Theatre review
Lao Jiu: The Musical’s evergreen appeal with universal story of youthful idealism and identity
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Lao Jiu has evolved from serious script to energetic musical in the 36 years since it premiered.
PHOTO: TUCKYS PHOTOGRAPHY
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Lao Jiu: The Musical
Drama Centre Theatre
April 3, 8pm
Lao Jiu is a play with a storied history. Not a lot of Singapore works have endured more than 30 years as well as a dramatic transformation from serious script to musical theatre, and come out not only relatively unscathed, but appealing to new generations of theatregoers.
Premiering in 1990 as part of the then-Singapore Arts Festival, Lao Jiu is arguably late theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun’s most entertainingly accessible story – a tale of the titular ninth son in a family with eight girls who chooses the path less travelled.
Amped up with Chinese martial arts and the nostalgic appeal of traditional hand puppetry, Kuo’s script fires an arrow straight at the heart of an existential dilemma: to choose dreams and idealism or success and pragmatism.
That this proposition has resonated with generations of Singaporeans indoctrinated in the practical calculus of academic and economic success is indubitable as Lao Jiu has found a second life as a musical.
This is the work’s third restaging since it debuted as a musical in 2005 although, arguably, since the 2005 version was massively overhauled, this might more accurately be the second restaging of the 2012 iteration.
While this reviewer has not seen the previous musicals, one can safely say the songs by the winning team of composer Eric Ng and lyricist Xiaohan are tuneful highlights, given sprightly and sensitive arrangements by Bang Wenfu and Julian Wong.
From the sunny walking bounce of the introductory I Am Lao Jiu and rap-inflected The Chngs, which introduces the eight sisters and their partners, to the sweet Hokkien lullaby of Life Companion and relentless martial chorus of Battlefield, every song serves multiple functions from character development to plot drivers.
The cast members do justice to the music which veteran director Kuo Jian Hong stages with appealing verve.
Amsden Huang, who made it to Taiwan’s singing contest Chinese Million Star’s top 10 in 2011, hits the right notes vocally in the lead role. But it is evident he is more comfortable as a singer than a performer.
For most of the first half, Lao Jiu is celebrated as the smart boy whose academic brilliance will set the Chng family on the path to economic and, it is implied, social success.
Huang’s rather muted air turns Lao Jiu into something of an empty cipher, although he belatedly comes into his own when Lao Jiu finally grabs agency in a power ballad in the second half.
The musical genre necessarily distils characters into declarative song. And it becomes evident that Lao Jiu: The Musical pivots on a philosophical conundrum for countless generations of youth presented with the choice of pursuing one’s dreams versus following the path set by familial and social expectations.
As it turns out, Lao Jiu’s decades-old dilemma maps neatly onto today’s Gen Z angst over academic and social pressures.
Actor Sugie Phua, who played Lao Jiu in 2012, graduates to playing Father. While his gruff stoicism is a bit tentative in the first half, he fares better in the second half when Father loses his temper with Lao Jiu in classic Asian patriarch style.
Sugie Phua (right), who played Lao Jiu in 2012, graduates to playing his father in the 2026 show.
PHOTO: TUCKYS PHOTOGRAPHY
Yeo Lyle, too, brings a moving dignity to his role as Shi Fu, the puppet master whom Lao Jiu seeks out as a mentor. All too aware of his expiry date in a fast-paced society more taken with the latest gadget than the slow simple pleasures of folk theatre, he nonetheless clings to his love of his lifelong practice.
Yeo Lyle (left) as Shi Fu, Lao Jiu’s mentor in puppet theatre.
PHOTO: TUCKYS PHOTOGRAPHY
Amid a busy cast of characters, actress Ang Xiao Ting stands out for her surprisingly sweet soprano vocals as Junior Horse, a student competing for the same scholarship as Lao Jiu and a somewhat perfunctory love interest.
One of the weak points of Lao Jiu is the privileging of male narrative, not a surprise given the era it is set in. The reduction of the eight sisters to broadly sketched caricatures feels dated in this post-#MeToo world. Still, this is a minor quibble as the musical bubbles along, powered by the occasional pops of dialect.
At the core of this story is an existential challenge, especially to the Singaporean viewer: Would you choose to follow your dreams even unto economic ruination? Or would you opt for safety and security via a strictly demarcated path?
The metaphorical nature of the work finds its apogee in the climactic sequence, where there is a puppet showdown between Julius Caesar and Nezha, Alexander the Great and the Little Prince, as well as a whole troop of horses and multiple little Sun Wukongs.
By that time, the audience has become sufficiently invested to root for the little guy. And in that small, hard-earned theatre moment, Lao Jiu has succeeded in pushing pragmatic Singaporeans to reconsider their priorities in the ultimate act of subversion.
Book It/Lao Jiu: The Musical
Where: Drama Centre Theatre, 03-01 National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street
When: Till April 19, 8pm (Tuesdays to Sundays), 2.30pm (Saturdays and Sundays)
Admission: $38 to $88, eligible for Culture Pass credits
Info: str.sg/729e
Correction note: This story has been edited for clarity.
