Paper Monkey Theatre

Towkay Neo, a rich Peranakan matriarch, decides to divide her riches among her three daughters, and offers the largest share to the one who loves her best.Upon knowing that Towkay Neo is charmed by the beautiful singing of the nightingale that lives in the garden, the eldest daughter captured the songbird while the second daughter made a mechanical songbird to please their mother in order to gain her favor, but not the youngest daughter. Angry that the youngest daughter does not appear to love her as her tw

The Nonya Nightingale

Artistic Director

Playwright

Set Manager

To celebrate Singapore’s 60th birthday, Paper Monkey Theatre presents The Man Who Planted Trees. The play was inspired by the timeless 1953 work The Man Who Planted Trees by French author Jean Giono. This imaginative and whimsical piece is designed for children aged 4 to 10, and pays tribute to Singapore’s founding father, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, honouring his visionary leadership in transforming Singapore into a vibrant garden city.Through puppetry, vivid storytelling, and colourful visuals, audiences will embar

The Man Who Planted Trees (2025)

Director

Set Designer

Puppet Designer

Puppet Maker

In this episode, Tripitaka's team encounters the powerful Crimson Boy, son of the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan. Despite being 300 years old, he wields True Samadhi Fire and possesses great strength. Capturing Tripitaka, he plans to offer the monk's meat to his parents to prevent their divorce, believing he's the cause of their strife. Sun Wukong is defeated but seeks help from the Goddess of Mercy, who forgives Crimson Boy and takes him as her disciple. The demon releases Tripitaka, and the group c

Journey West: The Crimson Boy (2023)

Some curious children see a crowd waiting for a man. He looks familiar and they recall seeing him carrying a red box everywhere he goes. What could be so precious they wondered as they waited for a chance to steal the box. After some twists and turns they finally managed to open the box. Alas! Its content is far from what they had imagined it to be.

The man explains to the confused children that the red box holds his dreams. Will the children understand what big dreams he had and be inspired to work hard

What's Inside the Red Box? (2023)

It is the first day of school, Duckie is very excited to make new friends, learn new things and discover the amazing world that we live in. But, Duckie finds out that ducks are supposed to quack and swim, and it can do neither! The animals find it so odd that they start to tease and chant, “Little Duck-Chicken!” Duckie does not like it and feels ostracised. It struggles to keep up and yearns to be a duck that quacks and swims, not a misfit. Will Duckie find the courage to accept who it is? Will the farm ani

Duckie Can’t Swim (2021)

Composer

Liu Yuyan chanced upon a scholar Bian Ji who was selling his calligraphic writing at the Flower Festival. It was love at first sight for the maiden and the scholar! Feeling excited, Yuyan rushed home to inform her parents of the wonderful news. Alas! What seemed like a simple affair became a complex love game when instead of inviting Bian Ji over to discuss the marriage, the muddle-headed housekeeper invited the tyrant, Zhou Tong!Singapore theatre, Paper Monkey Theatre, proudly presents Romance of Mistakes 

Romance of Mistakes (2021)

Lyricist

Romance of Mistakes&nbsp;is a pantomime of a series of seemingly unfortunate events that resulted from mistaken identities and misrepresented love. Liu Yu Yan chanced upon a scholar Bian Ji who was selling his calligraphic writing at the Flower Festival. It was love at first sight for the maiden and the scholar! Feeling excited, Yu Yan rushed home to inform her parents of the wonderful news. Alas! What seemed like a simple affair became a complex love game when instead of inviting Bian Ji over to discuss th

Romance of Mistakes (2019)

Journey West: Web of Deceit is a mesmerising tale from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, where a monk Master Tang San Zang and his disciples go on an exhilarating adventure.

On their journey, Master Tang and his disciples run into the crafty Spider Demon. Spinning her devious web, the Spider Demon traps our hapless Master Tang as she prepares for a feast! Will Master Tang's disciples be able to come up with an ingenious plan to save their master before it is too late?

