Jean Tay Inn

MA Creative Writing

2024

Jean graduated with a double degree in creative writing and economics from Brown University, US. She has written over 30 plays and musicals, including Chinatown Crossings, The Shape of a Bird, Senang, Sisters, Everything but the Brain, Boom and Plunge.

Jean also wrote the books for the musicals Great Wall: One Woman's Journey, The Admiral’s Odyssey and Man of Letters. Her plays have been performed in Singapore, US, UK, Italy, Australia and Indonesia and she has been nominated four times for Best Original Script for the Life! Theatre Awards, winning for Everything But the Brain in 2006. Her plays Everything but the Brain and Boom have been used as O- and N-Level literature texts for secondary schools.

innjean.tay@mylasalle.edu.sg

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Thesis work

The Trinity Song Cycle is an exploration of the motherland, told in the hybrid form of poetry and drama, using both poetic verse and vernacular dialogue. Instead of excavating the evolving physical landscape, the play explores the female bodies and voices that make up this island, as well as the stories they carry within them.

This is done by drawing together the tales of three mythological goddesses and the friendship of three schoolgirls over the course of their lives. The embodied experiences of these three friends paint a picture of how a diverse people eventually come together, despite the tensions and differences between them, to forge a shared identity and find family in each other.

Published work and readings

Published works

Tay, Jean (2018). Sisters & Senang: The Island Plays. Epigram Books
Tay, Jean (2016). Plunge in Southeast Asian Plays. Aurora Metro Book
Tay, Jean (2010). Everything but the Brain. Epigram Books
Tay, Jean (2009). Boom. Epigram Books

Conferences and events

pass*ages (2024), Esplanade Theatre Studio.
Asylum (2022), Intercultural Theatre Institute.
I have something to say (2022), Esplanade Playtime, March On festival.
Flowers (2019), Drama Box.
Chinatown Crossings (2018, 2019), Drama Box.
Missing (2018). Drama Box.
The Shape of a Bird (2016), Saga Seed Theatre, M1 Fringe Festival.
It won't be too long: The Cemetery – Dusk (2015), Drama Box, SIFA.
Senang (2014), Drama Box.
Everything but the Brain (2005, 2007, 2013), Action Theatre & Sight Lines Productions
Boom (2008, 2009, 2013, 2023) Action Theatre, Yellow Earth Theatre (UK), Sight Lines Productions, Slanted Theatre (Aus)

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