ST Life Theatre Awards: Weish’s musical, Sharon Au family drama, Nusantara fairy tale top nomination list

SINGAPORE – Playwright and composer weish’s resonant take on Singaporean schooling life, Secondary: The Musical, and Nine Years Theatre artistic director Nelson Chia’s Mandarin family drama, Everything For You, have emerged front runners at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2025.

Both are in contention for the coveted Production of the Year award, having met with near-universal acclaim when they were staged respectively in March and February 2024. Secondary: The Musical has six votes and Everything For You has five from the panel of judges comprising ST arts editor Ong Sor Fern, arts correspondent Clement Yong and arts journalist Shawn Hoo.

Checkpoint Theatre’s Hard Mode, which earnestly explores the world of Gen Zs and Gen Alphas; and Transplant, The Finger Players’ (TFP) unsettling reinterpretation of Chinese horror classic Liaozhai, round up the quartet of nominees for Production of the Year. 

Malay theatre company Teater Ekamatra’s Nusantara fairy tale retold, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, also has five nominations – but without a nod for Production of the Year. It is in the mix for Best Director for Mohd Fared Jainal – who once more adroitly commands a cast of Malay theatre A-listers – Best Ensemble, as well as the technical categories of Best Costume, Best Set and Best Lighting.

This is the 24th edition of the awards, the longest-running accolade to recognise the best in Singapore theatre, organised every year since 2001, bar the pandemic year of 2021. Winners will be announced on the ST website on March 12.

Weish’s musical – an outrageously successful debut – featured 15 original songs partially inspired by her six years as a literature teacher, finding its target among educators, students and parents with its gentle satire of the way Singapore’s system sorts students and the inordinate pressure heaped on fatigued teachers.

It gets nods in the categories of Best Original Script, Best Supporting Actor (for Teoh Jun Vinh), Best Supporting Actress (for Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai), Best Director (for Huzir Sulaiman) and Best Costume (for Max Tan) – a munificent haul for Checkpoint Theatre’s largest production to date.

Everything For You – described by ST as a “family drama with an edge” when it was performed at Esplanade’s Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2024 – earns its lead Sharon Au a place among those jostling for Best Actress. Her portrayal of Shi Lin, a washed-up actress and one of a trio of sisters, was praised in ST’s review as “an energetic performance quietly full of range”.

There is also recognition for Jonny Ng (for Best Supporting Actor) and nominations in the Best Original Script and Best Set categories for Everything For You, Chia’s sequel to the beloved Between You And Me (2022), which again succeeds in finding genuine warmth despite well-trodden territory.

They face strong competition from other productions which have four nominations each.

Playwright Faith Ng’s Hard Mode immerses itself in the world of “skibidi” – a popular slang word with kids, which can mean good, bad or weird – and K-pop without falling into the trap of caricature. Besides Production of the Year, it is also vying for Best Original Script, Best Actor (for Chaney Chia) and Best Set.

Also with four nominations is Transplant, which combines live actors, puppets and Vedic metal band Rudra to effect the haunting, surreal breakdown of a family plagued by demons.

Its cohesive leaning into eerie discomfort and some sexual innuendo gains TFP artistic director Oliver Chong a nomination for Best Director and puts it in a strong position to also sweep Best Original Script and Best Ensemble.

Chong Tze Chien’s Dream Of The Red Chamber, also by TFP, earns spots in the categories of Best Director, Best Costume, Best Sound and Best Set. This is yet another adaptation of a towering Chinese classic, distilled into two hours and presented innovatively with live characters in masks and string puppets on a sunken stage littered with lotus made of organza and netting.

Both productions speak to puppetry and its attendant effects of dehumanisation and the blurring between the real and the illusionary as essential tools in the kit of the postmodern raconteur.

Acting categories

Fresh from his victory in 2024, veteran actor Ghafir Akbar once more proves his mettle with dual nominations in the Best Actor category, as lawyer Amir Kapoor in Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Disgraced – an emotional reckoning with the lure of identity politics – and as an arrested maniac helming the vaudeville routines and bawdy humour in Wild Rice’s Accidental Death Of An Activist.

Fellow nominee Daniel Jenkins’ full-throated display, a “consummate vehicle” according to ST’s review, flawlessly channels Edward Albee’s words in Pangdemonium’s gladiatorial Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?.

Relative newbie Chaney Chia, with his charismatic turn as Adam, the archetypal buddy who harbours a shy love in Hard Mode, might yet further shake things up.

The Best Actress category, as is tradition, is yet more fiercely contested. Dalifah Shahril’s passionate performance as mother Ainah in The Necessary Stage’s dementia play Oo-woo is at turns reticent and voluble, delivering some of the play’s hardest-hitting lines in Malay and English.

Toy Factory Productions’ restaging of the street opera-inspired Titoudao sees Tan Rui Shan pulling out both comedic and choreographic stops to dramatically enact the stories of wayang actress Ah Chiam and cheeky servant Titoudao.

Then there is the ill-fated, hardscrabble mother played by Koh Wan Ching in The Necessary Stage’s wholesome White, All White and the gripping, potent solo by Farah Ong in The Death Of Singapore Theatre, a lecture-performance on censorship written by Alfian Sa’at and staged by Wild Rice.