Presenting tradition

Journey West: Web of Deceit (2018)

The Theatre Practice

Lao Jiu,&nbsp;a Singapore classic that has stood the test of time, will awake your aspiration to pursue your dream.

Lao Jiu, literally "the ninth child", is the only son in the family. An incredibly intelligent boy on track to win a prestigious scholarship, but he finds his true calling in the declining traditional puppetry arts. Torn between his dream and responsibilities, will Lao Jiu follow his heart; or will he cave to the needs of his family, seeking wealth and success?

Lao Jiu: The Musical&nbsp;

Lao Jiu: The Musical (2017)

Puppetry Trainer

Saga Seed Theatre

Within an isolated cell, a writer tries to retain her imagination and freedom by writing stories and letters to her daughter, even as she resists attempts by her jailor to force a written confession out of her.

Meanwhile, within the magical world that the writer creates, her young heroine, Ann, similarly defies the authorities to put her stories on the page and bring her brother back to life. However, as pressures on the writer intensify in the real world, she is forced to choose between her stories and 

The Shape of a Bird (2016)

Co-Director

Hungry Brush is a Big Bully. He is always hungry and bullying kids by snatching their food away without asking politely. One day, Pan and Sponge decide to go picnic and met Hungry Brush on the bridge that they were crossing. The Big Bully, Hungry Brush, extorted money from Pan and Sponge before letting them crossed the bridge. Pan and Sponge decided to stand up for themselves and defy Hungry Brush's order. Will Pan and Sponge succeed? Is Hungry Brush going to learn his lesson and stop being a Big Bully?&nbs

The Big Bully (2015)

In celebration of Paper Monkey Theatre's 5th Anniversary, Paper Monkey Theatre presents&nbsp;Romance of Mistakes.&nbsp;Adapted from a classic Beijing Opera,&nbsp;Romance of Mistakes&nbsp;is a pantomime of a series of unfortunate events that resulted from mistaken identities and misrepresented love. With the use of specially handcrafted puppets and original music composition, this fun and quirky Chinese musical is NOT TO BE MISSED!

Performed in Mandarin with no English surtitles.&nbsp;90 mins.


Romance of Mistakes (2013)

Adaptation

Girl ah... Boy ah... can you help me find my cat?

An old dialect-speaking mother has lost her only companion – a cat. She asked for help, but was snubbed by her grown-up children. One night, the old lady left her house looking for her cat in a world that has left her behind – a world obsessed with progress and prosperity, which has forgotten the traditional, the old and the frail.

Mama Looking For Her Cat is a play about the communication differences and the estranged relationship between a mother and

Mama Looking For Her Cat (2012)

Lao Jiu&nbsp;is one of Kuo Pao Kun's most popular and accessible works. In 2005,&nbsp;Lao Jiu&nbsp;was adapted into a dazzling musical for the first time, and this year it will be restaged as an entirely new creative production to be rolled out featuring an exciting new lineup of performers and creative collaborators!&nbsp;

As the only son in the family, Lao Jiu (the ninth born) realises that he should grasp the prestigious scholarship opportunity that has opened up for him; yet, he hesitates at the crit

Lao Jiu: The Musical (2012)

A long time ago, there once lived a tyrant named Zhou Chu, who was feared by many for his bad temper. Many years later this big bully appears again!&nbsp;

The bully was a little boy who has the arrogance and strength of a dragon, a howl louder than a lion, hotheaded and impatient as a tiger. The little boy always insisted on having things his way. Every child at the playground was fearful of him. Along came two evils, Tiger and Dragon, who terrorised the playground. To be well liked, the little boy decid

The Three Big Bullies (2012)

There was once an old lady who had a prized possession – a little goldfish.

One day, the old lady over heard that a "goldfish" could grow up to a few metres long. Thinking that the "goldfish" she heard was referring to the goldfish she had, the old lady started to pin high hopes and expectations for her goldfish that it too one day will grow to its fullest potential, so that she could be proud of it.

