Xiao Ting is a freelance hyphenated theatre practitioner. Her various roles include: actor, director, movement-based performer and dramaturg. Her works have been shown in: Australia, Japan, Shanghai, Taiwan, Canada and the U.K. She is an Associate Artist with The Theatre Practice (Singapore) and Programmer for Practice Tuckshop. Her Eco-Theatre practice is informed by the intersection of theatre/performance with field research and community collaboration to advocate for social innovation and change - this was featured recently on vogue.sg.
In terms of her acting practice, her solo one-woman show Blank Run was invited to World Stage Design (Taipei), ACT Festival (Shanghai) and was presented at the M1 Chinese Theatre Festival (Singapore), along with the support of AWARE Singapore and the Sexual Assault Care Centre. Some acting credits include: [Digital Theatre] The Bride Always Knocks Twice: Killer Secrets (Singapore Tourism Board & The Theatre Practice), Feed Your Imagination (F.Y.I.) (Esplanade Presents, 2022), Liao Zhai Rocks! (Shanghai Original Musical Festival 2019), Four Horse Road (The Theatre Practice, 2018, 2020), and The Lieder Festival (Sing Song Club, 2016).
Xiao Ting's practice in Eco-Theatre is multi-platform in nature. As a programmer for Practice Tuckshop, she curates cross-disciplinary projects that advocate for innovation, community life and green practices. In 2018, Practice Tuckshop was listed as one of the 'Community Groups that Inspired Us' - a year-end review by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (Singapore). As an Eco-Theatre director, she creates cross-genre participatory performances in traditional theatre spaces (devised plays) and beyond (site-responsive shows, curated formats, digital theatre). One of which is: ‘Recess Time’. In 2022, ‘Recess Time’, received an 'Honourable Mention' at #CreateCOP27 - a global open call for art that responds to the climate emergency in conjunction with COP27 and was shortlisted out of over 727 applications to be featured in the Social Art Award Book 2021 (The Institute for Art and Innovation, Berlin). It was also presented at World Stage Design 2022 (Calgary). Directing commissions include: [In-person] Extinction Feast (The Theatre Practice 2022), [Digital/In-person] Extinction Feast (Singapore Writers' Festival 2021, The Theatre Practice 2022), and 'Pickle Party' (Singapore Night Festival 2022).
Since 2012, Xiao Ting has been involved in more than 40 Theatre-for Young-Audiences projects - be it in the role of actor, director, curriculum designer or educator. Her creations are bilingual (English and Mandarin) and interactive. Between 2020-2022, she was part of the creative team at The Theatre Practice Education Project that helped bring Digital Theatre to more than 130 schools across Singapore. [Digital Theatre - Mandarin] Poppy was also co-commissioned by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre to tour schools during the pandemic. Recent directing projects include: Meet My Unusual Family (Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, 2022) and The Breakfast Kakis Show (The Theatre Practice, 2023).
As a dramaturg, Xiao Ting's areas of specialisation include: cross-disciplinary works, devising processes and works involving eco-dramaturgy. She was selected to be part of 2021-2022 cohort for the 'Dramaturgs-in-Practice Training Programme' (Centre 42). She was a co-dramaturg for ‘I Came At Last To The Seas’ (Esplanade commission for Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts, 2018) and worked with internationally-acclaimed artists from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore to devise a play about the Chinese diaspora.
Xiao Ting is a recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council Undergraduate Scholarship. She graduated from Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Arts (LICA), Lancaster University, UK, where she received the LICA prize for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre. Along with FERRY, she was a recipient of the Experimental Micro-Fellowship (Performance Space Sydney, 2021). Xiao Ting was also selected for the Asian Performing Arts Camp 2021 (Tokyo Festival).