[NEWS] The Finger Players win big at ST Life Theatre Awards 2025

We are honoured and proud to share our achievements at the ST Life Theatre Awards 2025!

At our core, we believe puppetry births imagination and fantasy, but at the same time challenges our perceptions and invites dialogue. We will hope to continue producing original and exciting works.

A big thank you to the team – Cast, Creatives, Production team, and Managers. A special shout out to Puppet & Props Designer Daniel Sim, who built and designed the lotus leaves with the help of Shawne Kho Yzelman and Ling Jia Le. These lotus leaves beautifully complemented the set of Dream of the Red Chamber which won Best Set. And of course, our dear audience members. We are here today because of your love and support.

The full list:

Best Director: Oliver Chong, Transplant
Best Set: Chong Tze Chien and Grace Lin, Dream Of The Red Chamber
Best Costume: Max Tan and Loo An Ni, Dream Of The Red Chamber
Best Lighting: Faith Liu Yong Huay, Puppet Origin Stories @ One-Two-Six: Temporary Occupation
Best Sound: Ng Jing, Dream Of The Red Chamber

Below is an excerpt from The Straits Times article.

The most dominant winner is puppet company The Finger Players (TFP), which has bagged wins in five categories, primarily with its two retellings of Chinese classics, Transplant and Dream Of The Red Chamber.

These include a Best Director win for artistic director Oliver Chong, whose eerie combination of live actors, puppets and Vedic metal band Rudra rejuvenated 18th-century horror collection Liaozhai Zhiyi, or Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio.

His haunting adaptation in Transplant follows the breakdown of a family plagued by demons, belying puppetry’s general association with children’s entertainment with its daring leaning into mature innuendo.

Chong, who won Best Script for his one-man play Roots in 2013 and Best Set for Citizen Dog in 2019, said: “The challenge lay in integrating Vedic metal and puppetry to create something greater than the sum of its parts.”

It was the first time Rudra incorporated Chinese lyrics. Guitarist Vinod said: “We thoroughly enjoyed the process of reshaping the music and pushing our creative boundaries. Challenging ourselves to honour both our craft and TFP’s artistic expression was a truly fulfilling experience.”

Newly appointed Sifa festival director Chong Tze Chien’s Dream Of The Red Chamber triumphed in three of the four categories it was nominated in, snagging Best Set, Best Sound and Best Costume.

For the tale of corrupt wealth and ill-fated romance told with a Shakespearean flavour, the actors crouched and scuttled on a sunken stage littered with lotus flowers made of organza and netting, in the manner of a Vietnamese water puppetry show.

Mask designer Loo An Ni’s crude but expressive masks captured the essence of characters’ cunning, frivolity and beauty, while sound designer Ng Jing toggled the volume of the many speakers in the space so the recorded dialogue seemed to follow the actors as they moved.

Ng said: “The level of detail of the sonically ambitious design was precise and dimensional, allowing the audience to perceive the sounds directionally. I’m glad we persisted as the end result was worth the effort.”

Chong, who conceptualised the set with Grace Lin, said: “The brief yet intense creative and rehearsal process brought out the best in all of us – designers, performers and puppet makers alike – fostering a collaborative spirit that infused the entire production from start to finish.”

ST’s review said it made for “surreal, operatic viewing”, and that the overall effect was alienating in ways that suited its cosmic themes. “While impeding emotional connection, they elevate actors’ plangent sighs and serpentine mischief to a universal timelessness.”

Best Lighting was also awarded to a TFP production, Puppet Origin Stories @ One-Two-Six: Temporary Occupation. Light designer Faith Liu Yong Huay created three distinct looks for the weird and affecting triptych, which split audiences into two groups to experience the stories at various locations in Cairnhill Arts Centre.

Liu said the question that confronted her was “how to consider lighting not just as illumination but also as spatial design”.

“Rows of bulbs lit in sequence could signify the flow of information. Lit bird masks created larger-than-life shadows of birds. Fairy lights meant little hopes and wishes for a new life.”