It’s early December 2019 and 8days.sg is about to embark on a time-travel expedition: to find out what Singapore was like in the 1940s-80s. All it takes us is a 70-minute flight to Ipoh where the Medicacorp English drama Titoudao: Inspired By A True Wayang Star in its final weeks of a four-month shoot.

Adapted from a local play of the same name — first performed in 1994 — by playwright Goh Boon Teck, Titoudao follows the life of Ah Chiam, a lowly Hokkien street opera performer who rose above personal and professional hurdles to become a wayang icon. The story is inspired by Goh’s mother and real-life Chinese opera dowager Oon Ah Chiam.

Titoutdao is the third stage-to-screen remake — after Dick Lee’s Fried Rice Paradise and Michael Chiang’s Mixed Signals — in Mediacorp’s ‘Lights. Camera. Singapore.’ series, a showcase devoted to championing homegrown content in movies, musicals and books.

The 13-part biopic, spanning the 1940s to the present time, stars Malaysian newcomer Koe Yeet as the indomitable Ah Chiam as well as Andie Chen, Constance Lau, Nick Shen, Joel Choo, and Fann Wong, making her Mediacorp English drama debut as Ah Chiam’s mother.

After a quick lunch in Ipoh Old Town, a bunch us journos are rushed over to Poi Lam High School, where the Titoudao crew is busy preparing to shoot a critical set-piece (pssst, it’s for the series finale) in the assembly hall, redressed with a wayang stage. Amid the organised chaos and humid condition, we spot Titoudao creator Goh Boon Teck quietly sitting on a plastic chair in the back, observing the behind-the-scenes madness unfold.

And he prefers it that way. Because TV is a different monster from theatre, says Goh, who’s also Toy Factory Productions’ chief artistic director. Even though he has a say in developing the script and the casting, he’s happy to just offer advice from the sidelines, leaving the day-to-day operations in the capable hands of production company Oak 3 Films.

He doesn’t even give notes to the actors. “I don’t think it’s right for the actors to receive directions from so many people,” Goh says. “I stop myself from talking to the cast totally. If I have any serious concerns to address, I would only speak to the directors and let them discuss with the actors. I won’t be directing them.”

To expand a two-hour play into a 13-ep serialised drama, the writers brainstormed for months. “In theatre, one scene can tell a story, but for TV, we have to create a few more scenes to tell one part of the story,” Goh says. In the end, they generated enough content for 20 episodes. “We have a lot of things to say and 13 episodes are just nice to house these new elements and storylines.”

What will the audience get out of Titoudao the series? “Just give it a chance,” he says. “It’s a different subject-matter Channel 5 is dealing with — an English drama about [the lost art of ] Chinese opera. I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he says with laugh. “I hope Singaporeans will appreciate how beautiful our heritage is. We can borrow from other cultures, but please take care of our own first.”

In a few minutes, the assembly hall at Poi Lam High School will be brightly lit and packed with extras.

Constance Lau gets ready for her close-up as Ah Ngor, Ah Chiam's arch rival in the troupe.

Constance Lau and Joel Choo take a breather between set-ups. Choo plays bird's nest seller Ah Hock, Ah Chiam's husband.

8 DAYS next speaks to Koe Yeet, the Malaysian actress playing Titoudao protagonist Ah Chiam. All dolled up in thick opera make-up, Koe has only a few minutes to spare before she resumes her rehearsals. Koe, whom local viewers might recognise from two Jack Neo movies, Ah Long Pte Ltd and Homecoming, is the perfect embodiment of Ah Chiam, Goh Boon Teck enthuses.

He says, “She was our No.1 choice. She’s very adorable, very petite. If she weren’t petite, it wouldn’t make sense to cast her. The real Ah Chiam has a small frame, a small girl with a big voice. She also cannot be too ladylike; she’s a tomboy. Koe Yeet [fits the bill] very well.”

While she faced many challenges during the production — the gruelling wayang training (“I still can’t do splits”), portraying a teenager in the first few eps (“I’m 27 but I had to constantly remind myself that I’m 16”), the make-up routines (“It takes between 45 minutes and an hour to apply them”) — nothing petrified her more than having the real Ah Chiam, Madam Oon, 77, turning up on set.

“I felt pressured when she watched me act on stage,” recalls Koe who started acting at the age of five. “She would come up to me and say — this is a rule in opera — ‘When your hands move, you have to look at the tip of your fingers.’ She told me that on my first day but I would frequently forget about it. I was nervous around her!”

