YeoMama Club:
Karen Tan
Meet Karen, a veteran theatre actress whose career spans nearly 40 years, bringing a wide range of characters to life from sea monsters to comatose women.
Beyond the stage, she’s a loving wife, mother, and avid yarn enthusiast with a passion for crochet and gardening.
Explore her rich theatrical journey and the unique facets of her vibrant life
Can you share a little about your journey and what defines you?
I turned 57 in April, and this is what I've done with my life so far. I'm a wife, a mother, a theatre actress, a yarn hoarder (I also crochet), a sometimes-gardener, and a very reluctant Peranakan (both sides some more).
I also have high cholesterol, which is never a pleasant thing.
What does a day in your life look like?
I wake up, I do something or other, and I look forward to going back to sleep.
You've had an incredible career in theatre spanning close to 40 years. What inspired you to become an actress?
Honestly, I've never been able to answer this. I just did it. I went through the usual job scopes of nurse (my Mum was a nurse), a vet (but i'm not good with blood), a lawyer (too predictable).
When I stopped considering, I just landed my first professional play by TheatreWorks, when I was still in University. I'm not a trained actor; there were no theatre schools or modules back then; I trained on stage, literally.
What has been the most memorable moment of your acting career so far? Why it's special to you?
At the risk of sounding either very cliched, or very lazy - I don't really have one...But I've played men, lesbians, ghosts, one sea monster, loads of different types of mothers, a singing harp, and performed in Mandarin (very bad), Malay (tolerable), German (passable).
I also enjoyed playing a woman who was in a coma for the first half of the play, so i just lay there on stage because See Question 2.
If you could swap lives with any character from a play or movie for a day, who would it be and what would you do?
I've thought about it. I actually am quite happy being me - I think the characters would swap their lives for mine.
How does your family, including your husband and daughters, support you in your career and passions?
Before I got married and had a family, my parents were the ones who gave me the confidence to be an actor. The best gift a parent can give to their child is an education; so the only condition my parents set was that I get my degree, which I did. For that, I'm eternally grateful.
To let your child choose a path that is often thought of as frivolous, self-centred, unprofitable is a great thing, especially with parents from my generation.
With my own family, I think my 2 daughters, aged 28 and 19, have had to handle irregular hours that their parents have - me with my theatre rehearsals and performances, my husband with his heavy hospital duties. But they've both grown up lovely and independent and wonderful, in spite of all this, so Yay Us!!
Is there a future project you're particularly enthusiastic about?
There's actually a project being sorted, for next year, with great, uplifting themes like loneliness, sadness and suicide. Nice.
How would you describe YeoMama Batik to someone who’s never heard of it before?
YeoMama Batik does exactly what it says in its name : there is a Yeo family; there is a Mama; the clothing, true to the nature of batik, is beautifully irregular, nice and respectable at times, fun and cheery at others.
It's a label that is as inclusive as it possibly can be, ensuring that everyone looks good, and not at the expense of creativity and joy. It's a true Singaporean label.
