Fuzzy Bus

Kuo Pao Kun was a prominent playwright and director in Singapore. He was also well known for his arts activism and seminars and workshops. His legacy includes many dramas as well as his contributions to the arts scene and education. His dramatic style was highly politicized and progress oriented. His work has been staged internationally and is recognized for its use multicultural themes and metaphors.

Kuo Pao Kun was born in the Hebei Province in 1939. His mother took him to Beijing until when he was ten his father sent for him and he moved to Singapore. At the age of 14 he joined Rediffusion’s Mandarin Radio play and quickly fell in love with performing and writing Chinese Xiangsheng and radio dramas. After his graduation from high school he gained employment with Radio Australia in Melbourne, partly because of his broadcasting experience and partly due to his being bilingual. He worked there for over three years before attending the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. His studies at the NIDA gave him a solid foundation in Western theatre traditions including classical Western theatre such as the Greeks. He met dancer choreographer Goh Lay Kuan while at school and they became engaged. They moved back to Singapore in 1965 and together they founded the Practice Performing Arts School, which included lessons in drama and dance. The school was established near some of the best Singapore hotels, where out of town visitors would notice take note of the new program.

Kun’s students joined him in 1972 in an effort that became known as the “Go into Life Campaign.” The intention behind this was to demonstrate that art was a product of the life lived and they went into the laboring work forces of Singapore for experience. They believed that an artist could not write well on a subject they were not personally experienced in. This movement produced a number of original works based on the real life stories of working people. The Fishing Village is one of the better-known examples of this.

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