With additional support from NAC’s SEED grant, the company became fully operational with administration and production support.īy the end of 2003, The Finger Players became Singapore’s first professional puppet theatre company actively touring its productions to local schools and community theatre/shopping malls over and above its international showings. By the tail end of this period, the company had carved a niche in the international puppetry circuit, having toured to over 10 European and Asian cities around the world, making it one of Singapore’s most international prolific touring companies.Īt the same time, the company moved to its present Cairnhill premises under the National Arts Council’s Arts Housing scheme. At the same time, the artists continued to evolve and develop their craft through more international invites and workshops. The production established many puppet-making techniques that are still being used today. Not only was the seminal production hailed as “stunning” and “nothing less than spectacular” by the press, it bore many aesthetics that is now trademarks of The Finger Players: dazzling array of different puppet styles “exposed” puppeteers who double up as actors interaction between actors and puppets. The years of experimentation with different puppet styles and international exposure culminated in The Finger Players’ first full-length production (Nezha) in 20 respectively. These festivals in turn gave the company’s full time artists many opportunities to exchange and share their craft and expertise with many international artists and puppet masters from all around the world. The company grew from strength to strength and won numerous invitations from overseas puppetry festivals during this period. By then, the company’s style had evolved and included many other puppets styles from both the east and west. The company’s mission then was to create a puppet theatre that promoted the legends and myths from the Asia Pacific. In 1999, The Finger Players left The Theatre Practice to establish itself as a separate entity. Although the repertoire during that time consisted mainly of traditional hand puppetry, the members began to experiment with other puppetry forms to expand their theatrical language and vocabulary. Production highlights during this burgeoning period include Battle of Redhill (a collaboration with The Theatre Practice under the direction of well-known Taiwanese director Calvin Teng), which was performed at the Festival of Asian Performing Arts 1997 and Treasures from the Dragon Palace, which was performed at the Thian Hock Keng temple under the direction of China’s renowned Puppet Master, Li Bo Fen. The division actively performed in schools and community tours. The late drama doyen, Kuo Pao Kun, enrolled the key original members comprising of Tan Beng Tian and Ong Kian Sin to spearhead and promote the art of puppetry amongst the young. The Finger Players first started out as a children division specialising in traditional Chinese hand puppetry under The Theatre Practice. The Finger Players is a non-profit organisation with Institution of Public Character (IPC) status, a recipient of the National Arts Council's Major Grant for the period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020, and a member of the Singapore Chinese Language Theatre Alliance. Using puppetry, the company reaches out to an average of 25,000 students and members of the public annually, through performances and workshops with schools, communities and institutions. The company is one of Singapore's most prolific international touring companies, and has actively been touring its productions since 2000, promoting Singapore's brand of puppetry internationally. With puppetry at the core of its creation. ![]() The company's annual offering of edgy and original works, that adopts an interdisciplinary approach and: ![]() The company currently operates three branches: ![]() The Artistic Director is supported by a team of core members who are integral to The Finger Players since its inception. In 2019, The Finger Players became the first arts collective in Singapore to operate on a rotating artistic director model, with each Artistic Director helming the fort for a stipulated tenure. The Finger Players is one of Singapore's leading theatre companies, best known for inventively fusing puppetry elements into its visually-arresting productions, and its strong advocacy of puppetry.įounded in 1999, The Finger Players strives to be a centre of research and development for the creation and performance of puppetry in Singapore.
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