The old lady took great care and pride in providing for the goldfish; feeding it with the best, giving

Goldfish, GO FISH! (2011)

Traditions & Editions Theatre Circus

A circus. Low down and out...
A story about love beyond boundaries and an ultimate fight for hope.
But, will it be 'happily ever after' like all fairytales? Maybe not... Maybe...
Can we continue to fight? What does it takes to fight?
How far are you willing to go to fight for what you believe?
You are living in Today Land... How do you want your Tomorrow Land to be?

Do you still dream? How long have you not been dreaming?
Where are your dreams?
In the country of Shadows, things are (almost) perfec

The Juggler's Tale (2011)

Advisor

Boy is a happy child. He loves going to school to learn and have loads of fun. Hide-and-seek is his favourite game. Boy knows all the best hiding spots in school and would play with his friends all day long. Even at home.

At bedtime, Boy would hide. No matter how tired Boy is, he dreads going to bed. He knows it. There is something under his bed. He could hear it breathing. Maybe one. Two? Even three or four. Under his blanket Boy shuts his eyes tight, hoping that the monster would go away.

Monster Un

Monster Under My Bed (2011)

In this episode from the well-loved Chinese adventure epic,&nbsp;Journey to the West,&nbsp;Master Tang San Zang and his disciples encounter the White Bone Fiend in their travels. Intent on dining on Tang San Zang, the demoness tricks him into expelling Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey God from the group.

Will she succeed or will Wu Kong save the day?

Be delighted as this lively parable about trust, friendship and compassion comes alive with traditional hand puppets, rod puppets, shadow puppets and human actors

The Journey West: White Bone Fiend (2010)

The 1950's was a time where big cooperations entered and industrialisation of small fishing villages begun, giving new hope for the simple people; a new career away from the dangerous fishing life. They welcome such modernisation with open arms as they enjoy electricity and tap water flowing through the households for the first time. However, such 'luxury' came at a hefty 'price' unknown to the simple villagers. Soon, strange incidents started to happen...

Based on a true story in Minamata, Japan,&nbsp;M

Mercury (2010)

Boxes, a medium we use to pack our things and stack them away... with it our memories and unsettled feelings. Putting it all aside, we move on - out of sight, out of mind. Then one day, we chance upon these boxes. The memories and emotions that were carefully tucked away surfaces uncontrollably. Carefully but with hesitance, we go through the cherished items kept within.

Home Boxes&nbsp;- through the voices of six actors, a collection of three stories will be shared as the boxes unfold stories of dreams 

Home Boxes (2010)

Cake Theatrical Productions

Man: This breath. See? Can you see it? This breath. Stop. [Tries to hold his breath.] But it escapes. Willful breath. You are my master. I am your slave.

The man is restless. One minute he is in a barren wasteland, the next he is in a public toilet in the city, the next he's sitting on a rock with a book, the next he's dragging body bags across endless dust. The man is restless. He wants to disappear. There is also a fisherman and a woman of great disrepute. They live and interact with the man. They know

Invisibility / Breathing (2010)

Performer

Puppet Square

Centre 42 currently has limited information on this archive entry. If you possess any relevant information and/or archival material, please contact us at&nbsp;archive@centre42.sg.


Death of a Hero (2008)

Wild Rice

If Sleeping Beauty were to wake up in today’s Singapore, would she end up in Woodbridge? What would she find? What do a slimming centre, three Fairy God Aunties, and the Merlion have to do with the twists and turns of her new story?

W!LD RICE’s deliciously wicked holiday pantomime re-imagines the favourite fairy tale&nbsp;with such pizzazz, you will never see Sleeping Beauty the same way again.


Oi! Sleeping Beauty!! (2005)

Shadow Effects Designer

The Necessary Stage

A motley bunch of storytellers and performers gather under a magical tree to share and celebrate stories from around Asia.

Myths and fables, fantasy and reality. These magical stories will be brought to life through drama, puppetry, music and movement, which are bound to thrill any child between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.


