"all the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."

seán o’casey

By 默默富酷

September 1^st, 2012

the staged world

each year during the peculiar season of hungry ghost festival, the sleepy island of pulau ubin comes alive. alive is relative, the usual town-hall crowd is a couple of dazed locals, some lost mainlanders and several dogs sunning their fleas off.

the heart of the festivities during this time is a wayang stage. the term wayang originated from javanese kramat meaning theatrical performance. while the performance draws its roots from chinese taoists traditions and should be referred as chinese opera (戲曲). i prefer to use the colloquial term wayang.

while the art of wayang is waning in popularity over the years but this was the netflix of the 70s. wayang is, simply a performance of
- an over-dramatic exaggeration of emotions
- characters hiding their true identity through masks and make-up
- a story revolving around good versus evil, with a cast of scheming underlings and clowns
- a world of deception, betrayal, lies and injustice
- plenty of song and dance

i thought i might not be able to watch this slowly dying art but as i was writing this foreword, i begin to realize that those characteristics play out at the workplace. everyday. difference is, the curtain doesn’t come down on my stage.

frontstage

a lot happens at the main front stage - having lunch, calling to make 4d (lottery) bets, a couple of fags, taking an afternoon nap.

one of the actress having a mid-day meal before the performance. the meal is cooked by the actors/actresses.

making a phone call to a lottery operator to place 4d bets.

the crew kindly agreed to a group photo. they are mainly from northern thailand.

front-stage - the chinese characters read from right to left. 新怡梨兴潮剧团 (new yilixin teochew opera troupe)

backstage

Write your story here. (Optional)

having fags while waiting for the performance.

father and son. father plays different supporting chracters while the son works on the drums.

calling her fellow stage workers for dinner.

applying makeup while chatting on the phone.

taking an afternoon nap before the performance. they live on stage as the island does not have hotels.

backstage ii

Write your story here. (Optional)

the portable fans keep them cool in the tropical heat which can go as high as 36 degrees c

applying makeup - the session can take anything from 15 minutes to an hour

the boy works on the drums during performance while she memorises the lines before her cue.

offstage

Write your story here. (Optional)

bottles of alcohol (with the names of the donors) for auction during the night. the proceeds fund the wayang.

one of the island resident helping in the festivitites.

a temple elder doing the accounting of donations collected, that will fund the wayang.

Footnotes

i no longer shoot the wayang. this is due to the fact that many hobbyist photographers have been crowding the backstage, and it is frustrating for the stage performers.

Button Label

FootNotes

i no longer shoot the wayang. this is due to the fact that many hobbyist photographers have been crowding the backstage, and it is frustrating for the stage performers.

“no photographer is as good as the simplest camera”

"all the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."

seán o’casey

FootNotes

edward steichen

yohji yamamoto

- marian burros

ridley scott

dennis "the worm" rodman

the year in 20x2 images