Academic leadership and faculty

MA (Theatre Studies) National University of Singapore, Singapore
Postgraduate Diploma in Voice Studies, Central School of Speech and Drama, UK
BA Honours (English & Linguistics), York University, Canada

Nora Samosir is an actor, director, dramaturg and voice coach.

She has been active in theatre since 1979 and has acted with Cake Theatricals, TheatreWorks, Wild Rice, The Necessary Stage, GenerAsia, The Theatre Practice, Teater Ekamatra, Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Repertory Theatre and other theatre companies.

She has also worked in film and television, most notably as Lilian in Masters of the Sea seasons 1 (1995) and 2 (1996), Mrs. Fernandez in Ah Girl seasons 1 to 3 (2001–2002) and Pauline in A Quiet Taste (2021).

She has been in more than 100 stage productions including no there there at NAFA Studio Theatre (2024), Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2015), White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (2014), LIFT: Love is Flower The (2013), Casting Back (2012), Temple (2008), Doubt (2006), Asian Boys Vol. 2: Landmarks (2004), Proof (2002), Asian Boys Vol. 1 (2000), Ah Kong’s Birthday Party (1998), Beauty World (1998, 1992), Lao Jiu (1997, 1994), and Trojan Women (1991).

Since 2018, Nora has an ongoing practice research project with Bharatanatyam dancer Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara as the duo ‘Wandering Women’, based on the lives of Draupadi and Mary Magdalene. They have presented three works-in-progress, Wandering Women – Water (2018), Wandering Women: From Kurukshetra to Magdala (2019), and Wandering Women: Sites (2024) at LASALLE’s Creative Cube.

Her professional career in both education and theatre began in tandem in 1984 as a teacher in a junior college and as an actor in the Singapore Festival of Arts’ production of Bumboat. This double life has since continued with the odd breaks spent overseas—a six-month theatre fellowship in England, a year teaching in Jakarta, and a year pursuing a postgraduate diploma in London.

She has taught at primary, secondary, post-secondary and tertiary levels. Prior to LASALLE, she was at the National Institute of Education from 1998 to 2005 and the National University of Singapore from 2005 to 2020.

Sociolinguistics of the Korean Wave: Hallyu and Soft Power by Nora Samosir and Lionel Wee, Routledge (2024)
Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L, ‘Rehabilitating Draupadi: From Subservience to Strength’ in Women’s Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance series, Volume 1: Performers (forthcoming)
Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L, ‘Unpacking the Theatre-Religion Dialectic: Siting Christianity’s Mary Magdalene’ in Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (2024) 36 (3): 147–163
Wee, L and Samosir, N, ‘Prescriptivism and the English language in Southeast Asia.’ The Routledge Handbook of Linguistic Prescriptivism, Routledge (2023)
Manokara NS, Samosir NA, Wee L, ‘Sacred Sites and Secular Sounds’ in Ecumenica issue 14.1 (2021)

Actor (most recent)

Playing with Fire, Checkpoint Theatre, Black Box, Drama Centre (2024)
no there there, Autopoetics, Studio Theatre, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (2024)
Wandering Women: Sites created and performed by Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Nora Samosir, playwright Sab Dzulkifli, Creative Cube, LASALLE College of the Arts (2024)
Wandering Women: From Kurukshetra to Magdala created and performed by Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Nora Samosir, Cake Theatricals (2019)
Wandering Women: Water created and performed by Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Nora Samosir, MISI (2018)

Voice coach

Becoming Mother, Jocelyn Chng and Nidya Shanthini Manokara, Centre 42 (2017)
The Merchant of Venice, School of the Arts Singapore (2013)
Romeo & Juliet, Wild Rice (2012)
Morning People, Toy Factory (2002)
Hamlet, Singapore Repertory Theatre (1997)

Dramaturg

A Day A Lily, composer Chen Zhangyi, librettist Jack Lin, idea Wong Su-sun, National Museum of Singapore, panel discussion moderator General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement (2022)

Director

Losing Lily – An Opera on Dementia, composer Chen Zhangyi, librettist Jean Tay, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, University Cultural Centre (2024)
Kampung Spirit composer Chen Zhangyi, librettist Sara Florian, Singapore Lyric Opera (premiered 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN7KsS2i1Eg&list=PLrIgl38PwSsHu3kxgnzlkGO0wutCIIeb5&index=3
Panic Love: An A Capella Opera, composer Chen Zhangyi, librettist Felix Cheong (premiered 2021) https://youtu.be/wldvV3axlEA, https://youtu.be/AEeQCNc-Tds (news story)
Panic Love, libretto by Felix Cheong and music by Chen Zhangyi (uploaded 2021) https://fb.watch/3MQ9k3fwAz/
The Woman in a Tree on a Hill, 30 plays in 30 Days Festival, TheatreWorks (2001)
AI, conceived by Nora Samosir, written by Cheryl Wong Ching Yee, TheatreWorks (1998)

