‘Penang Story 2’: A not-to-be-missed glove theatre production

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Chew, Li, Ah Nya and Kassim are back to continue their uniquely Penang story.

These glove puppet characters made their debut at George Town Festival last year and were an immediate hit. 

The new production allows us to catch up with Chew, his wife Ah Nya, his friends Yi and Kassim. In this second instalment of the localised Potehi performance, Chew and Ah Nya have a son, Xiang, while Kassim is married to Fatimah.

Continuing on from Penang Story 1 where we are introduced to Chew, Ah Nya, Kassim and Yi stayed trade in Chew Jetty and Little India in a melting pot of different cultures, Penang Story 2 tells of the Japanese Occupation and the start of World War II.

The story tells of the difficulties the friends face during the Japanese Occupation and how they helped each other during those trying times until the war ended and the Japanese left.

The second installation of Penang Story is another group effort by the Ombak Potehi team led by Tan Sooi Beng as the artistic director and producer.

“Research for the story through interviews, reading and looking at old photos and films of the Japanese Occupation took place in January and February,” Tan said.

Marcus Lim is one of the puppeteers in the Ombak Potehi team. — Picture courtesy of Ombak-Ombak ART Studio

She said the performers spoke to their grandparents and relatives about the war in order to get background and localised stories for the performance.

The team started rehearsals in March; new costumes were made for Xiang, the modern son, and for the Japanese soldiers.

“We decided to use the fortune teller, who used to go around Penang singing songs and accompanied by the moon guitar, as the narrator to tell the stories of the people regarding the atrocities that occurred,” she said.

Penang Story 2 was unveiled in a sneak preview for invited guests in June and Tan said the feedback they received were then used to improve the performance for its public debut next month.

The second instalment of Penang Story will set the tone for a Penang Story 3 which will see Xiang in the years leading up to Merdeka, Tan said.

“We had huge crowds watching even though it was raining at several shows. The audience could understand the story as translations were made in Chinese and English and we had animated slides of old Penang to contextualise the story,” she said of the first production.

The local characters of Ah Nya, a Nyonya who spoke Penang Hokkien, and Kassim, an Indian Muslim character who spoke Penang Malay were easily relatable to the audience, she added.

The hand puppet performance is accompanied by “live” music played on the pipa, flute, erh hu, drum and gong players.

The Ombak Potehi team revived interest in traditional hand puppet theatre with its own local production. — Picture courtesy of Ombak-Ombak ART Studio

“We also added the Malay drum, Malay folk songs and composed our own theme song called Kisah Pulau Pinang,” she said.

Penang Story 1 was such a hit that the Ombak Potehi team went on to perform it at the Metropolitan Theatre and Taisho University in Tokyo last November with sponsorship from the Japan Foundation and donations from friends.

Tan said they shared how they revitalised this form of theatre that is dying.

“The shows and talks were well received and inspired the group to further their efforts to bring potehi to life again,” she said.

Tan said they will continue to build up the core potehi team so they can pass on the skills to others.

“We intend to reach out to school children this year by inviting students to see the show and if funding permits, we will hold workshops for children and students next year,” she said.

Currently, the Ombak Potehi team consists of Marcus Lim Chin Keong (co-director, puppeteer, narrator, script writer), Jasniza Johari (puppeteer, narrator), Lee Soo Khiang (puppeteer), Chew Pei Pei (narrator), Ong Chin Siang (pipa, yue qin), Wong Zhao Wen (dizi, singer, gongs), Khoo Wei En (erhu), Kang Su Kheng (drums, woodblocks) and Alex Tan (stage manager).

Penang Story 1 and 2 will be performed consecutively in four shows next month.

Penang Story Parts 1 and 2
Venue: Penang House of Music, Komtar, Penang
August 18 & 19 — 4 pm
August 26 — 2.30 pm & 5 pm
Price of tickets: RM 40 (adults); RM 25 (students)
Tickets and reservations: [email protected]
Tel: 04-3706675 and 010-8646699 (between 11am and  pm)