Nora Samosir

Nora Samosir
Born Nora Anny Samosir
Occupation Actress
educator
Years active 1979–present

Nora Samosir is a Singaporean actress of Indonesian descent who won a 2002 Life Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress.[1][2] She has been active in the Singapore theatre scene since 1979 and has worked in television and film.[1] Some of her more notable performances include The Swallowed Seed (2002)[3] and Revelations (2003)[4]

Background

Samosir is of Indonesian descent and speaks English, Malay and Indonesian fluently.[1] Her professional training is in acting and voice production, which she also teaches at the National University of Singapore.[1] She studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, and graduated from York University, Toronto, Canada with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and has multiple qualifications in vocal training and voice studies.[5] She is a member of the Association of Singapore Actors,[1] the Singapore Drama Educators Association,[6] and currently a lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore, where she lectures in Theatre Studies and teaches voice production, teaching 'Introduction to Theatre and Drama', 'Praxis in Theatre and Performance Theory', and 'Voice Studies and Production'.[7]

Career

Samosir has done extensive work in Singapore with such groups as Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT), Action Theatre, The Necessary Stage (TNS), Cake Theatre, Black Tent Theater, Music and Movement, and TheatreWorks (TW), as well as performing at venues such as National Museum of Singapore, Dublin Fringe Festival, National Theatre Festival (at the National School of Drama in Delhi), Asian Theatre Festival at Kyungsung University in Busan, Lyric Theatre, Festival of Perth, TheatreWorks Retrospective Festival, Kuala Lumpur, Adelaide Festival of Arts, and National Institute of Education.

Selected notable theatre appearances

Filmography

Partial television

Criticism and praise

In considering her role in Doubt (2006), Richard Lord of Quarterly Literary Review Singapore wrote that her portrayal of Sister Aloysius was unsympathetic and led to the audience believing in the innocence of Father Brendan as played by Lim Yu Beng.[12] When speaking of her award-winning role of Claire in Proof (2002), Daniel Teo of Inkpot Reviews praised her performance and her precision,[20] while Richard Lord of QLRS felt she exaggerated her character, but had shown better work in performance earlier that year."[16] The following year in his review of Revelations (2003), Lord gave a mixed review of the production's "faulty structure", yet approved of Samosir's performance.[3] In 2003, Samosir was involved with Pulse (2003), an experimental series of 3 interlinked plays loosely based on an urban woman's diary. The series was reviewed by Matthew Lyon of Inkpot Reviews, who felt her performance in the second of the three was "the strongest of the whole series."[15]

Awards

Additional reading

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "actors' directory: Nora Samosir". Association of Singapore Artists. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The 3rd DBS Life! Theatre Awards 2002". Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lord, Richard (July 2002). "Action Speaks Louder With Words – Of soups, fruits and suits". Quarterly Literary Review Singapore 1 (4).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lord, Richard (July 2003). "Thinking Global, Acting Local – Singapore shows up at the Singapore Arts Fest". Quarterly Literary Review Singapore 2 (4).
  5. ↑ "A Workshop on Respiration, Phonation, and Articulation". National University of Singapore. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "Our members". Singapore Drama Educators Association. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  7. ↑ "Faculty of Arts & Social Studies". National University of Singapore. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  8. ↑ "Stage: musical & opera". IS Magazine. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  9. ↑ Chia, Adeline. "Flawed reflections". Straits Times. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  10. ↑ Toh, Amos (19 June 2008). "Urgent Devotion". The Flying Inkpot. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  11. ↑ "120, Presented by National Museum of Singapore: A new production by TheatreWorks/Ong Keng Sen". National Museum of Singapore. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lord, Richard (April 2006). "Shadows of the Doubt". Quarterly Literary Review Singapore 5 (3): 2.
  13. ↑ Yi-Sheng, Ng (12 May 2006). "The Palace of Wisdom". The Flying Inkpot. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  14. ↑ Lord, Richard (January 2005). "Negotiating Parts Unknown". Quarterly Literary Review Singapore 4 (2).
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lyon, Matthew. "The Heart of the Matter". The Inkpot. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lord, Richard (January 2003). "Maps, Maths and Other Madness". Quarterly Literary Review Singapore 2 (2).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "DVD Review of Asian Film Archive's Singapore Shorts Vol. 2". Twitch Films. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 "Vocal Training with Nora Samosir". Singapore Institute of Management University. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  19. ↑ Kwok, Amos. "Shiver". Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  20. ↑ Teo, Daniel (22 November 2002). "One is the lonliest number". The Inkpot. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  21. ↑ Tan, Tarn How (1993). The lady of soul and her ultimate "S" machine. Sirius Books. p. 85.
  22. ↑ Chong, Tze Chien (2002). PIE to SPOILT: a collection of plays. The Necessary Stage. p. 253. ISBN 9789810476670.
  23. ↑ Sa'at, Alfian (2001). A history of amnesia: poems. Ethos Books. p. 86. ISBN 9789810437077.
  24. ↑ Chiang, Michael (1994). Private parts and other playthings. Landmark Books. p. 295. ISBN 9789813002777.