SINGAPORE — To be completely honest, when I heard that MediaCorp VizPro International and Spring-Time Productions would be staging The Mad Phoenix in Singapore, I wasn’t so sure the play would appeal to younger audiences here. After all, the play is about the life of the eccentric Cantonese opera playwright Kong Yu Kau (played by Tse Kwan-Ho), whose talent and unconventional ways won him both fame and notoriety in the early 20th century.

And even those who have had some exposure to Cantonese opera would probably find Kong unfamiliar — his works are lesser known than those of Tong Dik-Sang, who wrote operas such as Princess Chang Ping and The Purple Hairpin. It also doesn’t exactly help that The Mad Phoenix is staged in its original Cantonese, although it does come with Chinese subtitles.

But when I watched the play on Friday night — the first of the play’s three performances in Singapore over the weekend — at the Kallang Theatre, I was surprised to see a sizeable number of young faces. In spite of its lengthy three-and-a-half-hour duration (which includes at 15-minute intermission), The Mad Phoenix managed to keep its audience, which ranged from teenagers to elderly folk who attended the show with their middle-aged children, fully entertained with its fast-paced and humourous dialogue. And if you pay attention to the lyrics of the operas, you’ll find that playwright Raymond To has so cleverly written the play in such a way that Kong Yu Kau’s songs mirror his own obstacles.

Watching Tse Kwan-Ho, who won the Best Actor award at the 1997 Golden Awards for his performance in the film version of the play, in action on stage was also a privilege. Though Tse plays his character with conviction, I was more impressed by his chemistry with the other actors in his play, especially Poon Chan-Leung, who plays his disciple Tong Dik-Sang (in the play, at least). In one remarkable scene, for instance, Kong and Poon spar over Cantonese opera lyrics, singing, humming and playing different opera characters at the same time.

And that is perhaps why The Mad Phoenix is a play for anyone and everyone. Fans of Cantonese opera will find enough songs and references in the play for an evening filled with nostalgia. And those who don’t will probably enjoy listening, for the first time, to Kong’s wonderfully written operas, or, at the very least, to To’s wonderfully written play.

The Mad Phoenix continues today, March 1, 2.30pm and 8pm, at Kallang Theatre. Limited tickets still available, from S$48 to S$108, at Sistic.