2010 Hungry Ghost Festival - Teochew Street Opera
2010年庆中元 - 潮剧演出 （铁面巡按，一门三进士）

Time flies and it is Lunar 7th month again.

I checked my old blog and realised that 织云潮剧团 'Chek Hoon Teochew Opera Troupe' would be perfroming on the 11th and 12th day of Lunar 7th month. So I decided to check out the performance since 11th was a Friday.

It was raining in the afternoon of 11th day and it continued to drizzle till the evening. I drove there at about 8 plus and was not surprised to see 铁面巡按 Teo Seow Keng as the performance of that night. The interior decorations of the stage had been modified and some backdrop scenes had since been added. I took shelter throughout and met some some friends and local Teochew Opera artistes. Later, I moved nearer to stage to watch the last seccond part so that I could have a close view of the new artistes presumably from Thailand. Though there was slight drizzling, I stood there for about 30 minutes before I left.

It was a fine evening on Saturday, 12th day of Lunar 7th month. I reached Ang Mo Kio at about 7.45 pm but the show had already begun. I saw Mr Cheng and bid hello to him. He told me the show for that night was 一门三进士 'One Family Three Scholars'. He offered me a chair and I thanked him for his kindness.

I have watched 'One Family Three Scholars' many times. What is the secret formula that keeps me watching the performance numerous times? 'One Family Three Scholars' has a simple story that touches on filial piety and the sorrows one has to go through after separating from husband and children. The lyrics and music of many parts of the performance are so well written and composed. And, if the artistes can showcase their talents in terms of acting skills and quality of voice, it is definitely worthwhile to stand for 150 minutes to watch the full performance.

That night, I think the main artistes were good in keeping the audience engaged. That segment where Song Sock Ling met her son Chew Tzi Kheng was really touching. Tears simply dropped and their watery eyes made that scene came alive. I would not have noticed that if I did not move nearer to the stage. This time round, Chek Hoon Teochew Opera Troupe managed to field 4 maids for the Buoy Siew Lan's segment although two were like dummies who literally can't sing or act well.

Mr Cheng told me they have two new titles for this seasons, namely 杨文广（上下集）'Yeo Boon Kwang' and 三打王英 'Beat Wang Eng Thrice'. May be, I will make a special trip when they put up their 8-day performance at Potong Pasir Joint Temple at Blk 465 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 starting from the 8th day of the Lunar 8th month, 15 Sep 2010.