# Claire Wong

Claire Wong is a Malaysian actor, director, producer, and filmmaker. She is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre. Wong writes, directs, produces, and acts for the stage and for the camera. She has received training in both Asian and Western performing arts and obtained her post-graduate degree, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), from Columbia University. Wong's recent producing and directing credits include: Huzir Sulaiman's The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco (Singapore Arts Festival, now Singapore Festival of Arts (SIFA) Commission, 2016), Occupation (2012) and The Weight of Silk on Skin (2011); Faith Ng's Normal (2017, 2015), For Better or for Worse (2013) and wo(men) (2010); Joel Tan's The Way We Go (2014). Her play Recalling Mother which was co-written and co-directed with Noorlinah Mohamed, recently played at Esplanade's The Studios (Singapore, 2016) and at the Brisbane and OzAsia Festivals (Australia, 2016 and 2017).
Wong holds a law degree from the National University of Singapore, and practised litigation and corporate law. She is also the co-founder and Senior Consultant of Studio Wong Huzir, a creative consultancy.

## Early life and education

Wong was born in Penang, Malaysia to a police officer father and housewife mother and grew up in Kuala Lumpur when her father was assigned to work at the police headquarters there. She was the youngest of five children in the family.
In high school, Wong represented Selangor state in badminton competitions and was appointed the president of the literary, drama and debate society. Upon her graduation, she stayed with her relatives in Singapore and attended National Junior College. She studied the sciences and took part in school plays to further her interest in drama. Wong studied law at the National University of Singapore and obtained her Master of Fine Arts in theatre at Columbia University in New York.

## Legal career

Wong practised law first as a litigation associate and later as a corporate partner. Her corporate practice covered both Singapore and the region. She worked initially at the Allen & Gledhill and then as a partner at Helen Yeo & Partners in Singapore and Freehills in Sydney.

## Theatre career

During the 1990s Wong performed in leading roles in Ong Keng Sen's post-modern Flowers of Destiny, Madame Mao's Memories, and Desdemona. More recently, she has acted in Huzir Sulaiman's Atomic Jaya, Cogito, and Occupation. Her performance Atomic Jaya garnered her nominations for Best Actress and Best Ensemble Performance in both the Singapore Life! Theatre Awards and the Malaysian Cameronian Arts Awards respectively. She was also nominated for the Best Actress award for Occupation. Wong is a co-founder of creative consultancy Studio Wong Huzir and serves as its Senior Consultant. She was also the Head of Corporate Communications for Rodyk & Davidson, Singapore's first and oldest law firm, where she also oversees the firm's in-house training programme, and is a Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre. She left Rodyk & Davidson at the end of November 2014 to spend more time with her elderly parents and focus on theatre.
As a director, she was nominated for Best Director in the Singapore's Life! Theatre Awards for the landmark production of the trilogy of plays by Eleanor Wong, Invitation To Treat (2003). Wong co-directed the Singapore Arts Festival commission Occupation (2002). She received the Life! Theatre Award nomination for Best Director. Her other theatre directing credits include Up North Down South (2002) and Election Day (2004). For the 2006 International Festival of Women in Contemporary Theatre, she co-created and performed in the piece Recalling Mother.
Her screen directing began in 2005, when she wrote and directed a television film, Project Peter, for Singapore's Arts Central channel. She wrote and directed a short film in Malaysia, Instant Noodles and Hot Chocolate, and was the script consultant and performer in That Historical Feeling, a Malaysian short film, which won a Bronze award at the Malaysian Video Awards. Wong has taught at the National University of Singapore, at both the Faculty of Law and in the Theatre Studies department.

## Personal life

Wong married Huzir Sulaiman, a director and actor, in 2004. Wong is a permanent resident in Singapore.

