The Vault: PE*IS

PE*IS is a devised performance responding to Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral.

One of theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun's most well-known and beloved plays, Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral was first staged in 1995 by TheatreWorks (now T:>Works) as part of the Festival of Asian Performing Arts. Descendants explored the life and times of Admiral Zheng He, the legendary eunuch of China - his infamous castration and his historically renowned maritime expeditions in the 1400s. It drew parallels between his experiences, and the sacrifices made and struggles faced by Singapore's 'cultural orphans' of the 1990s. 

In commemoration of the play's 30th anniversary, 2025 sees six students from the National University of Singapore's Theatre & Performance Studies TS3103 Theatre Lab presenting PE*IS, a performance-response that delves into the themes, core issues, and dramaturgy of Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral. The performance-response will be accompanied by a pre-show segment that introduces the history and context of the original play, comprising screenings of excerpts from previous stagings of the text, and readings of reflections written by original cast members. 

Join us on 12 April at the Black Box, 42 Waterloo Street, to experience this performance-response and take a tumultuous voyage that explores autonomy, identity, and censorship.

Content Advisory: Use of vulgarities, allusions to castration 

What happens when we no longer have control of our stories, but also our bodies? PE*IS follows a group of actors devising a play about the legendary eunuch admiral, Zheng He, and an imaginary encounter with an alien civilisation that has no concept of empire, gender, or suffering. When the aliens make him an offer he seemingly can't refuse, Zheng He questions his past, his purpose, and the empire that made him. As the play is devised, the process faces interventions and suggestions for rewrites. Now the actors must make a decision about how much they're willing to be cut.

Artists

Brian Ko
Chong Shen Hao
Hannah Rose Lee
Kah Seng Lian
Leoson Lee
Yi Xuan Lock

Co-Dramaturg

Dr Robin Loon

Producer and Co-Dramaturg

Thong Pei Qin

Technical Consultant

Henrik Cheng

The presentations on the 12th of April 2025 are the TS3103 students’ response to Kuo Pao Kun’s Descendants Of The Eunuch Admiral (1995). I will provide a short framing introduction to their response: assembling reflections from casts of both the Mandarin and English production of the play in 1995, newspaper reports and personal reflections.

This 7th collaboration with C42 is conceived, devised, directed and performed by our 6 students.  Their response must show a clear connection with Kuo’s play; present a POV on Kuo’s play; and most importantly, offer insights to the issues and ideas arising from both their presentation and Kuo’s text.

Dr Robin Loon
Co-Dramaturg and Course Chair
TS3103 Theatre Lab

Thirty years after Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral was first produced in both Mandarin and English (1995), this is a meaningful year to look back on this seminal play by the late Mr. Kuo Pao Kun. The past 12 weeks were spent unearthing our 6 students’ own takes, reflections and insights in response to Kuo’s play, relevant to the world they live in today. 

The students experienced a series of movement and dramaturgical workshops conducted by Timothy Wan, Dr. Robin Loon and Thong Pei Qin. Thereafter, from research, play analysis, pitching of concepts, world-building, creating of original characters and text, to performance as an ensemble, the 6 students were guided to devise, direct and document everything on their own. This rigorous process is a culmination of what they have learnt on the National University of Singapore’s Theatre & Performance Studies Programme, following a lineage of TS3103 Theatre Lab works presented under Centre 42’s Vault Residency since 2019. 

Thong Pei Qin
Co-Dramaturg and Producer
TS3103 Theatre Lab

Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral was written by Kuo Pao Kun, one of Singapore's most well-known and influential playwrights of all time. Commissioned by TheatreWorks' artistic director Ong Keng Sen, it was first performed in English under the banner of the now-defunct Festival of Asian Performing Arts in June 1995. A month after the premiere, Kuo directed the Chinese-language performance of the play, staged by The Theatre Practice at the Victoria Theatre. Though a planned tour through China was cancelled due to disapproval from Chinese authorities, Descendants went on to be performed in several cities, including Cairo, Hamburg, and Berlin, receiving critical acclaim. 

Click on the links below for more information about Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral and Kuo Pao Kun. 

We would like to thank the following individuals and companies for their generosity in providing access to the video recordings presented in this performance-response: