Roger Jenkins
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Jenkins, Roger (b. 1953, Singapore - ), Singapore-born Briton turned Singaporean, and drama teacher, poet, playwright, storyteller, and artistic director of Dramaplus Arts, made his mark here in drama and the arts.
Early Life
Jenkins was born in Changi Hospital to British Royal Air Force (RAF) parents. He spent his childhood in Yangon but grew up in the UK where he attended boarding school and studied at the University of Liverpool. During school breaks, he spent time in Singapore where his parents lived.
Career in Drama
Jenkins's involvement with drama in Singapore began as a drama teacher in the United World College in 1978. A drama teacher by training and profession, he taught drama in schools in England before he returned to Singapore. Since then, he has been involved in running courses and programmes for students as well as teachers of drama including Drama as a Teaching Strategy from 1990-2004 and School Play Production from 1992-2004. Both courses were offered once a year.
He has also been offering the professional development course, Storytelling as Teaching Strategy, for the Ministry of Education annually since 1998. On 24 November 2007, as Longman's Storytelling and Drama Consultant, he led a training workshop for pre-school teachers on Drama in the English Classroom, together with two other drama professionals.
Jenkins's initial involvement in drama group work here was with the Stars Community Theatre such as directing Fiddler On The Roof for them and The Miracle Worker in 1984. He was also involved for many years with the HI! Theatre, Singapore's theatre for the deaf, which he founded in 1986. For his work with the hearing impaired, he was awarded the Singapore Association for the Deaf's Friend of the Deaf award in 1990. He was also involved in the founding of The Madhatters Comedy Company, described as Singapore's first, favourite, funniest and only professional improvisational comedy group. He also founded Dramaplus Arts, a theatre company involved in providing arts and drama education to schools and organizations and staging public performances.
Jenkins was also involved in play production. His production of Wayang Tempest won eight nominations at the DBS Life Theatre Awards 2002 including Play of The Year and Best Director.
Besides directing plays, he also wrote scripts. His scripts won Gold at the secondary schools' Singapore Youth Festival in 1999, 2001 and 2003. He also wrote the 1999 National Day Parade script.
As a poet, Jenkins is remembered for his work, From the belly of the carp, which won the Singapore Literature Prize in 1995. This prize-winning book has been adapted for the stage by Jenkins himself.
Author
Chan Fook Weng
References
(Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN -[HIS]).
Blossoming arts scene keeps ex-Briton rooted here. (2006, August 22). The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 4, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Prof Koh calls for quality education for the deaf. 1990, September 30). The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 4, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Longman Early Childhood Education Research Centre. (2007). Drama in the English Classroom. Retrieved June 25, 2008, from http://www.ilongman.com/eng/teach/events.asp?id=122.
Jenkins, R. (2008). Roger Jenkins. Retrieved June 25, 2008, from http://www.rogerjenkins.com.sg.
Further Readings
Jenkins, R. (1996). From the belly of the carp: Singapore River voices. Singapore: EPB Publishers.
(Call no.: RSING 821 JEN)
The information in this article is valid as at 2008 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Artists
Dramatists--Biography
Poets--Biography
Artists--Singapore--Biography
Language and literature>>Literatures>>East and Southeast Asian literature>>Singapore literature
Language and literature>>Drama