The Studios is the Esplanade's annual platform for new and experimental works and it focuses on a single playwright for the first time.
The programming booklet explains why: Sharma's work "finds a place for those standing in the margins". The nuanced characters evoke a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.
Ms Joyce Yao, producer at The Esplanade Co, adds: "Haresh's plays are known for their incisive commentary and are deeply rooted in the fabric of Singapore. There are no easy answers in his plays, but they pave the way for empathy and the bridging of differences. These are urgent and important for the times we live in."
Sharma is excited about the season, saying the artists "can breathe new life into the plays to reach out to new audiences".
From March 16 to 19, Chia's troupe will stage a Mandarin version of the play Fundamentally Happy. When staged in 2006, that critically acclaimed two-hander featured a male Chinese character interacting with a Malay woman. Both speak in Singlish or Malay.
From March 23 to 26, Koh performs a version of Completely With/Out Character, a monologue which talks about living with HIV in Singapore. It was devised with and performed by the late Paddy Chew in 1999. This version, With/Out, is reworked and directed by artist Loo Zihan.
From March 30 to April 2, actor and rising director Timothy Nga presents This Chord And Others (1991), a comedy about friendship, race and religion.
From April 6 to 9, Malay troupe Teater Ekamatra presents Hope (Harap), a version of the 1994 play about the hopes of Singaporeans.
Also featured is a work-inprogress directed by Koh Wan Ching, devised with actresses Chelsea Crothers, Chng Xin Xuan, Grace Kalaiselvi, Lina Yu and Wendi Wee Hian. Titled Precise Purpose Of Being Broken, this is a collaborative all-female performance based on eight to 10 texts written by Sharma. Some of these have never been performed in public. The work is part of The Studios' developmental platform Raw.
Koh, 37, says: "I often feel there aren't enough roles for women. The question I'm asking is: How do I work with these women and make a new piece out of writing that belongs to all of us?"
Sharma gave her complete freedom to pick and choose from his texts. Koh says: "When Haresh said, 'These are the texts, pick what you like, you can also reconstruct them if you like,' it was a blessing. There's no precedent or expectation."
There are several precedents for This Chord And Others, which was last performed in 2000.
Director Nga, 43, wondered whether to rework the script to reflect newer fissures in Singaporean society. For example, the play features the friendship among three men of different races: One character, played by Pavan J. Singh, is Sikh; another, played by Neo Hai Bin is Chinese; while Thomas Pang plays a Eurasian.
Should their relationships be updated to reflect a conflict between Singaporean Chinese and newcomers from China?
Then Nga saw subtler shades in the text. "It's not a racial play. It's identity and friendship politics and culture and class. There is race politics in there, but it's not the overarching issue. It's about three boys trying to be men."
•Raw: Precise Purpose Of Being Broken is fully registered.