Fervyn Kate Tan

MA Arts Pedagogy and Practice

2025

Fervyn is a theatre arts manager who is currently a producer at Drama Box where she supports socially engaged theatre projects including Art in the Commons: Cassia.

Having journeyed through the arts as a performer, arts administrator in programmes and in the public service, arts advisor in tertiary education, as well as a producer, she sees arts management as a creative and collaborative practice grounded in relational dimensions.

At the heart of her work is a belief that the arts make the world a better place, and she warmly welcomes conversations about art as a way of remembering and rediscovering our place in it.

fervynkate@hotmail.com

Work

Teaching philosophy and research interests

For me, teaching is a dialogical and practice-informed process, where knowledge is co-created through reflection, imagination and collaboration. The learning space, both seen and unseen, plays a formative role in nurturing reflective individuals who can navigate the world with adaptability, relational sensitivity and purpose.

My MA thesis research examines the gap between Singapore theatre arts managers' learning experiences and lived realities, including their role and recognition, as well as how education and policy shape their professional trajectories.

Beyond pedagogy, I am interested in investigating the role of arts managers in the theatre community arts space, including inquiries into best practices and global perspectives.

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Thesis abstract

Bridging Page and Stage: Towards a practice-informed pedagogy for theatre arts managers in Singapore

This thesis investigates the gap between theatre arts managers' education and the realities of their professional practice. It reads in between educational theories and societal expectations to the complex demands of real-world practice, examining what is absent and how a practice-informed pedagogy could serve as a bridge.

The research draws on three data sources: semi-structured interviews with local theatre arts managers, a review of local arts management curricula, and an analysis of national cultural policy documents. These triangulate an exploration of how arts managers learn, grow, and are positioned within the arts ecosystem. Guided by Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) as its primary analytical lens, the study reveals that much of an arts manager’s knowledge emerges from practical experience, dialogical exchange, and reflective practice.

Practice-informed approaches are considered across four themes: redefining the arts manager’s role; recognising creativity as a shared endeavour; valuing dialogical education; and developing a broader, systems-level understanding of the field. From these, the thesis proposes a triadic framework for professional development at three levels: self, community and sector, and offers recommendations as starting points of inquiry for a more relational, adaptive and critical pedagogy, alongside better defined, co-creative and sustainably-supported pathways for theatre arts managers in Singapore.

Work experience

2025–present
Drama Box
Producer

2021–2025
Student Development (Arts)
Nanyang Polytechnic

2019–2021
Sector Development (Theatre)
National Arts Council

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