Joel Tan (Chinese: 陈文传; pinyin: ‘‘Chén Wén Chuán’’; (born 25 June 1987), is a Singaporean playwright and dramatist.
Tan is the second son of three; his mother is a nurse and his father is a manager at a maritime company.[1] He was educated at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and spent one semester abroad at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Dramatic Writing at Central Saint Martins.
During his time at NUS, he was mentored by Huzir Sulaiman. He is currently an Associate Artist with Checkpoint Theatre.[2]
Tan is often termed a rising star;[3][1] his work is described as "beautiful and admirably complex",[4] and has spanned a range of topics, such as single-sex parenting in Singapore,[5] and younger Singaporeans grappling with the impact of progress.[6] His body of work also frequently straddles genre boundaries, including drag theatre, naturalistic plays, and musical theatre.[7]