Singapore theatre actor Shahid Nasheer, 28, dies from leukaemia complications

SINGAPORE – Theatre actor Shahid Nasheer died on the evening of Oct 14 at Gleneagles Hospital, following complications while being treated for leukaemia. He was 28.

The Singaporean acted in several Checkpoint Theatre productions, such as Secondary: The Musical (2024) and Brown Boys Don’t Tell Jokes (2023).

Described as witty, thoughtful and sweet-natured by his peers in an Instagram post by Checkpoint Theatre, Shahid did theatre studies and drama as an A-level subject while at Anglo-Chinese Junior College. He then studied acting at Lasalle College of the Arts.

Huzir Sulaiman, co-founder and joint artistic director of Checkpoint Theatre, told The Straits Times: “Shahid was among the brightest talent of his generation. He brought innate genius and rigorous, hard work to every role he tackled. He was a beautiful soul and a dear friend, and will be very much missed by everyone in the Checkpoint Theatre family and the wider artistic community.”

Shahid had been slated to appear in Hard Mode, a play about the world of Generation Alpha, running at the drama theatre at School of the Arts, Singapore from Oct 18 to 26. But in September, it was announced that he had to withdraw following medical advice to undergo chemotherapy, and would be replaced by understudy Matthias Teh.

On Oct 3, Shahid shared on Instagram that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia, and was 17 days into his cancer treatment.

Checkpoint Theatre said in its Instagram post that Shahid had the constant love and encouragement of his parents, sister, aunts, uncles and long-time girlfriend. 

He was adored by everybody, the perfect collaborator in the rehearsal room and the ideal person to hang out with outside of work. He was also brilliant at mathematics, trained in ballet and had mad skills with a 3D printer, added the post.

“All of us at Checkpoint Theatre are in deep sorrow at his passing. We had the highest respect for his artistry, and we treasured his friendship immensely. A young giant has left us.”

Shahid also appeared as Sang Nila Utama in the multidisciplinary bicentennial exhibition The Bicentennial Experience (2019). At the T:>Works Festival of Women N.O.W. (2020), he was a sound engineer for a trio of experimental works titled Sound Stories.

More recently, he appeared in the Filipino romance drama film Elevator (2024), available on Netflix – he played one of the main character’s colleagues.