In Singapore theatre, at least, there seems no shortage of versatile roles for middle-aged female actors – surely something to laud with the wealth of talent active on the scene.

Worth mentioning also are the dual nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, who, on this evidence, deserves more anchoring roles. As Mandy Thomas, the strict head of the literature department in Secondary: The Musical, and as mother Heidi in Pangdemonium’s Dear Evan Hansen, she proves herself a vocal powerhouse, “begging to be let loose as the female lead”, according to ST’s review of the latter.

Directing and other nominations

The Theatre Practice’s Kuo Jian Hong is nominated for Best Director for her mesmeric, interlocking visions in the unique All The World’s A Sea, in which personal crises are transmuted into a humanist message against the tribalism of the world today.

A similar grasp for cosmic interconnectedness is also at the core of Hi, Can You Hear Me?. The difficult play, written and co-directed by A Yagnya, has understandably elicited mixed reactions, but is here rewarded with nominations for Best Original Script, Best Ensemble, Best Sound and Best Multimedia.

The confident romp including a tiger, Guanyin and artificial intelligence by The Necessary Stage feels alienating, but manages to retain a fierce emotional tenor, partly due to the immense talent of the trilingual cast, its dissonance the point in a fractured world beset by physical and technological dislocation and warfare.

Finally, the largely amateur cast in HuM Theatre’s controversial and thunderous Train To Pakistan, marshalled by director Daisy Irani, is also in the mix for Best Ensemble, having impressed in the stirring tale set during the Indian Partition of 1947.

This is a delicious slate of nominees, as theatremakers in Singapore continue to push forward with their visions – whether postmodern, retaking youth on their own terms or simply flexing their muscles on well-known foreign scripts.

To those still complaining about the restriction to local productions of the Government’s $100 Culture Pass credits, given to Singaporeans 18 and above, this is an eloquent rebuttal.

What nominees say:

Weish, 34, whose debut Secondary: The Musical has five nominations: “I’m most moved by the response – all the long essays people posted on social media, educators sobbing in the foyer post-show, but most of all the teenage students who came forward to share the many ways they saw themselves in the play. It was a hugely cathartic and humbling journey for me.”

Nelson Chia, whose Everything For You has five nominations: “It is incredibly rare – perhaps even a first – for a local company to be commissioned to present a sequel on the main theatre stage at Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts. I see this as a strong vote of confidence in our work and the contributions we have made to the local Mandarin theatre scene over the past 12 years. It drew large audiences – many of them first-time theatregoers.”

Daniel Jenkins, nominated for Best Actor, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?: “From the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor film to numerous stage productions, the characters of George and Martha are so iconic that playing them brings a sense of responsibility. Albee’s brilliant text and the emotional and physical demands all make George a challenge for any actor. I’ve been fortunate to play some amazing roles in my career, but this must rate as one of the hardest.”

Sharon Au, nominated for Best Actress, Everything For You: “The character walks a razor-thin line between comedy and profound sorrow, and playing that balance was incredibly demanding. Comedy demands precision, while tragedy demands raw vulnerability, and shifting between the two – sometimes within the same breath – was an intense challenge.”

Dalifah Shahril, 45, nominated for Best Actress, Oo-woo: “This was a memorable one as it happened just a few months after my dad’s passing. I was still grieving and crying for no reason. I really appreciated (director) Fared’s sensitivity. He always assured me that if it got too emotional, he would stop the rehearsal.”

Tan Rui Shan, 33, nominated for Best Actress, Titoudao: “Titoudao is a masterpiece that was created from a place of love, gratitude and immense pride of our own culture and heritage. I love the spirit that the work carries and how loudly it screams Singaporean.”

Teoh Jun Vinh, 30, nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Secondary: The Musical: “Everybody has his or her own endearing story of a quirky teacher with a ‘non-sense’ of humour. My dear friend and actor Shahid Nasheer and my father both died in 2024. If there’s anything I have learnt from them, it is to spread smiles, put integrity into your work and make time for your loved ones.”

Benjamin Koh, 26, nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Little Shop Of Horrors: “Growing up, I was inspired by the dynamic energy of Jim Carrey and the quirky charm of Stephen Chow’s movies. Orin in Little Shop Of Horrors inspired me the same way. The original musical transformed the actor playing Orin into a one-man ensemble, requiring me to take on multiple distinct characters, including a lightning-fast quick change during an eight-minute song that initially felt like a major headache.”

Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, mid-30s, nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Dear Evan Hansen: “It combines everything I love about my craft. As an actor, I love the gritty, the dirty, the messy. Adding music on top of that is icing on the cake. It gave me the chance to be silly and goofy, growl in rage, cry like a mess, all while singing my heart out.”

Doppo Narita, 56, one of the cast members in Hi, Can You Hear Me?, nominated for Best Ensemble, who spoke in Japanese: “Although there is a language barrier when communicating with the audience, I could imagine that it would be relatively easy to gain sympathy from the uniqueness of the role and depth of the character’s rich inner feelings. I am afraid of being alone on stage. Theatre is all about communication between the actors, how well the actors can convey a clear and harmonious sentiment to the hearts of the audience.”

