Huzir Sulaiman (born 8 June 1973) is a Malaysian director and actor. He is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre. A critically acclaimed and award-winning playwright, his Collected Plays 1998-2012 was published in 2013. His plays have been translated into German, Japanese, Polish, Indonesian and Mandarin. His essays and commentary pieces have appeared in The Star, The Straits Times and The Huffington Post.

Theatre career

Sulaiman directing includes ''Thick Beats for Good Girls (2018)'', ''FRAGO (2017)'', ''The Good, the Bad and the Sholay (2015)'', ''Interrogating the Interrogators: Selected Plays of Chong Tze Chien (2015)''; ''#UnicornMoment (2014)''; the 15th anniversary production of ''Atomic Jaya (2013)''; ''City Night Songs (2012)''; and ''The Good, the Bad and the Sholay (2011)'', for which he was nominated for Best Director in the 2012 Life! Theatre Awards. Huzir was educated at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he won the Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize and is a Yale World Fellow.

Academic career

Currently an Adjunct Associate Professor with the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

's University Scholars Programme, Huzir has taught playwriting at the National University of Singapore's English Department; the School of the Arts, Singapore; New York University Tisch Asia ; and

Nanyang Technological University The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a national research university in Singapore. It is the second oldest autonomous university in the country and is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the world by various inte ...

Other career

He also heads Studio Wong Huzir, a creative consultancy. For a short time in the early part of the 1990s, he hosted an afternoon talk show on WOW FM, a now-defunct Malaysian radio station. He also had a brief television stint starring as Bendul, a Malaysian version of Mr Bean, popularized by

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

. In the 1990s, Huzir also spent a year writing sketches with the Instant Café Theatre Company before starting the Straits Theatre Company in 1996. He began writing plays in 1997. He also dabbled in film writing, writing the screenplay for the Malaysian film '' Dukun''. He also contributed articles to ''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', and involved himself in the publishing of the online magazine POSKOD.SG.

Personal life

Sulaiman's father was Haji

Sulaiman Abdullah Sulaiman Abdullah (6 July 1946 – 18 December 2023) was a Malaysian lawyer who acted in a number of the country's most famous trials and served as president of the Malaysian Bar Council. Life and career Born G Srinivasan Iyer on 6 July 1946, he ...

(1946-2023), who was born G. Srinivasan Iyer, a Tamil Brahmin who later converted to Islam. Sulaiman was a veteran lawyer who served as Malaysian Bar Council president. His mother was law professor Hajjah Mehrun Siraj (1945-2021), a Commissioner with the

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia ( ms, Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia) better known by its acronym SUHAKAM is the national human rights institution (NHRI) of Malaysia. It was established by the Malaysian Parliament under the Human ...

, daughter of women's rights activist Khatijun Nissa Siraj (1925-2023). Sulaiman married

Claire Wong Claire Wong is a Malaysian actor, director, producer, and filmmaker. She is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre. Wong writes, directs, produces, and acts for the stage and for the camera. She has receiv ...

, a lawyer, actor and director, in 2004. Sulaiman is a permanent resident in Singapore.

Director

Plays

Screenplays

Publications

* ''Eight Plays'' (2002, Silverfish Books) * ''Huzir Sulaiman: ''Collected Plays, 1998-2012'' (2013, Checkpoint Theatre) ''

References

In tandem with the nation
The Star, 5 August 2007.

kakiseni.com, "8 Brilliant Plays in 4 Tumultuous Years" by Antares, 11 December 2002.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulaiman, Huzir 1973 births Living people Malaysian people of Indian descent Malaysian dramatists and playwrights Malaysian writers Malaysian male actors Malaysian emigrants to Singapore