An international theatre arts conference with a special focus on practices in South East Asia.
The SDEA Theatre Arts Conference is an international conference organised by SDEA. It provides a platform for practitioners to share their work, methodologies and research.
The conference comprises academic presentations, performances and workshops and is held once every two years, alternating with Celebrate Drama!
SDEA Theatre Arts Conference 2023
Creatives, by nature, observe, raise questions, stimulate thought, and develop agency. As we dig our roots deeper to find meaning in our current contexts, practices, and environments, we branch wide to explore new ways of doing and ways of being in an increasingly complex world. The SDEA Theatre Arts Conference 2023 aims to examine these current and evolving ways, especially within education, community, and performance.
Inviting artists, educators, practitioners and researchers to think about their work through the lenses of Practices & Pedagogies, Spaces & Places, and/or Causes & Communities, this conference will feature a range of presentations, workshops, lectures, and performances.
Rooting Deep, Branching Wide: Strengthening Practices and Expanding Possibilities, calls for proposals that respond to the theme - addressing but not limited to:
- Process-driven work on social justice, equity and diversity
- Creative work on environment, sustainability and climate change
- Creative practices as acts of care, resistance, reconnection and regeneration
- Representation and inclusion in the arts
- Creative practices in formal and nonformal sites of learning
- Unconventional interventions in conventional spaces
- Creative work in spaces and places of tension and conflict
- Creative practices that question the status-quo
- Artistic activism for social change
- Reimagination of creative pedagogies in education
- Digitalisation as an enabler for creative engagement in a hybrid world
- Artist-led responses and strategies to address significant societal matters
The SDEA Theatre Arts Conference 2023 will be conducted in a hybrid format. It will take place from 30th June 2023 to 2nd July 2023
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SDEA Theatre Arts Conference is currently accepting proposal applications. The open call submissions deadline has been extended to Tuesday, 28th March 2023, 11:59pm (SGT)
To apply
Download a Proposal Submission Form
Email a completed form to conference@sdea.org.sg by Tuesday, 28 March 2023, 11:59pm (SGT)
SDEA will get in touch with you regarding your application.
For further enquiries, please reach out to conference@sdea.org.sg
Featured Programmes
Find out about Theatre Arts Conference's programmes and join their upcoming sessions.
SDEA Theatre Arts Conference 2015
After two successful conferences, the SDEA Theatre Arts Conference is coming back at The Arts House from 26th - 28th June 2015. The theme, “Standing Still: Still Standing” challenges presenters to reflect on the changing landscape of drama and theatre practices in the Asian region and further afield.

SDEA Theatre Arts Conference 2017
The 4th edition of SDEA Theatre Arts Conference takes place from 30th June to 1st July 2017 at Goodman Arts Centre. Its theme Future Generations: Projecting Playful Possibilities’ invites diverse arts communities to imagine possibilities in the field of theatre for young people in the region and beyond.