York teaching artist. His research interests include ethnography, cognition and the arts, culturally responsive pedagogies and performed research. He serves as the Director of Research for the International Drama/Theatre Education Association (IDEA) and is a member of AATE. Peter's work in arts education is nationally and internationally recognised. He is the 2013 recipient of AATE's Win Wright Special Recognition award. His books include Youth and Theatre of the Oppressed (co-edited with Elinor Vettraino, Palgrave Press) and A Reflective Practitioner's Guide to (mis) Adventures in Drama Education - or - What Was I Thinking (Intellect Publishing), Drama Research Methods: Provocations of Practice (co-edited with Christine Hatton and Richard Sallis, Sense Publishing, 2018) and Drama and Cognition: Staging Dramatic Improvements in Learning (Palgrave 2018).
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Ms Ang Gey Pin** Theatre Practitioner and Pedagogue Sourcing Within 内溯
Ms Ang Gey Pin is best known for her title role in the late dramatist Kuo Pao Kun’s Chinese version of Silly Little Girl and the Funny Old Tree (1987) and for being the Artistic Director of Theatre OX. She began her theatre apprenticeship with Practice Theatre Ensemble in 1986 (now Theatre Practice). She holds a B.A. degree in Theatre (with distinction) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1992). She was a member of the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards, touring and performed lead roles with the company till 2006. Since then, she has been teaching, performing and collaborating with international artists and various institutions in Singapore, Europe, South and North America.
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Mr Benjamin Ho** Artistic Director Paper Monkey Theatre Ltd
Mr Benjamin Ho is the founder and artistic Director of Paper Monkey Theatre Ltd. He has over 20 years of experience in working with young people using puppets. In 2017, the company's production of "The Magic Paintbrush" clinched the M1-The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2017 for Best Production for the Young.
Mr Chong Tze Chien
Company Director
The Finger Players
Mr Chong Tze Chien is an award-winning and published playwright/director who has been the company director of The Finger Players since 2004. Some of the awards he has won include the Singapore Dramatist Award and The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. He has published two play collections containing critically acclaimed plays such as Charged (Best Script, Life! Theatre Awards) and PIE (Singapore Dramatist Awards). For his contribution to Singapore Theatre, he was awarded the Young Artist Award by the Singapore’s National Arts Council in 2006.
Mr John Britton Founder and Artistic Director DUENDE
Mr John Britton is the founder and Artistic Director of DUENDE, an international collaboration of artists committed to ensemble practices. He is also the Director of The DUENDE School of Ensemble Physical Theatre. His approach to training individuals within ensemble (Self-With-Others) is the foundation on which DUENDE’s work is built. Self-With-Others is the heart of John’s work as a teacher, director and performer. He uses this approach to train existing companies, professional performers, students and others in groups and individually.
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Mr Kenneth Kwok** Director, Arts and Youth and Strategic Planning National Arts Council
Mr Kenneth Kwok received the national Outstanding Youth in Education Award as an English Language, Literature and Drama Club teacher, and has also been a secondary school vice-principal and Assistant Director, Curriculum Policy (Ministry of Education). He has also served as an adjunct lecturer in Educational Drama (National Institute of Education). He has an M.Ed. in Arts in Education and is currently Director, Arts & Youth (National Arts Council).
Mr Marco Luly Founder, Writer and Artistic Director Luoghi dell'Arte
Mr Marco Luly is the founder, Artistic Director and writer for Luoghi dell’Arte in Rome. Since 1993, he has led his company to perform and lead workshops in Asia, Europe and America. He has conducted classes and lectures on the history and techniques of Commedia dell’Arte and worked in cross-cultural productions with students and actors in many countries. He specialises in the production of Commedia dell’Arte, Medieval Theatre and of plays by the Father of Italian Comedy, Carlo Goldoni. His commitment to reviving this unique form of theatre has won acclaim as he continues to adapt and contemporarise medieval and renaissance period manuscripts in his performances.
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Ms Marianne Sim** Drama Educator, School of the Arts
Ms Marianne Sim is a teacher at the School of the Arts and has been teaching Foundation Drama and GCSE ‘O’ level Drama for the past 7 years. Not satisfied with just being a teacher, Marianne has tried her hand in directing and performing short pieces showcased at Celebrate Drama! and the SDEA Theatre Arts Conference.
Ms Oniatta Effendi Senior Lecturer, Theatre Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
A qualified and experienced drama educator, Ms Oniatta Effendi has spent over 20 years in the classroom. She has taught English, Literature and Drama in secondary schools for 7 years. Oniatta was a lecturer in the Performing Arts Department at LASALLE College of the Arts for 7 years, alongside writing drama curricula and facilitating drama programmes in secondary schools. She also spent the last 5 years lecturing at Singapore Polytechnic, where she was part of the Diploma in Applied Drama and Psychology team. In addition to her teaching experience, she also spent one and a half years at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice as a research assistant, researching on process drama and its impact on oral communication.
Ms Pamela Bowell Co-Editor, ND Publications Drama and Education Consultant
Ms Pamela Bowell is an internationally renowned drama and education consultant, workshop leader and author with a deep interest and experience in drama as a means to enable learning. She has just concluded a Visiting Readership in the School of Culture, Education and Innovation at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, where she continues to teach educational drama regularly in the Department of Culture and Creative Arts. Previously, she spent more than 20 years as Principal Lecturer in Drama Education at Kingston University, London, where she led the Drama Department in the School of Education. Beyond her teaching, for more than a decade she was Chair of National Drama, the UK’s leading professional association for drama teachers and theatre educators, and then returned to the Executive as ND Conference Officer. She was also the inaugural Chair of the AITA/IATA Standing Committee for Children and Youth. Currently, she serves as Co-Editor of ND publications Drama Research: international journal of drama in education and Drama – the magazine of professional practice.
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Ms Peggy Ferroa** Vice-President, SDEA Drama Educator
Ms Peggy Ferroa is the vice-president of SDEA and a community artist who works with students, seniors, the Peranakan community and corporate organisations. She has been designing, developing and implementing drama programmes for literacy and life skills since 2006 for the Singapore Prison Service. She has also been a teaching artist in NAC’s Teaching Through the Arts Programme since 2012. Peggy has an MA in Arts Pedagogy and Practice.
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Dr Prudence Wales** Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Dr Prudence Wales is an Assistant Professor in the Visual and Performing Arts Group at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) where she teaches courses in drama education and theatre. She has over 25 years of experience as an artist-educator teaching students of diverse abilities and cultures from early childhood through to seniors in formal and informal settings.
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Mr Sean Tobin** Head of Theatre, School of the Arts Artistic Director, M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
Mr Sean Tobin has been in the Singapore Theatre and Education landscape since 1993 and is currently the Artistic Director of M1 Singapore Fringe Festival and Head of Theatre at School of The Arts (SOTA). He has more than 20 years experience working in theatre with young people and holds a Bachelor of Education (specializing in Drama) from Edith Cowan University.
Ms Sharmini Winslow
Director
Promises Pte Ltd
Ms Sharmini Winslow is currently a Director of Promises Pte. Ltd., and Experiential Therapist at Winslow clinic. After graduating with a Masters in Counselling, she integrated her creative tendencies into her therapy sessions, preferring experiential models to more conventional counselling methods. She runs PsychodramaTherapy sessions for groups in her clinic as well as in the community. Her eclectic style of counselling and therapy in her Personal Growth Groups and Addiction Groups includes elements of Psychodrama, role play and the creative arts.