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Our Team

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Ivan Heng
Founding Artistic Director

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Tony Trickett
Executive Director

Artistic Team

Glen Goei

Glen Goei
Co-Artistic Director

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Alfian Sa'at
Resident Playwright

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Edith Podesta
Associate Artistic Director, Young & Wild

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Joel Tan
Artist-in-Residence

Production

KOH BEE BEE Producer
JOYCE TAY Production Manager
ANGELA EE Production Co-ordinator
NURARINA NASIR Production Co-ordinator
SHAMIRUL AIZAN Production Co-ordinator

Marketing Communications

CHOO YING TONG Marketing Manager
RACHEL NG Digital Content & Community Manager
SHAWNE WANG Communications Consultant

Development

ANDREA EE Development Manager
SHARON POO Development Executive
IVY HENG Development Executive

Ticketing

LEKHERAJ SEKHAR Ticketing Manager

Youth and Education

EZZAT ALKAFF Head, Youth & Education
SHALYN YONG Manager, Children & Young Audiences
NELLIE QISTINA Youth & Education Executive
ZAILINA ZAINAL ABIDIN Youth & Education Executive, Audience Development
BENJAMIN LYE Administrator, Young & Wild

Administration

KATHERINE KHOO Head, Administration
JASMINE LIM Accounts Manager

Venue

MUHAMMAD FADLY Venue Manager
EILEEN TAN Venue Executive
PETER CHI Technical Manager
ROY TEE LACNO Technician
JAYANT DANIEL SINGH Technician

Ivan Heng

Ivan Heng is one of Singapore’s most beloved and influential theatre-makers. Over the past four decades, he has worn many hats – actor, director, designer, and changemaker – in bringing to life some of the nation’s most memorable productions.

In 2000, he founded Wild Rice, a company dedicated to telling Singapore stories with heart, humour, and humanity. Today, it is one of the country’s leading theatre institutions, having reached more than 1.2 million people with its bold, inclusive, and thought-provoking work.

In 2019, under Ivan and Executive Director Tony Trickett’s leadership, Wild Rice opened its very own home in the civic and cultural heart of Singapore. This groundbreaking theatre complex was built to nurture new talent, grow audiences, and create an artistic legacy for generations to come.

Ivan’s work has been recognised both at home and abroad. He received the Cultural Medallion in 2013, Singapore’s highest honour for the arts. In 2024, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he trained, and was awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his contributions to the arts.

Whether on stage or behind the scenes, Ivan continues to champion theatre that speaks to who we are, where we come from, and where we are going next.

Tony Trickett

Born in Liverpool, Tony moved to Singapore in 1997. Prior to joining Wild Rice, he worked as a management consultant, specialising in leadership coaching and team development for multi-national companies. 

Tony acted as a consultant in the establishment of Wild Rice and became a director of the company in 2001. In August 2002, he was appointed Executive Director, responsible for the overall management of the company. 

Tony is the producer for all Wild Rice shows, both in Singapore and abroad. This includes all editions of the acclaimed Singapore Theatre Festival, which he conceived together with Founding Artistic Director Ivan Heng.

Glen Goei

Glen’s substantial body of work encompasses a wide range of the performing arts, including theatre, film, parades and world expos. Highlights include his Olivier Award-nominated performance in the title role of M. Butterfly opposite Anthony Hopkins in London’s West End; and his critically acclaimed feature films, Forever Fever and The Blue Mansion. 

Glen has also made significant contributions to Singapore’s theatre scene. Since 2002, Glen has served as the Co-Artistic Director of Wild Rice, for which he has directed hits such as La Cage Aux Folles, HOTEL, Public Enemy, The Importance of Being Earnest, The House of Bernarda Alba, Cook a Pot of Curry, Emily of Emerald Hill, Family Outing, Blithe Spirit, The Magic Fundoshi, Aladdin and Boeing Boeing.

Alfian Sa'at

Alfian is the Resident Playwright of Wild Rice. He has been nominated at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards for Best Original Script 12 times, and has received the award four times. 

His plays with Wild Rice include HOTEL (with Marcia Vanderstraaten), The Asian Boys Trilogy, Cooling-Off Day, The Optic Trilogy and Homesick. 

He was the winner of the Golden Point Award for Poetry and the National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature in 2001. His publications include Collected Plays One, Two and Three; poetry collections One Fierce Hour, A History of Amnesia and The Invisible Manuscript; and short story collections Corridor and Malay Sketches.

Edith Podesta

Edith Podesta is an award winning theatre-maker, actor and performance lecturer. She studied acting and movement studies at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), and holds a Master of Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts. 

In 2014, she was named Best Actress at the 14th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards for her role in Cake Theatrical Productions’ Illogic, directed by Natalie Hennedige; and her production of BITCH: The Origin of the Female Species won Production of the Year and Best Original Script in 2017. 

Edith has lectured at LASALLE College of the Arts, School of the Arts, Theatre Training and Research Programme, NIDA, Conservatorium of Music and University of Technology Sydney.

Joel Tan

Joel is a playwright, performer, and inter-disciplinary artist. He is an Artist-in-Residence at Wild Rice, and serves as the company’s Literary Manager.

His playwriting practice is divided between Singapore and London, and he has written plays for leading companies in both cities including Wild Rice, Pangdemonium, Checkpoint Theatre, The Royal Court, The Almeida Theatre, Headlong Theatre, Theatre 503, and the Orange Tree Theatre. Joel also writes for screen and audio, and collaborates inter-disciplinarily to create installation and contemporary performance.

Joel is a passionate advocate for new writing development for the theatre, and is a Creative Associate with Centre 42’s New Writing Development Programme.

Thomas Lim

Thomas is an award-winning writer, director and arts educator based in Singapore. His works span across genres and languages, including plays, musicals and short films that have been performed in Teochew, Mandarin, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, English and Pig Latin.

He made his professional debut as a playwright and director with Grandmother Tongue, a semi-autobiographical tribute to his Teochew-speaking grandmother. Subsequent writing credits include Supervision and Straight Acting, the former of which was nominated for Production of the Year and won Best Original Script at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. He has also written musical pantomimes like Peter Pan in Serangoon Gardens and Pinocchio.

Besides his work on the main stage, Thomas is an established arts educator who has over a decade of experience in sharing his love for theatre with students, young people and aspiring artists across Singapore. He is currently the Associate Artistic Director for Youth & Education at Wild Rice, as well as the Co-Programme Director of Singapore Youth Theatre, a year-long theatre-making programme for young people aged 13 to 17.