"Our work is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.”
Oliver Chong is a multi-award-winning playwright, director, actor, puppeteer and designer. He holds the record for the most Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards nominations, 30 across diverse categories, and has won six times, including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Set Design, Best Original Script, and Best Production of the Year.
Since joining The Finger Players in 2004, Chong has played a pivotal role in transforming the puppetry landscape in Singapore. Initially a Resident Director, he became part of the company’s core creative leadership in 2018 and was appointed the Artistic Director in 2023. Under his artistic direction, The Finger Players has deepened its role as a centre for puppetry research and development.
He is best known for two acclaimed trilogies: his solo series—Roots, A Fiend’s Diary, and Every Brilliant Thing, and the Citizen trilogy—Citizen Pig, Citizen Dog and Citizen X. These works defined his distinctive theatrical language: allegorical, darkly humorous, emotionally precise and visually inventive. His minimalist compositions and puppetry-inflected imagery often explore tensions between public systems and private memory.
His productions have toured widely, with invitations to major festivals across Asia, Europe, and Australasia. Notably, Animal Farm (SIFA 2025) featured 13 life-sized puppets and challenged perceptions of puppetry as merely child-focused, reframing it as a bold political medium. Signature works such as Time Between Us, Blood and Rose Ensemble, and Roots have garnered acclaim in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and New Zealand, underscoring the enduring impact of his vision.
Committed to advancing puppetry as a contemporary art form, Chong champions interdisciplinary innovation aligned with The Finger Players’ mission. He has led masterclasses in puppetry, playwriting, directing, acting and devising for more than 70 companies, schools, and institutions across Singapore, including Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts and the Intercultural Theatre Institute. His regional and international engagements include collaborative masterclasses with Thailand’s Joe Louis Theatre Company, Cambodia’s Sovanna Phum Art Association and Italy’s La Casa Di Meneghino—reflecting his commitment to knowledge-sharing and cultural exchange.
Since 2014, he has mentored over 50 active theatre practitioners through The Finger Players’ advanced masterclass, an intensive, process-driven programme fostering skill-building, critical inquiry and sustainable artistic growth.
Through the Reach Out! programme, Chong has brought puppetry and theatre to over 25,000 students and community members annually. The Finger Players partners with schools, eldercare homes, special needs organisations, and community groups, broadening access to the arts through play, empathy, and cultural dialogue.
His published plays, including Roots, The Book of Living and Dying, I’m Just A Piano Teacher, and Cat, Lost & Found, capture the breadth of his vision and serve as key texts in contemporary Singaporean theatre. Writing about his stagecraft has allowed Chong to influence a wider circle of students, educators and artists.
A creator, thinker and chronicler of the artform, Chong continues to shape generations of artists and audiences, bridging art, education and civic imagination with a quietly radical vision of theatre.