'I love that most Singaporeans will offer unsolicited advice'

In the more than 130 plays he has written so far, playwright Haresh Sharma has cast his astute eye over a staggering range of social issues, from mental illness and interracial relations to the pressures of the education system and queer ageing.

- Shawn Hoo

Born on Jan 18, 1965, the writer is a three-time winner for Best Original Script at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards, and his play Off Centre (1993) was the first Singaporean play to be offered as a GCE O- and N-level literature text. He was conferred the Cultural Medallion in 2015.

Sharma, who has been resident playwright of The Necessary Stage (TNS) since 1990, received an honorary doctor of arts by Bath Spa University in July for "giving voice to the everyday, the marginalised and the unseen".

He will be directing an SG60 triple bill of plays under the title of SG Insecure, which will be staged by TNS from Oct 29 to Nov 8.

Can you share more about your childhood photo?

I don't have a first-year baby picture. I'm the youngest of four children. By the time I was born, my parents had stopped bothering to take out the camera. So, there's no obligatory picture of me sitting on the round rattan chair or lying face down on the dining table. I knew I was the cutest child, so it didn't matter.

What is your core memory of Singapore?

I don't think I have one significant core memory of Singapore. Like any relationship, it goes through phases.

One of my earliest core memories is of National Day.