Creative Current

Damon Chua & Janet Song

Damon Chua is a published poet and playwright, having had eight of his plays professionally produced in his native Singapore, as well as London and Boston. He is a Fulbright nominee in dramatic writing, and has represented Singapore on various international cultural events including the ASEAN Poetry Festival in Malaysia in 1995. As a playwright; Damon received an Ovation Award (Best World Premiere Play) for his full-length work FILM CHINOIS, a noir mystery set in 1947 China. This play is published by Samuel French. His short play STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES was picked as one of the Best 10-Minute Plays of 2009 and published by Smith & Kraus. His other plays include A BOOK BY ITS COVER; DARK SIDES OF THE MOON; THE GHOST BUILDING; and 10-minute plays A BOY, A GIRL AND A PUPPET WITH A COWBOY HAT; DOGS ARE EVIL; and EATING FRENCH. A Durfee Foundation grant recipient, Damon has been invited to several theatre conferences including the Last Frontier Theatre Conference and the Cultural Conversations Theatre Festival. His pieces have been presented in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Alaska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, London and Singapore.

Damon has also served as a producer of independent feature films including the first digital full-length feature shot in Southeast Asia – Return to Pontianak, which received theatrical distribution in this country in 2001. Another of Damon’s film, Perth, was invited to the Cannes Film Festival. Damon is the recipient of a filmmaking travel grant from UNESCO and an INSPIRE grant from the Singapore Film Commission. He earned his MBA from Stanford University and has a Masters in Law with Honors from the University of Oxford.

Damon Chua’s latest play “A Book By Its Cover” premieres at Grove Theater Center
from June 25 to July 23, 2011 at 1111-b West Olive Avenue, Burbank CA 91506

Janet Song (Millie) Has performed with numerous Los Angeles based theatres including East West Players, Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, Boston Court, Triumvirate Pi, and Oasis Theatre Company. She received a Drama-Logue Award for her performance in Morticians In Love at the Celebration Theatre. She is also the recipient of multiple Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine, who named her one of their Best Voices of 2008. Her narration of Shanhai Girls, by Lisa See, was named one of their Best Audio books of 2009. Her recent television appearances include roles on The Office, The Defenders, House and The Cleaner.