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Water puppetry meets shadow play in Singaporean take on Dream Of The Red Chamber

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shdream - ST20240503_202443665013 /shdream/ Hester Tan/ Presented by The Finger Players, Dream of the Red Chamber’s Director Chong Tze Chien and puppet and props designer Daniel Sim with their puppets for the play @ ONE-TWO-SIX Cairnhill Arts Centre 126 Cairnhill Road on 3rd May 2024

Playwright and director Chong Tze Chien (left) and puppet and props designer Daniel Sim with their puppets for Dream Of The Red Chamber.

ST PHOTO: HESTER TAN

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SINGAPORE – Singaporean theatremaker Chong Tze Chien, 49, has often been told by Japanese audiences that his work “looks and feels Japanese, but there’s something not quite Japanese about it”.

The same can be said of the playwright and director’s reinterpretation of Dream Of The Red Chamber. While his adaptation of Cao Xueqin’s Chinese novel is set in China and uses Chinese shadow play, there is something not quite Chinese about it too.

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