Haresh Sharma has been appointedas The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) Artistic Director with effect from1 August 2026. He will take over from Alvin Tan who foundedTNS in 1987 and was Artistic Director for 39 years.Sharma, who has worked alongside Tanfor over three decades,was the company’s Resident Playwright.
Together they havebeenat the forefront of devising theatre in Singapore, creating sociallyconscious plays that bring attention to urgent issues withprovocation and compassion. They havestaged some ofSingapore’s mostwell-lovedplays includingOff Centre, Those WhoCan’t, Teach, Don’t Know, Don’t Care,godeatgod, Best Of,FundamentallyHappyandGemuk Girls.
Both artists are recipients of the Cultural Medallion Award, Singapore highest honour for artists. Theirworks, with strong narrative and an intercultural focus, have also travelled to Australia, Japan,Malaysia,Britain, Romania, Russia, Hungary and the United States. Tan and Sharma have also been strongadvocates for emerging theatre artists in Singapore, creating numerous platforms and programmes foryoung artists such as Devising with Actors and Playwrights, From Forum Theatre to Devising Theatreand Playwrights’Cove.
Over the years, they have also trained and mentored some of Singapore mostaccomplished theatre makers.With the handover,Tan will continue to work on projects with TNS while Sharma will oversee the artisticdirection of the company, working closely with General Manager Melissa Lim.In recent years, Tanhas been zealous about preserving whilst contemporising Peranakan theatre arts.
Heis currently spearheading TNS’ Peranakan Devising Lab, an intensivetheatre trainingprogrammededicated to cultural transmission, language work, and devised theatreinformed by TNS’ uniquemethodology.Besides playwriting, Sharma has also ventured into directing, with recent projects such asActing Mad, 3Years in the Life and Death of Land, SG Insecure, Invisibleand the upcoming3 Queens.
Responding to hisnew appointment as TNS’ Artistic Director,Sharma says,“TNS has always been a verycollaborative company, and we will continue tobeso. We are more committed than ever to creating andstaging challenging works that push boundaries and training the next generation of theatre artists. Ourpriority has always beenwithour audience and fellow artists.”
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