Singapore’s heritage Tai Thean Kew Circus is the star of short film by its descendant Adele Wong

SINGAPORE –Imagine a flamboyant world of wonder, where brightly costumed acrobats balanced on tightropes and aerialists flew through the air; where motorcycles raced within a round steel cage; and clowns charmed with their silly antics.

This magical world of the circus in early 20th-century Singapore, then known as part of British Malaya, is given the spotlight in a new short film, Under The Big Top, by local film and television production company Sonder Films.

The 15-minute work is inspired by the real-life legacy of the family-run Tai Thean Kew Circus, which operated here from the 1930s to 1980s. At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, the troupe had more than 100 members, including performers, dancers, singers, administrators, carpenters, cooks, animal caretakers and even a physician.

Set entirely in 1930s China where the brand originated, the Mandarin period film tells the story of a hardened female street acrobat who meets a grieving father and forms a circus that will change their destinies. It is based on Tai Thean Kew’s co-founders Gao Er Gu and Sun Sze Ting.

Gao is played by her real-life great-great-granddaughter Adele Wong, a Singaporean actress in her early 40s, who also wrote the script.

In addition, Madam Sze Ling Fang, Gao’s real-life granddaughter and a former acrobat and tightwire walker in the circus, will make a cameo as a passer-by in a scene, with one line of dialogue. The 92-year-old is Wong’s paternal grandmother.

Under The Big Top is directed by Glenn Chan, and features cast members such as radio deejay Zhu Zeliang, acrobatic performer and contemporary circus artist Beverly Wan, as well as theatre actor Tang Shaowei.

Filming began in early March, and is expected to be completed by end-May 2026. There are plans to release it on YouTube, although there is no official date yet.

It is a passion project for Wong, who hopes the film will go some way towards helping people understand her family’s past.

Circus’ cohesive spirit

Bringing their history to screen has been her long-held dream since she began compiling materials for the 128-page photo book Life Beyond The Big Top (2015), detailing the circus’ heritage.

Wong said she greatly admires Tai Thean Kew’s cohesive spirit, where people depended on one another and overcame difficulties together, and she was happy to portray her ancestor Gao.

“I think she is a very special woman,” Wong told The Straits Times. “She led a group of women who lost their husbands, and also adopted abandoned girls as her daughters. I really like her quiet, deep-seated strength.”

During a shoot and interview on March 4 that was attended by some media members, Madam Sze said she agreed to appear in the film despite having no acting experience because she wanted to support Wong’s passion for preserving the memory of the circus.

The nonagenarian said in Mandarin: “I lived my whole life in the circus, and am numb to all its excitement. I did the acts because I had no choice at the time, so I don’t think about whether it was special or worth remembering.”

She never attended school and was incorporated into the circus at age six by Gao. She recalled the latter could be “very fierce and strict, especially when you performed the tricks wrongly. But if you performed them correctly, she was okay”.

Once billed by the Hong Kong media as the “princess of the circus”, given her father was Tai Thean Kew’s proprietor, Madam Sze was known for her acrobatic stunts, such as her tightwire act on a metallic cable 1.8m above ground.

On this, she performed a variety of feats – from balancing while holding an umbrella to riding a unicyle to even lounging. Mastering these feats took over a year, and a clown was always below her, riling up the crowd and doubling as a safety catcher in case she fell.

Another of her acts was an aerial chair dance, where she balanced on a chair suspended about 6m from the ground.

Also a horseback acrobat, she executed headstands while perched atop an upright pole or on the back of a galloping horse. While the horses were moving, she could also swing over and under their bodies.

These feats were taught to her by Gao. Although they required strength and skill, picking them up was not particularly difficult, recalled Madam Sze. “I learnt them like how a child learns to walk – slowly. As long as I practised every day, I could eventually do them.”

While she fell off the horses countless times during training, she always got back up. “At the time, I had no choice. We were all just trying to make a living.”

Colourful circus life

A typical day involved waking up at 7am for breakfast, training and practice. This was followed by lunch, a rehearsal and getting some rest before show time. On weekends and public holidays, the circus staged up to three shows a day – a matinee and two evening shows.

The performers rarely had a night off, as the circus often moved from one place to the next, including for overseas gigs such as to Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

In 1948, Madam Sze met Mr Wong Fu Qi, an aerialist known for his flying trapeze and aerial strap acts, who would later become her husband.

She recalled: “In those days, we each earned about 50 cents a day – a decent wage when a bowl of noodles cost only seven cents.”

They married in 1954 beside a large amusement park in Kuala Lumpur, and had two sons in 1955 and 1957. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, they each earned $350 a month. For more than two decades, they toured continuously, leaving their children in the care of others here when they had overseas performances.

“Back then, we were always running around. Women had their acts to perfect, and so did the men. We also had to sew our own costumes and do our own hair and make-up.”

In 1972, both husband and wife retired from the circus around age 40. Demand for circus entertainment fell in the 1970s, and neither of their sons wanted to join it. Nonetheless, the couple continued to perform acrobatics and magic tricks in hotels and bars until the 1980s.

Madam Sze, now a grandmother of four in their 30s and 40s, plays mahjong to keep her mind sharp and maintains an optimistic and cheerful personality. Her husband died in 2018.

When asked if Wong’s portrayal of Gao resembled the real-life person, Madam Sze replied: “Absolutely not. In my memory, my grandmother does not look like (Adele). It is impossible for anyone to portray her.”

Wong laughed and quipped: “My grandmother has high expectations.”

Recreating the sets

The short film received a $350,000 grant from the Infocomm Media Development Authority, and uses virtual production technology to recreate the wintry world of 1930s northern China, where it is set.

While Under The Big Top is a standalone narrative, it also serves as a creative proof of concept for a possible long-form drama series about Tai Thean Kew, said Chan, 49.

“I was drawn to this story of women surviving harsh environments, and of early Chinese immigrants coming to this part of the world, and eventually settling down and becoming Singaporeans.

“The circus itself also has a lot of cultural significance. I hope Singaporeans will embrace this story of resilience and dignity, which is a part of our shared history.”