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Milestones

1990 Drama Box was born!
1991 Maiden productions – The Zoo Story and Singles
1992 Presented first R21 Chinese language theatre production Another Tribe
1998 Began operating as a full time theatre company, with Kok Heng Leun as Artistic Director
Presented first local martial arts theatre production Leng-Geh-Mng
1999 Presented first musical Mr Beng
2000 Started the Blanc Space Training Series
2001 Presented first Community Theatre performance Lian Can Cook
Presented Singapore's first outdoor Forum Theatre performance Have You Eaten?
Launched the world's first Forum Theatre radio play Pulitzer Book on UFM 100.3
2002 Published Drama Box 1992-2002, a collection of original scripts
2003 Ceased from full-time to part-time operations due to financial crises
2004 Community Development Project Freedom From Toil in Bangalore, India
Set up an education arm focusing on Education for Community, NeNeMas, led by Koh Hui Ling
2005 Resumed full-time status
Showcased Happy at the Asian Contemporary Theatre Festival (Shanghai)
Launched Dua Dai Ji (News Buster!), Singapore's first series of satirical plays based on headline news
2007 Formed ARTivate, the youth wing of Drama Box
Launched Blanc Space Playwright Series, a 2-year playwright incubation programme
Launched its first site-specific performance, IgnorLAND of its Name
2008 Became one of National Arts Council's 2-Year Major Grant recipients
Conceived Project Mending Sky series to promote environmental awareness in the community
2009 Staged 3 original works, result of the Blanc Space Playwright Series at the inaugural New Play Season
Showcased Trick or Threat! during the World Forum Theatre Festival 2009 in Graz and Vienna (Austria)
Published Drama Happens in the Classroom, a Chinese language Drama-in-Education documentation
Launched Blanc Space Masterclass Series, with specially invited renowned theatre directors from Hong Kong, Tang Shu-wing and subsequently Danny Yung to lead the workshops
2010 Presented SCENES: Singapore's Chinese Language Theatre at Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2010
Published SCENES, a compilation of seminal Singapore contemporary Chinese language plays
2011 Staged 2 original works, result of Blanc Space Playwright Series at the New Play Season
Staged HERstory at Singapore Arts Festival 2011
2012 Co-presented One Hundred Years of Solitude 10.0 – Cultural Revolution with Hong Kong's Zuni Icosahedron
1st batch of ARTivate (Youth Wing of Drama Box) staged Gao Xingjian's Bus Stop as their graduation production
Curated and staged IPS Prism, Drama Box's first multi-disciplinary Immersive Arts Experience
One of the initiators of Asian Cultural Vision Journey Festival 2012, a cross-regional and cross-cultural exchange held in Beijing
2013 Co-produced and staged Farewell: The Body in 16 Chapters at Macao Arts Festival 2013
Co-published SCENES: A Hundred Years of Singapore Chinese Language Theatre 1913 – 2013
Curated and staged BOTH SIDES, NOW, a multi-disciplinary immersive arts experience on end-of- life issues at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
Launched a fundraising Campaign to build GoLi – The Moving Theatre, the first inflatable Pop-Up Theatre in Singapore
Koh Hui Ling, Associate Artistic Director, was awarded the Young Artist Award by National Arts Council, Singapore and the Singapore Youth Award by National Youth Council, Singapore
2014 Curated and staged BOTH SIDES, NOW – Living With Dying, multi-disciplinary immersive arts experience on end-of-life issues, in housing estates
Artistic Director, Kok Heng Leun was awarded the National Arts Council Fellowship
2015 Drama Box is 25!
Drama Box celebrates its 25th anniversary with SCENES – FORUM THEATRE a festival on Forum Theatre
SCENES – FORUM THEATRE also marks the launch of GoLi – The Moving Theatre
Presented It Won't Be Too Long as part of Singapore International Arts Festival 2015 (SIFA). The three part performance reflects the different approaches to performance – making that have characterized Drama Box's philosophy for 25 years.
