A powerful work about castration and politics, Descendants of the Eunuch Admiralrecounts the legacy of the man responsible for China’s most extensive maritime expeditions in the 15th century, the legendary eunuch, Admiral Zheng He. Using the metaphor of castration, parallels are drawn between the power struggles of court eunuchs and the displacement of modern beings who make sacrifices in their lives in order to survive in the highly competitive and industrious society.

Descendants was written by Singapore theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun and is widely regarded as one of his finest works. In this bold and radical interpretation, director Jeff Chen challenges the audience to reconsider text and performance through a melange of visual and aural stimulation.

Playwright: Kuo Pao Kun
Script Editors: Noorlinah Mohamed & Jeff Chen
Director: Jeff Chen
Assistant Director: Andrew Sutherland
Performers: Koh Wan Ching, Jean Ng, Timothy Nga, Nora Samosir & Najib Soiman

Featuring the voices of:
Serene Chen
Nelson Chia
Julius Foo,
Ivan Heng
Noor Effendy Ibrahim
Janice Koh
Lok Meng Chue
Lim Kay Siu
Lim Yu-Beng
Neo Swee Lin
Remesh Panicker,
T. Sasitharan
Cindy Sim
Karen Tan
Lucas Yeo
Siti Khalijah Zainal

Trombone: Lee Wei Ting

Production / Stage Manager: Tennie Su
Assistant Stage Manager / Props Master: Jason Ng
Technical Coordinator: Jed Lim
Set Designer: Wong Chee Wai
Lighting Designer: Andy Lim
Composer: Chong Li-Chuan
Sound Designer: Jeffrey Yue (Ctrl Fre@k)
Costume Designer: Anthony Tan
Multimedia Designer: Kelvin Chew
Hair/ Make-up Artist: Haslina Ismail
Stage Crew: Chen Ruiyu & Shahid Nasheer

(Source: Synopsis from Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay Website, Credits from Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay Programme)

other stagings

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (1995)

T:>Works (TheatreWorks)

Staged: 3 June 1995

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (1995)

The Theatre Practice

Staged: 10 August 1995

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2003)

The Theatre Practice

Staged: 18 September 2003

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credits

Kuo Pao Kun

Playwright

Noorlinah Mohamed

Script Editor

Jeff Chen

Script Editor, Director

Assistant Director

Performer

Performer

Performer

Performer

artefacts

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2015), Review

Twelve Angry Eunuchs This staging mostly bombarded the audience with over-the-top stage images. Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral, written by late theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun, was first staged by TheatreWorks in 1995. The contradiction in the title of the play is obvious: how could a eunuch have descendants? However, as the play progresses, it becomes clear that the metaphor of castration is used as a reflection of today’s society - how powerless we all are, trapped in the corporate rat race, and ho

Jocelyn Chng

Reviewed: 30 April 2015

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2015), Review

Tough to Swallow It is often difficult to approach a play with established history, especially one that holds as much significance as Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral. Written by Kuo Pao Kun and first staged in 1995, Descendants has since become a Singapore classic – a powerful tale of identity and modernity, ideas that have been and still are prevalent in our society. Jeff Chen’s no-holds-barred adaptation of the play is one that plunges the traditional script into a variety of abstra

Casidhe Ng

Reviewed: 30 April 2015

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2015), Review

Jeff Chen's Retelling Mutes Kuo Kuo Pao Kun’s Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral is known for using Zheng He’s maritime voyages as a complex and ambivalent allegory. The eunuch admiral drifting at sea serves as a metaphor for rootlessness and the knowing or unknowing acceptance of castration. Such an allegory gets us at the gut as it is a searing socio-political commentary that still rings true. Director Jeff Chen’s re-interpretation relegates all that to the periphery. It is not becaus

Isaac Tan

Reviewed: 3 May 2015

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral (2015)

Synopsis

other stagings

credits

artefacts

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