SINGAPORE, April 4 — Theatre company Finger Players kicks off its season this year with not one or two but a triple bill of plays this month.

And it is apt for a company dealing with the art of puppetry that the first of the trio is a site-specific production called The Collectors.

Jointly helmed by Finger Puppets’ co-founder Tan Beng Tian and Lim Chin Huat, the former artistic director of defunct dance troupe Ecnad, the show invites the audience to “tour” Centre 42 at Waterloo Street, an old bungalow that has been turned into the backdrop of the production, which ponders on whether traditions and memories ought to be remembered and preserved.

“The agenda of this show is to view and explore traditional art forms from various angles, such as the concepts of preserving versus prolonging,” explained Tan.

“In preserving, the art form ceases to continue. It probably will stay untouched in a display case, in a repository or in a digital form living eternally in the cyberworld. In prolonging, modifications are made to the form to stay with time.”

The duo created different zones in Centre 42 to touch on these themes.

For instance, the show kicks off with Tan playing tour guide, entering Centre 42 in a truck — a reference to how Chinese puppeteers used to serve as travelling entertainers in the old villages.

It proceeds to discuss topics of migration and memories of the past under the mango tree as audience members sit on low, red plastic stools — a throwback to the days when communities gathered for outdoor shows.

Other stops include the carpark, where the past merges with present as the two late arts practitioners, puppet master Li Bo Fen and Christian Sergeant, appear in video installation; as well as the rehearsal studio, where sound artist Bani Hakyal focuses on the tradition of oral delivery.

In addition, the lobby of the centre has been converted to house the collectibles belonging to the artists involved in the production, which are exhibited to show audiences a part of their personal lives.

The production is further strengthened with performances of traditional hand and string puppetry by 68-year-old Li Yi Hsin from Hong Kong and 41-year-old Zhuang Lie from China, respectively. Zhuang will even be fusing the ancient art of calligraphy into her string puppetry, a feat she managed to achieve after years researching and experimenting.

“Zhuang Lie is trained by a state-owned company while Master Li Yi Hsin inherited traditional hand puppetry passed down from his great-great grandfather,” explained Tan. “Both have very different resources to work with but they share the same passion and ideology.

“They believe in the importance of continuing and promoting traditional art forms so that the future generation of academics or practitioners will always have a reference point.”

It is a lesson that perhaps we all can note. — TODAY

*The Finger Players Season 2016: The Collectors runs until April 10 (except today). Tickets at S$35 (RM100) from SISTIC.