Associate Artistic Director, Koh Hui Ling, was awarded the Outstanding Young Person (Culture) award by Junior Chamber International
2016 Artistic Director, Kok Heng Leun was appointed as Arts Nominated Member of Parliament
After two years of training and capacity building, the second cohort of ARTivate graduated
Drama Box won the Advocate Organization of the Year Award at the 2016 Singapore Advocacy Awards (SAA). SAA is a celebration and affirmation to the development of a vibrant civil society in Singapore.
Artistic Director, Kok Heng Leun, was named one of the movers and shakers in arts, entertainment and lifestyle in The Straits Times Life Power List 2016
2017 The first overseas appearance of GoLi - The Moving Theatre, at the International Community Arts Festival, Rotterdam, during which The Lesson was presented
2018 Training began for the third batch of ARTivate
Presented Chinatown Crossings, written by Jean Tay and directed by Koh Hui Ling. The production, Singapore’s longest-running promenade theatre experience, takes place in and traces the multicultural history of the Kreta Ayer district (Chinatown) and includes the Drama Box premises in its story
2019 Presented first Malay-Mandarin bilingual production, Tanah∙Air 水∙土: A Play In Two Parts, written by Neo Hai Bin and Zulfadli Rashid, directed by Kok Heng Leun, Koh Wan Ching and Adib Kosnan. Held at the Malay Heritage Centre and in conjunction with Singapore’s 2019 Bicentennial Celebrations, the production raised questions about the effects of colonialism and the marginalisation of indigenous communities
2020 Presented SCENES: Participatory Theatre, a virtual gathering of socially engaged arts practitioners from the Asia-Pacific region, held in conjunction with Drama Box’s 30th anniversary, with artistic direction by Han Xuemei. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the festival was conceptualised as a platform for digital engagement. Programmes included participatory experiences, workshops and conversations online
Appointment of Koh Hui Ling as Co-Artistic Director alongside Kok Heng Leun
2021 Launch of Hub Singapore at MINI-ICAF, the International Community Arts Festival’s first programming hub outside of Rotterdam, while the pandemic continued to limit international travel
Han Xuemei received the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council of Singapore
Graduation performance of Dancing with Fish in the Midnight Zone by ARTivate batch 3
2022 Launch of Drama Box 30 Keywords, a publication featuring 30 essays that document the different aspects of Drama Box’s approach to theatre-making over three decades
Han Xuemei appointed as Co-Artistic Director alongside Koh Hui Ling, as Kok Heng Leun stepped down, continuing in the capacity of founding artist of Drama Box
Beginning of long-term community engagement efforts in Cassia Crescent, under the artistic leadership of Koh Hui Ling, in partnership with Singapore Art Museum.
Beginning of Project 12, a long-term eco-social arts initiative led by Kok Heng Leun that explores sustainable living, community futures and ecological responsibility on Pulau Ubin, Singapore’s last surviving off-shore village.
Kok Heng Leun received Singapore’s highest artistic accolade–the Cultural Medallion
2023 Publication of Changing Places: Drama Box and the Politics of Space by the Centre for Performance Research (UK), examining Drama Box’s negotiation of changing dynamics of space and place in making art that is responsive to people’s needs and reflective of socio-political issues.
Launch of Boleh Bank in Cassia Crescent, Singapore’s first community asset bank that gathers the skills and talents residing within the community.
Pilot of Camp-O, where youths aged between 14 and 20 learn and connect through creative play.
2024 Launch of the English translation of Drama Box and the Social Theatre of Singapore: Cultural Intervention and Artistic Autonomy, 1990-2006, updated and edited from the 2011 Chinese-language original, for wider readership.
Kok Heng Leun received an honorary doctorate from National University of Tainan, for his achievements in the fields of academia, arts and education.
Drama Box signed a three-year MOU with the National University of Tainan, to nurture talent in the applied theatre and education fields, and to facilitate academic and creative exchange
2025 Commemorating 35 years of creating socially engaged theatre, Drama Box hosted its first in-person edition of ICAF Hub Singapore, celebrating the diversity in community arts practice and furthering dialogue among artists, educators, facilitators and arts workers at The Gathering.
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