Conferences

‘Performing The Trojan Women: From the Quarry to the Theatre’ co-author Lionel Wee, Performance and the Environment, jointly hosted by LASALLE College of the Arts, National University of Theatre and Film I.L Caragiale (UNATC) and University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD), presented in Singapore and online (2025)
‘From Festival to Carnival: The BTS Festa’ co-author Lionel Wee, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) ATWG Colloquium at Saitama University, Saitama, Japan (2025)
‘Metatheatre and States of Emergency: The Case of Gender Inequality’ co-authors Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Lionel Wee, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress at University of the Philippines Diliman, Manila, Philippines (2024)
‘Small Stories We Tell: Rehabilitating Draupadi’ co-authors Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Lionel Wee, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress at University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana (2023)
‘Boundaries Through Semiosis: The Case of BTS’ co-author Lionel Wee, Sociolinguistics Symposium 24, Ghent, Belgium (2022)
‘Performing Mary Magdalene in Ideological Sites: Rethinking the Centre-Periphery Distinction’, co-authors Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Lionel Wee, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress at University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland (2022)
‘Pedagogy Bypass: redirecting theatre learning in response to Online learning’ co-author Robin Loon, Arrhythmia: Performance Pedagogy and Practice Conference LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, online (2021)

Research Project Funding Scheme, LASALLE College of the Arts, The Korean Wave: Consumption as Performance, co-investigator Prof Lionel Wee (03.2025 – 07.2026)
Conference travel grant, LASALLE College of the Arts, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) ATWG Colloquium at Saitama University, Saitama, Japan (2025)
Conference travel grant, LASALLE College of the Arts, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress at University of the Philippines Diliman, Manila, Philippines (2024)
Learning & Development with financial support for travel, accommodation and visa, Fitzmaurice Voice Institute, New York, US (2024)
Research Project Funding Scheme, LASALLE College of the Arts, Nuancing the Sitedness of Metatheatrical Strategies, co-investigator Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara (01.2023-12.2023)
Conference travel grant, LASALLE College of the Arts, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana (2023)
Conference travel grant, LASALLE College of the Arts, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland (2022)
National Arts Council Arts Professional Development Grant (Theatre), Voicing The Archetypes of Myths and Legends, Cape Cod, US (2013)
National Arts Council and Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT) Training Programme and Summer Season, Toga, Japan (2011)
National Arts Council Grant, Voicecraft 6-day workshop, New Zealand (2001)
British Council Grant, Theatre for the 21st century, UK (1997)
National Arts Council Bursary for Postgraduate Study, Central School of Speech and Drama, UK (1995)

Voice studies and production
Acting theory and practice
Theatre and performance studies

Academic leadership and faculty

Programme Leaders

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Alan P Rudge

Andreas Schlegel

Audrey Wong

Dayal Gian Singh

Dr Diego Celi

Erzan Adam

Dr Francis Maravillas

Ginette Chittick

Guo Ningru

Hazel Lim-Schlegel

Dr Ian Woo

Dr Indra Selvarajah

Jay Loo Dexian

Jaygo Bloom

Jeffrey Say

Joselyn Sim

Justin Hegburg

Kathryn Shannon Sim

Khalid Almkhlaafy

Matt Grey

Michael Budmani

Associate Professor Natalia Grincheva

Nathan Yong

Pavan J Singh

Professor Ronald P.M.H. Lay, MA, AThS-HF, AThR, ATR-BC

Associate Professor Rosslyn Prosser

Dr Subashini K Rajanthran

Victoria Elizabeth Ho

Wendy Chua

Associate Professor Woo Yen Yen

Senior Lecturers

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Adeline Kueh

Brian O’Reilly

Associate Professor Darren Moore

Dirk Johan Stromberg

Emylia Safian

Hideho Urata

Jeremy Sharma

Kelley Cheng

Dr S Chandrasekaran

Salleh Japar

Urich Lau Wai-Yuen

Lecturers

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Adrian Huang

Aloysius Foong

Alvin Chiam

Dr Amber Chunzhi Yin

Ang Qing Sheng

Dr Aprille Chua Jia Qi

Belinda Foo

Chen Chin Tyng

Chris Yee

Christina Low Yung Chyuan

Dr Damaris D E Carlisle

Daniela Monasterios Tan

David Lee Siew Bing

Edmund Chia

Eugene Lee

Fanny Bratahalim

Felix Sng

Frank DeMeglio

Dr Gan Sheuo Hui

Goh Hiro Toshi

Hera

Hillary Yeo

Isidro Ramirez

Dr James Félix

Janet Teoh

Jason Vitorillo

Jessica Olivia Chua

Joanne Ho Sau Leng

Dr Joel Gn

Dr Leela Alaniz

Lidya Chrisfens

Lim Shu Min

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