Serene Chen, one of the cast members of Geng Rebut Cabinet, nominated for Best Ensemble: “GRC is a lovely challenge for me as I am not a Malay speaker. In the previous run, I felt I had more difficulties responding in good time because I didn’t understand the Malay lines as much and was listening more to cues. That’s less ‘alive’ than I wanted to be. This being my second time playing the role of Catherine, I had a better grasp of the flavour of the language and felt I could be more sensitive to my cast members’ performances. And so we played harder during rehearsals and found more comedy as well as pathos.”

Alin Mosbit, one of the cast members of Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, nominated for Best Ensemble: “Working on such a dynamic, physically demanding production at age 50 was really challenging. However, deep down, I knew that, with the talent and experience, I can provide the play with a certain depth and candour through my roles. Of course, it is also a bonus to work with Singaporean Malay theatre A-listers and Malaysia’s amazing talent, Nabila Huda.”

Phisit Jongnarangsin, 53, and Saxit Pisalasupongs, 50, of Tube Gallery, who designed the costumes in The Wizard Of Oz: “The Munchkin people’s colourful costumes were inspired by the vibrant Peranakan architecture of Singapore’s East Coast. Emerald City took inspiration from Orchard Road, where people tend to dress in high fashion. The Tin Man is designed with rusted Milo and nostalgic canned food tins, while the Scarecrow captures a local Ah Beng vibe, reflected in his accessories like a sling bag and a golden chain.”

Jevon Chandra, 33, nominated for Best Sound, Hi, Can You Hear Me?: “I performed with a small vintage Casiotone CT-310. It was a portable keyboard that meant a lot to me – I had bought it second-hand during Covid-19 so I had a compact instrument to play with during lockdown, in a tiny private space I carved out at home. The play was about a sense of uncanny proximity one can feel to distant tragedies. It immediately felt fitting.”

Genevieve Peck, 34, nominated for Best Lighting, All The World’s A Sea: “Designing both lighting and projection for this conceptually challenging show required a delicate balance between the two elements. Projection is also a light source, and at times, the lines between them were intentionally blurred to make the audience question whether a visual effect was created by lighting or projection.”

Production of the Year

Everything For You, Nine Years Theatre
Hard Mode, Checkpoint Theatre
Transplant, The Finger Players
Secondary: The Musical, Checkpoint Theatre

Best Actor

Chaney Chia, Hard Mode
Daniel Jenkins, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Ghafir Akbar, Accidental Death Of An Activist
Ghafir Akbar, Disgraced

Best Actress

Dalifah Shahril, Oo-woo
Farah Ong, The Death Of Singapore Theatre As Scripted By The Infocomm Media Development Authority Of Singapore
Koh Wan Ching, White, All White
Sharon Au, Everything For You
Tan Rui Shan, Titoudao

Best Supporting Actor

Benjamin Koh, Little Shop Of Horrors
Jonny Ng, Everything For You
Rafaat Haji Hamzah, Playing With Fire
Teoh Jun Vinh, Secondary: The Musical
Xander Pang, Dear Evan Hansen

Best Supporting Actress

Karen Tan, Falling
Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Dear Evan Hansen
Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Secondary: The Musical

Best Director

Chong Tze Chien, Dream Of The Red Chamber
Huzir Sulaiman, Secondary: The Musical
Kuo Jian Hong, All The World’s A Sea
Mohd Fared Jainal, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah
Oliver Chong, Transplant

Best Original Script

A Yagnya, Hi, Can You Hear Me?
Faith Ng, Hard Mode
Haresh Sharma, The Prose And The Passion
Nelson Chia, Everything For You
Oliver Chong, Transplant
Weish, Secondary: The Musical

Best Ensemble

Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, Teater Ekamatra
Geng Rebut Cabinet, Teater Ekamatra
Hi, Can You Hear Me?, The Necessary Stage
Train To Pakistan, HuM Theatre
Transplant, The Finger Players

Best Set

Chong Tze Chien and Grace Lin, Dream Of The Red Chamber
Eucien Chia, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Eucien Chia, Dear Evan Hansen
Francis O’Connor, Disgraced
Mohd Fared Jainal, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah
Petrina Dawn Tan, Hard Mode
Wong Chee Wai, Everything For You

Best Costume

Max Tan, Dream Of The Red Chamber
Max Tan, Secondary: The Musical
Tube Gallery, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah
Tube Gallery, Wizard Of Oz

Best Lighting

Adrian Tan, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah
Genevieve Peck, All The World’s A Sea
Faith Liu Yong Huay, Playing With Fire
Faith Liu Yong Huay, Puppet Origin Stories

Best Sound

Guo Ningru, All The World’s A Sea
Jevon Chandra, Hi, Can You Hear Me?
Ng Jing, Dream Of The Red Chamber
Safuan Johari, Geng Rebut Cabinet

Best Multimedia

Brian Gothong Tan, Hi, Can You Hear Me?
Genevieve Peck, Dear Evan Hansen
Nick Roux, One Day We’ll Understand