M.A. (1995)
Artistic Director
TheatreWorks Singapore
Keng Sen is known for his rejection of authenticity and his embracing of multiple realities and hybridity within Asia. Although his training is in contemporary performance from New York University, he often brings the strength of traditional concepts into his work. In 1994, Keng Sen conceptualized The Flying Circus Project, a creative strategy laboratory which is a robust encounter between contemporary arts and traditional performance. Believing that it is important to represent on stage an Asia of today, Keng Sen directed Lear which premiered in Tokyo in 1997. To date, this production has toured nine cities in Asia, Europe and Australia including the Festival of Perth.
Keng Sen's philosophy of making work with an international dimension and relevance has seen his productions being presented in major arts festivals and cultural institutions in Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States of America. However, his contribution to the evolution of Singapore theatre is undeniable. He developed The Writers' Laboratory, which over the years has developed into a power house for Singaporean writing. Keng Sen has also developed a genre which he calls docu-performance. These docu-performances explore the identity of today's Asia through the excavation of history and a confrontation of self and the other. They include Broken Birds , a piece about Japanese prostitutes in Singapore at the turn of the century, and Workhorse Afloat , which explores the consumption of the foreign construction worker from India by the Singaporean middle class. In 2000, Keng Sen directed David Henry Hwang's The Silver River and Bright Sheng for the Spoleto Festival USA.
Keng Sen has lectured in London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney and Hong Kong (for The Asia Society of New York) about Asian performance. He is presently a member of an Asian-Europe network to look at exchange between new Asia and new Europe. He is the holder of several foundation fellowships including the Japan Foundation, British Council, Asian Cultural Council (New York) and is also a Fulbright Scholar.
In 2002, Keng Sen continues another busy year with a Flying Circus project that will commence working on community arts in Luang Prabang, Laos. In April, his production of The Continuum: Beyond the Killing Fields will play Vienna. TheatreWorks will perform Global Soul at the Singapore Arts Festival in June and Keng Sen will return to Laos with them in November to present The Ramayana with local artists.
