Hideki Noda is a playwright, director, actor, and Artistic Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. While at the University of Tokyo, he formed his first theatre company, Yume no Yuminsha (Dreaming Bohemian). After disbanding the company in 1992, he went to study in London. Upon his return in 1993, he established a theatre production company, NODA∙MAP.

Since then, he has presented numerous acclaimed plays, including Kill, Red Demon, Pandora’s Bell, Egg, Q: A Night At The Kabuki, and Fakespeare. He also directs kabuki plays and operas. As a standard-bearer of performing arts, he continues working vigorously both inside and outside Japan, energetically beyond genres and borders. He was made an Honorary Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009. Other accolades include the Asahi Prize and the Medal with Purple Ribbon.

Ong Keng Sen has been the Artistic Director of Singapore’s T:>Works (formerly known as TheatreWorks) since 1988. He was the founding director of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) from 2014 to 2017. He founded the international Curator’s Academy, hosted by the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. His productions have been seen in major theatres around the world, the latest being Trojan Women which recently played at BAM Next Wave Festival in New York.

He was the Artistic Director of the Amsterdam-based Prince Claus Funds’ digital 25-hour festival to commemorate its 25 years of existence. His seminal work was the nomadic artist residency, The Flying Circus Project, with international artists travelling through Asia, sharing their contexts amongst themselves and young people in local sites.

In 2022, Ong was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Arts London, and was the Valeska Gert Guest Professor at Freie University Berlin. He has been sharing his knowledge with graduate students at the Institute of Applied Theatre Arts in the University of Giessen, the Norwegian Theatre Academy in Oslo, and the University of Salzburg. He holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University.

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