Benny Lim
| Benny Lim | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 April 1980 Singapore |
| Occupation | Theatre Practitioner / Educator |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Ethnicity | Chinese |
| Education | Doctor of Philosophy, University of Glamorgan |
Benny Lim (born 1980, in Singapore) is the Artistic Director of the now dormant The Fun Stage, Singapore.[1] He obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the Division of Drama, University of Glamorgan (now known as the University of South Wales) in 2012.[2]
Biography
Since 1996, Benny Lim has produced and directed over 60 arts projects in a non-profit environment.[3] At 21, he founded The Fun Stage and since then, he has held the record as the Youngest Artistic Director of a theatre company in Singapore.[4] Benny has also taught in various institutions of higher education in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. In 2006, one of Benny's play, Existence, was published in Singapore.[5] Existence was written in 2003, inspired by the poetry of Cyril Wong, as a response to Hong Kong's Leslie Cheung's suicide. The play was mentioned in TIME Magazine (10 August 2003) as a story that 'portrays the love of two young Singaporean men for each other as doomed'.[6]
Censorship
Benny's works often deal with social issues within a postmodern society. In 2004, Benny organized the Lovers' Lecture Series, a series of talks on the topic of same sex literature. The entire series was not given a go-ahead by the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit (PELU), which is under the Singapore Police Force.[7] In 2005, Benny collaborated with artist Brian Gothong Tan and they devised a play, Human Lefts. The content of the play, which was on the issue of the death penalty, was given a total ban by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).[8][9]
Self-reflexive Performances
Benny has been researching on Postmodern theater since 2003 and has presented his findings through a series of self-reflexive performances.
- What Have I Learnt in Hong Kong? (2016) [10]
- Diaspora 2 (2012) [11]
- Diaspora 1 (2011) [12]
- Human Lefts - The Finale (2009)
- Human Lefts 3 (2008) [13]
- Human Lefts 2 (2006) [14]
- Human Lefts (2005) [15]
- Death.Mother (2004–2008)
- The Most Blatant Day of My Life (2004)
- Perdition (2003)
Arts Festivals Curated (Selected)
- Umbrella Festival (2015),[16] in response to Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement
- i-AM 2010 (2010)
- Initiation International (2005-2007) [17][18][19]
References
- ↑ The Fun Stage's website archived by the National Library Board, Singapore
- ↑ Benny Lim's PhD thesis is currently stored in the National Library of Wales
- ↑ Information on some of the works Benny produced
- ↑ Arts and Entertainment section, Singapore Book of Records - Updated March 2016
- ↑ The book's information on WorldCat
- ↑ Article from TIME Magazine (Asia Edition) - Dated 10 August 2003
- ↑ Article from The Guardian - dated 11 March 2004
- ↑ Arts Engage website
- ↑ Article from The Sydney Morning Herald - Dated 3 December 2005
- ↑ Show's information on Timable Hong Kong
- ↑ The full performance of Diaspora 2
- ↑ The full performance of Diaspora 1
- ↑ The show's information on The Fun Stage's website
- ↑ The show's information on The Fun Stage's website
- ↑ The show's information on The Fun Stage's website
- ↑ Article by TimeOut Hong Kong
- ↑ Article from The Straits Times Life! - Initiation International 2007
- ↑ Article from The Straits Times Life! - Initiation International 2006, dated 9 November 2006
- ↑ Article from The Straits Times Life! - Initiation International 2005, dated 29 November 2005