The Story Tree (2001)

Drama Box

The Family of Cross is feeling cross.
为什么？也没为什么。Just everything, that's all.
Who are you? Asks one member of the family to another.
Who are YOU! Came the retort. 你在我的 mouse 里面干吗？
Mouse? What mouse? 这是我的铅笔盒！你擅闯私人禁地。
喂！says another. I can't find my 牛 in the sewing machine.
你们全部 shut up! 有一人喊道。The Parent 要回来了！！
Strange. Says the first. 我以为我是 The Parent.
Xx 家族 look at 对方。Yes, strange things are afoot.
他们能 survive 这个 crisis 吗？

iRReLeVaNt.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;CHeApsKatE.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;ZOoLogiCaL.

Family of Cross (2001)

Puppet Construction

This bi-lingual musical comedy chronicles the rocky road to love between&nbsp;Mr Beng and Peach. Mr Beng, not your stereotypical Ah Beng, drives a Mercedes,&nbsp;wears Versace clothes and sings Hokkien Karaoke. Peach is a classy uptown girl,&nbsp;temperamental and stubborn.

The play attempts to examine the cultural gaps that all Singaporeans must deal&nbsp;with on a day-to-day basis, trapped between borrowed&nbsp;Eastern and Western cultures,&nbsp;alternating between our ‘mother’ tongue, Singlish and rec

Mr Beng (1999)

黒暗的高天、黑暗的厚地，幾個辭世多年的亡魂，沒有忘卻人世的季節。每一年的這個時候，在季節輪替的瞬間，他們共赴一場重聚的儀式， 開始訴説自己的故事。

他們原來是什麼？漢子、媽媽、姑娘、將軍和詩人。他們是怎麼來到逍裏的？他們怎樣和一場最血腥慘烈的戰爭結合在一起？好好的人，怎麼能，忍受骨肉分離而無怨無悔？看着自己的同胞慘死而視若無睹； 為什麼把自身送I, 給無數人蹂躪？怎麼會，在戰場上讓自己03醫生報銷自己的軍隊？人性在哪裏？人性是什麼？

當生命進入混沌的狀態，人與物難辨、真與偽難同列、神與鬼難分時，家是什麼？回不去了。為什麼？

靜消悄的。顏色、生死之間的顏色。最終，一切在靜消悄裏，歸於黑暗。

&nbsp;


The Spirits Play (1998)

Cast

Toy Factory Productions Limited

An exploration of the diverse themes of roles, relationships and understandings amidst changes and estrangements in GENERATIONAL perceptions, aspirations and beliefs.&nbsp;


Mama Looking For Her Cat (1998)

Front of House

On these final resting grounds lay soldiers, prostitutes and a scholar. This sounds like a foreign land, ruins on a faraway wilderness. In actual fact, this cemetery is in our midst. It sits quietly in a private residential district, on Chuan Hoe Avenue in Yio Chu Kang.

The soldiers were from the Japanese Imperial Army of the Second World War. They were killed on battle grounds during the war, in execution chambers after. They died of illness, by accident, by suicide. They all lay here, regardless of ran

Props Master

Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble's celebration with the young and the young-at-heart

This Mid-Autumn Festival &amp; Children's Day, Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble brings to life the delightful musical&nbsp;Touch the Moon,&nbsp;celebrating these joyous occasions in a new and unfold version.


Touch the Moon (1996)

Producer

Puppeteer

传说中，有一个蓬莱仙境般的岛屿，就位于十万八千里外的地方。据传，此岛一片太平盛世，岛民安居乐业、不食人间烟火，相信是没有入口香烟的缘故。

世人听说有这么一个世外桃源，都想到此一游，窥探其安邦治国之道。无奈旅游业不发达，计划组团考察的有识之士，几千年来无法付诸行动。正因如此，小岛的历史才会在今天改写……

