SINGAPORE: Ms Koh Wan Ching has been appointed Head of Acting at the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI), a media release said on Wednesday (June 14).
Ms Koh, who’s worked both on and offstage in Singapore, will begin her stint as a director on July 1 at the school founded in 2000 by Kuo Pau Kun and T. Sasitharan. It is the first succession of leadership at the school. ITI is the only school around the globe to offer a Professional Diploma in Intercultural Theatre (Acting).
The actor-director has worked for the past two decades with several theatre companies in Singapore which, include Drama Box, Nine Years Theatre, The Necessary Stage and Wild Rice, and has in the past also been an Adjunct Lecturer in the BA Acting programmes at both LASALLE College of the Arts and NAFA.
In 2020, she joined the faculty of ITI, where she has been teaching Acting and Movement. She has also performed across Asia at festivals in Beijing, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Macao, Seoul, and Toyama.
“ITI is about living traditions, and people. I want more people to know about ITI and its unique programme, charged with the traditional and the contemporary. I want people to see our students’ experiments in theatre-making. I look forward to collaborations and deep engagement with local and regional practitioners.
As I take on new responsibilities, I remember all with whom I have crossed paths because of ITI. I also thank each and every colleague, old and new, who works tirelessly so that the school on the hill does not fall apart…I celebrate all these human beings and their reasons for coming to ITI, and am honoured to be on this journey with them,” says Ms Koh of her new appointment.
She takes over directorial responsibilities from 2012 Cultural Medallion awardee T. Sasitharan. She will now spearhead the Professional Diploma In Intercultural Theatre (Acting) course, while he will be taking a mentorship role and continue to teach the Humanities (Cultural & Literary Theory module) and focus on research, writing and strategic planning.
ITI has produced almost 100 graduates, including actors Yeo Yann Yann and Grace Kalaiselvi and dancer Caroline Chin. /TISG