The Agency for Cultural Affairs will host the Asian Art Festival Oct. 25-Nov. 5 at the New National Theater, The Pit, featuring plays by the leading Singaporean playwright/director Kuo Pao Kun as well as a lecture and a symposium on the contemporary theater scene in Asian countries.

China-born Kuo, who emigrated to Singapore in 1949, is known for mentorship of thespians in Singapore, including the up-and-coming director Ong Keng Sen, and writing and producing plays onstage. Written in Chinese and English, his plays have been well received in Asia, Australia and European countries.

The festival will present three works of Kuo's, each directed by a leading director from an Asian country. "Lao Jiu (The Ninth Born)," a comedy of a boy born as the ninth child in a family dominated by women, will be directed in Hindi by India's Anuradha Kapur. "The Silly Little Girl and the Funny Old Tree," a thought-provoking piece, will be directed in Japanese by Japan's Makoto Sato and "The Coffin Is Too Big for the Hole" will be directed in Indonesian by Indonesian Putu Wijaya. All three plays will have Japanese subtitles.

"The Ninth Born" will be performed Oct. 25-27, 7 p.m., "The Silly Little Girl" Oct. 28-Nov. 1, 7 p.m., except for Oct. 29 at 2 p.m., and "The Coffin" Nov. 3, 7 p.m., Nov. 4, 2 and 7 p.m. and Nov. 5, 2 p.m.

Kuo will make a keynote speech 4:30 p.m. Oct. 29, on theater in the 21st century, and a symposium and lectures on Asian theater will be held Nov. 5 from 4:30 p.m.