南中国海一个小岛不久前甄选出一名饱读诗书、学富五车的智者，特往此岛取经。

说到这位智者，他来头可不小，与唐代著名高僧唐三藏的名字只差一字，叫做唐善藏。虽然名字与唐僧相近，不过道行与之相差甚远。在此事先声明：两人际遇如有雷同，纯属巧合。

然而，无巧不成书，善藏取经途中却偏偏巧遇金睛变近视的无空、心广体胖的现代“衰”哥八戒、装扮摇滚前卫的沙森以及帅“呆”了隆马。

五人决定齐手相连，揭开小岛的奥秘。他们借助现代科技，终于“腾云驾雾”，进入一个奇幻的世界，并且奇遇岛上怪人牛莫忘和白谷京。

二怪似乎有意刁难善藏等人，对这些游客百番阻挠，错综复杂中，善藏与岛上稀有品种Spider双双坠入爱河，两人不在乎天长地久，只在乎曾经拥有，一段刻骨铭心的“冻”人爱情故事，就这样展开了。

取经过

A New Journey (1996)

Time : 1967 - 1995
Place : Rever Palace Night Club

Yao Xiaodie,&nbsp;a once famous singer, is invited by her bosom pal&nbsp;Jin Lulu&nbsp;to make a comeback at the Rever Palace Night Club. This is where they first performed when they started out as aspiring singers many years ago. Unfortunately, Rever Palace now faces the fate of being condemned.&nbsp;

Xiaodie&nbsp;therefore decides to present a historic concert to commemorate Rever Palace's glorious past. Its present decrepit state only serves to br

I Have A Date with Spring (1995)

Fragments of Perception lie in the air, thoughts are quivering without control, the story goes on, like life...

... surrounds ...&nbsp;

digging the long forgotten feeling within the frame of a body, to see, to listen and to stay alive.&nbsp;


Surrounds (1992)

Creator

Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble (TFTE) will now welcome all to participate in the refreshing and exciting Mandarin drama&nbsp;Posteterne.&nbsp;(With English subtitles)&nbsp;

Inspired by the beautiful legend, the Butterfly Lovers,&nbsp;Posteterne&nbsp;is a brilliantly blended drama of avant-garde and traditional opera which promises an evening of stunning visual and surprises.&nbsp;

Unveiling the horrifying secrets of our soul... shinning forth in the eternity of love, compliciting in the complexity of hu

Posteterne (1992)

Three good friends from different worlds bound by shared experiences, music and much laughter. Differences don’t seem to matter… not until the three men are caught up in a series of bizarre situations. Do Gerald, Sukdev and Thomas know who they really are?

This Chord and Others: The Necessary Stage’s third production for 1991, is a comedy developed trough a series of improvisations. As the play progresses, the three actors take on multiple roles and events move back and forth in time.


This Chord and Others (1991) 

Ticketing

MORE is a story about a clinic,
its people
and their obsessions
with their titles.
Essentially,
it examines
status symbols.

“… what if they’re not happy?” 


More (1991)

Front of House Assistant

THESHOBON gi dafo hjiomee ta ghion bul oghion ebumin yuom hod (gomik ohod). Steven Weston famlo vatum dofo nenno threshonon. Ping gi quontomi idofo mundafta rondso shelooj.

(translated)

INTERVIEW is a play of language and non-language in corporate life (or non-life). Steven Weston goes for a job interview at S.A.E. Pte Ltd. He’s literally an outsider seeking acceptance.


An Interview (1991) 

Set in a secondary school, this play focuses on Mrs Phua Su-Lin, a teacher and a single mother, trying her best to manage both roles. Faced with the constant and rapid changes that take part in her life, she finds greater difficulty coping with her two major roles. Further complications arise when there is news that her school is moving to another district.

Changes takes place everywhere… what happens to those who are unable to adapt?


Those Who Can't, Teach (1990)

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Benjamin Ho Kah Wai

PARTICIPATION IN C42

WORKS DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHIVE

Benjamin Ho Kah Wai

PARTICIPATION IN C42

WORKS DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHIVE

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