Who is Kuo Pao Kun?

Kuo Pao Kun (1939 – 2002) was born in a poor farming village in Hebei, China. In 1949, he moved south to the multicultural Singapore. The inflections of his life journey are not lost upon the influence of his work, where the varied experience of diverse cultures has shaped and inspired a unique and inimitable vision of creativity. Arguably one of the most prominent pioneers of Singapore Theatre, Kuo's 40 years of dedication and kindling of local theatre has been an influence to generations of artists and practitioners. Aside from script writing, Kuo has also written books, adapted scripts, and directed innumerable plays. 

Since 2014, Kuo's works are included in the syllabus in H2 Chinese and Literature in Junior Colleges. Through this talk, we will be able to understand Kuo's life, his passion for drama, as well as his contribution to the local theatre scene, thus allowing us to have a better understanding and interpretation of his plays (including classics like Kopitiam and The Silly Little Girl and the Funny Old Tree).