The Nonya Nightingale

In Collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
as part of

Written & Directed by:
Benjamin Ho

Date:
10 – 12 November 2010

Venue:
Drama Centre Black Box

Starring:
Zachary Ho, E-van Yeung, Rosemary Richard Sam

Performed in English

The Nonya Nightingale Poster

Synopsis

Towkay Neo, a rich Peranakan matriarch, decides to divide her riches among her three daughters, and offers the largest share to the one who loves her best.

Upon knowing that Towkay Neo is charmed by the beautiful singing of the nightingale that lives in the garden, the eldest daughter captured the songbird while the second daughter made a mechanical songbird to please their mother in order to gain her favour, but not the youngest daughter. Angry that the youngest daughter does not appear to love her as her two elder sisters do, Towkay Neo flies into rage and disowns the third sister.

However, the matriarch’s blissful life was short-lived as her nightingale stopped singing and her two disrespectful elder daughters kicked her out of their households.

What will Towkay Neo do now? Will the youngest daughter gain understanding from Towkay Neo and be reunited with her mother? Will the matriarch live to hear her nightingale sing once more?

The Nonya Nightingale is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s – The Nightingale and Shakespeare’s – King Lear. A beautiful combination of two classics retold in a heartwarming tale. The Nonya Nightingale is a marvellous play with drama, puppetry, song and dance that promises to charm the young and old.

  • Three colourful nonya puppets with flowers in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Old clock, hot water flask and tingkat in Three colourful nonya puppets with flowers in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • An old lady a girl puppet and boxes in front of audience in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Three actors manipulating the colourful nonya puppets in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Three actors with paper Nonya costumes in happy expressions in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • A pair of traditional Nonya beaded shoes and a Nonya puppet in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Colour Nonya Puppets with flowers and a nightingale puppet in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Three actors with paper Nonya costumes sitting on steps in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • A nonya puppet and a moka coffee flask as puppet in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • A red old clock as puppet in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • A nonya puppet, a old water flask and moka in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • A girl holding a toilet container with a boy laughing at her at the back
  • A mother pulling the ears of children playing handheld games in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • A old red clock, a tingkat and old chairs in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Three colourful Nonya puppets in action in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Actor interacting with audience with Nonya puppet in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore
  • Children audience reacting to Nonya puppet on stage in The Nonya Nightingale by Paper Monkey Theatre Singapore

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2022-05-09T08:11:44+08:00Past Works|
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