In July 2020, our 24-Hour Playwriting Competition premiered its first digital edition on Zoom, with over 80 participants gamely taking on the challenge of writing a performance piece for the virtual stage in 24 hours. This year’s judging was especially challenging, as the entries were of an exceptionally high calibre!
Some of the winning plays are presented in T:>Works’ December 2020 programme, How To Break A Window. Learn more here.
After much deliberation, we are now ready to announce the winners of this year’s 24-Hour Playwriting Competition!
OPEN CATEGORY
First Prize: Wong Chen Seong, Third Eye
Second Prize: Carolyn Camoens, Tadka
Third Prize: Rajkumar Thiagaras, Onthakan (The Blue Hour)
YOUTH CATEGORY
First Prize: Sarah Zafirah, The Correspondence
Second Prize: Bernadette Koh, La Façade (Window Dressing)
Third Prize: Shauna Gul, Clique Click
Due to the excellent quality of the submissions, we have expanded the special mentions category this year. We are pleased to name the following eight writers whose scripts deserve mention. They are:
Special mentions (OPEN)
1. Lee Shu Yu, The Meat Grinder
2. Koh Wen Jun Eugene, 6FA
3. Goh Ming Siu, Singapore Universal Soldier
4. Perry Shen Wenyang, Faith
5. Wu Guowei, Friday
6. Tan Yi Kai, FIZZ’s MESSAGE
Special mentions (YOUTH)
1. Faith Liew Shu Min, Dream-like Utopia
2. Fiona The, Other Worlds
About the winners of the 24-Hour Playwriting Competition
Open Category
Wong Chen Seong, First Prize
With the script Third Eye
Wong Chen Seong started writing in secondary school and is a proud alumnus of the TheatreWorks’ Writers’ Lab Greenhouse. In the years since his last produced work during the inaugural Singapore Theatre Festival in 2006, he has focused his energies on his other life as an infectious diseases and HIV physician. Chen Seong remains fascinated by themes of memory and otherness, and creating mythologies where they might not yet exist.
Carolyn Camoens, Second Prize
With the script Tadka
Carolyn Camoens is a storyteller by craft and communicator by profession. She has written for page, stage and screen. As a communications professional, she has consulted for the world’s leading brands across sectors. Carolyn is an advocate for the power of stories to transform the way we engage, inspire and transform. She is happy reading a great story but happier still when she is shaping one – for clients, readers or audiences.
Rajkumar Thiagaras, Third Prize
With the script Onthakan – The Blue Hour
Rajkumar (Raj) Thiagaras is a bilingual actor and playwright. Notable playwriting credits include “Chandramukhi”, “On the Street of Calcutta” (Avant Theatre) and “Ashes, Ashes” (Toy Factory). He has also written and performed autobiographical monologues such as “The Patient” (Avant Theatre) and “Aishwarya” (Kris P Production). His short story, “The White Lotus: Sinking to the Bottom” was published in the anthology “In This Desert, There Were Seeds” by Ethos Books and Margaret River Press. Raj is currently a member of the Brown Voices playwriting collective and is part of The Playwrights’ Cove mentorship programme under the tutelage of Haresh Sharma (The Necessary Stage).
Youth Category
Sarah Zafirah, First Prize
With the script The Correspondence
Sarah Zafirah is a Year 5 student in the International Baccalaureate Program at St. Joseph’s Institution. She inhales both donuts and the written word. Having become rather acquainted with the ‘O’ Level Drama syllabus in her alma mater, CHIJ Katong Convent, Sarah hopes to become more involved in the Singaporean theatre scene. Her hobbies include regular cat-cuddling, reading up on social issues that she is passionate about, and of course, writing. She hopes that her creations can serve as an insight into the mind of a teenager living in uncertain times, seeking answers to unknown questions.
Bernadette Koh, Second Prize
With the script La Façade
Bernadette Koh is a Year 3 student from the School of the Arts (SOTA), specialising in theatre. Her performance roles include the voice of Wheelabelle in the Year 5 film production of “Wheeliam” as well as roles in school productions of Desmond Sim’s “Drunken Prawns”, Suzan Zeder’s “Doors” and Kuo Pao Kun’s “The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole”. She is currently supplementing her theatrical studies through the LAMDA programme at Pangdemonium and seeks to develop her skills as a playwright and actress.
Shauna Gul, Third Prize
With the script Clique Click
Shauna Gul is a Year 5 student from School Of The Arts (SOTA). She is a theatre student with a passion for playwriting and how the language we use shapes the way we see the world. This is Shauna’s first time participating in the 24-Hour Playwriting Competition and she is delighted that her script caught the judges’ attention.
