MEDIATHEK

Ong Keng Sen (born 1963; Chinese: 王景生; pinyin: Wáng Jngshng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ông Kíng-senn) is a Singaporean director of the theatre group TheatreWorks, which was founded in Singapore in 1985. Ong is a member of the Asia-Europe Network, which promotes the artistic exchange between Asia and Europe. He has been applauded around the world for this kind of intercultural theatre which mixes Western and Eastern performance traditions, especially dance with spoken word drama. He is particularly well known for his performance at the Perth Festival of King Lear in 1997, his Desdemona at the Adelaide Festival, Australia in 2000, and his Search:Hamlet at the Kronbourg Castle in Elsinore and Copenhagen. He is the first artist to have received the 2 most acclaimed Singaporean cultural awards, i.e. the Young Artist Award (1992) and the Cultural Medallion Award (2003). He is a Fullbright scholar and studied intercultural performance with the Performance Studies Department at Tisch Schools of the Arts, New York University. Ong's eldest brother Ong Keng Yong is the former Secretary General of ASEAN.