A trained barrister (she was called to the Bar of England and Wales at The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn in 2018), Koe says she loves acting too much to pursue law full-time. She continues, “One day when no one wants to see me act anymore, I can go back to law.”

Even then, she might need her acting skills — to help her ‘wayang’ in court. “When you enter the court, you’re pretending to be confident and that you have a good case — that involves a lot of acting.”

How about combining the two vocations — playing a lawyer on TV a la Code of Law? “I don’t look like a lawyer,” she says. “I have a kid’s face; Rebecca Lim has a lawyer’s face.”

Koe Yeet with the real Ah Chiam, Madam Oon Ah Chiam.

Besides the physical training, Koe Yeet also studied Chinese opera-themes movies like 'Painted Faces' and 'Farewell My Concubine'.

Koe Yeet sans make-up at the set in Tronoh (see below).

Nick Shen is no stranger to the world of Chinese opera: He’s well-known as a wayang performer and the boss of Singapore’s oldest Chinese opera troupe, the 156-year-old Lao Sai Tao Yuan Teochew Opera Troupe

In a case reel life mirroring real, Shen, 43, is playing Master Gwee Boon, a troupe leader of Sin Sai Hong, where Ah Chiam received her wayang education. Even though Gwee Boon was a role he was born to play, Shen still had to read for it.

“I was asked to auditioned for three roles — Master Gwee Boon; Ah Seng, Gwee Boon’s brother; and Ah Zai, Master Gwee’s adopted son.” says Shen. “Initially, they thought I was too boyish to be Master Gween Boon but they were finally convinced to let me play him. It was a pleasant surprise because I wanted to be in a TV series or movie about Chinese opera, but I never expect that Channel 5 would be doing one about Hokkien opera.” The roles of Gwee Seng and Ah Zai eventually went to Andie Chen and Shawn Thia, respectively.

On the show, Shen was also the creative consultant, and one of his fondest moments during the shoot involved a fight scene with Andie Chen. “This was new to me, wearing the actor’s hat and the consultant’s hat. I had to choreograph a fight within a short time. It’s a good thing Andie has wushu experience and we have good chemistry, so we were able to come up with something in an hour.”

How different is Shen the troupe leader from Master Gwee? Unlike his onscreen counterpart, he doesn’t get angry. “I’m calm and steady. But it’s not easy managing a troupe, so I brought my own life experience into playing Master Gwee.”

Like Goh, Shen is counting on Titoudao to introduce the dying art of Chinese opera to a new generation as well as bring back memories for the older folks who don’t have the chance to catch these street shows. He also hopes viewers will be inspired by Ah Chiam’s underdog story. “She’s a petite lady. To be a lead actor on stage, you need to be of a certain height, of certain looks. If you’re too short, you can’t be the lead and yet she managed to overcome the challenges and become the lead.” Dreams do come true.

Nick Shen and Amy Cheng, who plays Godma Leng, an avid wayang supporter, getting ready for the scene.

Tasha Low as Ah Dui, Ah Chiam's sister. She and Ah Chiam join the Sin Sai Hong at the same time.

Yes, that's Judee Tan (of 'The Noose') on the left, with Xavier Ong. She plays Ah Kuan, the operations manager' of Sin Sai Hong. Besides acting on the show, Tan also wrote two episodes of 'Titoudao'. FYI: Tan made her theatre debut in Toy Factory's 2007 staging of 'Titoudao'.

The next morning, we’re taken to Tronoh, a quaint little town in the Kinta District. Here, we witness the filming of a scene where Ah Chiam’s (Koe Yeet) sister Ah Dui (Tasha Low) opens a hair salon. The street where the salon (converted from a shop house) is located is supposed to be Chinatown in the 1980s.

Here's what the hair salon looks like inside. Are you in the mood for a perm?

This street is supposed to be Chinatown in the 1970s. Look closer: there's a wayang stage and behind it are two food carts.

A stone's throw away from the hair salon is this clan association house which doubles as the Sin Sai Hong troupe office. Inside you'll find the sleeping quarters and a training wing. Once you're in the place, you feel like you're in an 'Ip Man' movie. We hear this is Goh Boon Teck's favourite set. Watch the video below for a quick tour.

Titoudao: Inspired By The True Story Of A Wayang Star is available for free from Feb 18 on meWATCH (formerly Toggle), as well as Channel 5, Tuesdays, 9.30pm.

​​​​​​​Photos & Video: Alvin Teo