Teochew Opera Backstage Confidential

I have been fascinated with Teochew Operas since I was a little girl and my grandmother would bring me downstairs from her public housing flat to watch the street performers' show, up on the scaffoldings of the makeshift stage. The most amazing colors, the loud live ensemble that played the accompanying music and the high-pitched singing, were all fascinating to me! This is my dialect, my culture and my heritage. In the recent years, I have had the privilege of photographing backstage as these street artists get together, play a round of mahjong, have an early dinner, then start to get dressed and do their own intricate "face painting" and get the most complex hair accessories painstakingly glued on and head pieces perched. And then...lights, music, action!