## Selected filmography and theatre
### Actor

Theatre :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Beauty World | Ivy Chan | |
| 1988 | Three Children | | |
| 1989 | To My Heart With Smiles | | |
| 1989 | Emily of Emerald Hill | Emily | Excerpts produced by Practice Theatre Ensemble as part of Dramatic Encounters |
| 1991 | Mad Forest | | |
| 1991–1992 | Madame Mao's Memories | Jiang Qing | |
| 1992 | Three Children | | |
| 1999 | Lear | Loyal Attendant | |
| 2000 | Desdemona | Desdemona | |
| 2001 | The Woman In A Tree On the Hill | | |
| 2002 | Occupation | | Nominated for Best Actress at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards |
| 2002 | The Office | | |
| 2003 | Atomic Jaya | Multiple characters | Nominated for Best Actress at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards Nominated for Best Ensemble Performance at the Malaysian Cameronian Arts Awards |
| 2004 | Opiume | | |
| 2004 | Cogito | Katherine Lee | |
| 2006 | Recalling Mother | | Co-creator with Noorlinah Mohamed |
| 2013 | Atomic Jaya | Multiple characters | |
| 2014 | The House Of Bernarda Alba | Bernarda Alba | |
| 2016 | Recalling Mother | | Written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed, presented as part of The Studios 2016 and at Brisbane Festival 2016 |
| 2017 | Recalling Mother | | Written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed, presented at OzAsia Festival 2017. |
| 2022 | Recalling Mother: Her Lines, My Lines | | Written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed, presented as part of The Studios 2022. |

### Director

Theatre :
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2002 | Up North, Down South. | |
| 2002 | Occupation | Co-directed with and written by Huzir Sulaiman. |
| 2004 | Election Day | |
| 2004 | Invitation To Treat trilogy | Written by Eleanor Wong, Nominated for Best Director at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. |
| 2008 | wo(men) | |
| 2009 | Recalling Mother | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2011 | The Power of Notions / Notions of Power | |
| 2011 | The Weight of Silk on Skin | |
| 2012 | Dream Country: a lost monologue | Co-director. |
| 2012 | Occupation | |
| 2013 | For Better or for Worse | |
| 2014 | The Way We Go | |
| 2014 | (+65) Singapore Calling | Presented by Checkpoint Theatre and Playwriting Australia, in conjunction with the National Play Festival, and with support from the Singapore International Foundation. Co-directed with Huzir Sulaiman. |
| 2015 | Normal | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2016 | The Last Bull: A Life In Flamenco | Written by Huzir Sulaiman. |
| 2016 | Recalling Mother | Written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed, presented as part of The Studios 2016 and at Brisbane Festival 2016 |
| 2017 | Recalling Mother | Written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed, presented at OzAsia Festival 2017. |
| 2017 | Normal | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2019 | Still Life | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. Wong was also the dramaturg for this production. |
| 2019 | Displaced Persons' Welcome Dinner | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2019 | Eat Duck | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2020 | The Heart Comes to Mind (An audio experience) | Written by Lucas Ho, The Heart Comes to Mind was a co-production by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and Checkpoint Theatre for The Studios 2020. It premiered as an audio recording, as part of the inaugural digital season, The Studios Online, from 16 May – 12 Jun 2020. The video, complementary to the audio recording, was first published on Esplanade Offstage as part of the inaugural digital season, The Studios Online, from 16 May – 12 Jun 2020. |
| 2021 | Keluarga Besar En. Karim (The Karims) | A commission by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, as part of Feed Your Imagination (F.Y.I) and Pentas 2021. The Karims was shown online between 29 Sep – 31 Oct 2021. It was available for school bookings from 3 Jan – 1 Apr 2022 as part of Feed Your Imagination (F.Y.I) by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. |
| 2022 | Chamber Readings: Occupation by Huzir Sulaiman | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2022 | The Fourth Trimester | Produced by Checkpoint Theatre. |
| 2022 | Recalling Mother: Her Lines, My Lines | Written and performed by Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed, presented as part of The Studios 2022. |