Robin Yong, The Art of Lao Sai Tao Yuan (Documentary/Photojournalism (ATEP 2017))

Chinese Street Opera is fast becoming a thing of the past in metropolitan Singapore. Characterised by their colourful wooden box-like stages built on stilts, loud music with lots of gongs and cymbals, high pitched singing and period costumes with ornate face-painting, these shows were extremely popular before the 1960s. Nowadays, they attract far fewer crowds, their classical performances being replaced by cinemas and pop concerts. Chinese Street Opera can still be found at times at Taoist temples during religious festivals. Most of the performers are veterans, with only a couple of young ones learning the trade. I was lucky to be able to photograph the troupe backstage before a few of their performances. Backstage is hot and cramped, with boxes of costumes everywhere. The people spoke in the same dialect as my late Grandmother and everyone was friendly to me. A face painting can take up to two hours and performers have to wear period costumes in the warm tropical area. The troupe Lao Sai Tao Yuan has been around since the 1850s, making it the oldest Chinese opera troupe in Singapore, and the performers are determined to keep the heritage going...

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