TiTouDao: Dawn of a New Stage, a follow-up to the hugely successful hit series based on the colourful life of celebrated wayang (Chinese opera) star Mdm Oon Ah Chiam played by Koe Yeet. She reprises her role as Ah Chiam, a much-loved character returns in a thrilling tale spotlighting Singapore’s colourful cultural heritage.
Together with the rest of the cast, Chen Liping as Suan Jiah, this is her first-ever English drama role, she plays Suan Jiah, the mysterious leader of Twin Butterflies, a new all-female wayang troupe, Joel Choo as Ah Hock, Tay Ping Hui as Richard, Shrey Bhargarva as Vijay, Noah Yap as Tony, Sofia Dendroff as Iffah, Nick Shen as Gwee Boon, Xuan Ong as Ah Hoon and Natalie Chua as Tau Huay. Directed by Glenn Chan, Oak3 Films.
Following the popular and successful 2020 series Titoudao: Inspired By The True Story Of A Wayang Star, adapted from theatre director Goh Boon Teck’s classic play about his mother Oon Ah Chiam, a wayang performer. The new eight-episode season is part of Mediacorp’s Lights. Camera. Singapore. showcase of local storytelling, and underscores the company’s commitment to creating uniquely Singaporean content by tapping talent from the broader creative community.
We speak to Titoudao Star, Koe Yeet to share more about her role as Mdm Oon Ah Chiam, read on to find out more.
Interview With Titoudao Star, Koe Yeet
1) Can you tell us more about your role in Season 2 as Mdm Oon Ah Chiam in Titoudao?
Koe Yeet: If you have watched Season 1, in this Season 2, my role is a girl based on real life stories from a real life woman about a girl in the 1970s, 1980s where she was struggling in a world how women were not respected as well as women nowadays and she lost her family because her mother kicked her out. She couldn’t find a job because her troupe kicked her out and through all the hardships, she found herself and she found what is actually important for her to be a respectable woman, that is her entire journey in Titoudao 1 and 2.
2) Are there any memorable scene that you would like to share with us?
Koe Yeet: My most memorable scene, I would say is the breakup with Ah Hock. That was actually done on the last day of the shoot. It’s crazy right? The first episode, the most important thing was done on the last day of shooting. Even though there was not much teary eyes because the director said that he didn’t want too much crying. He wanted everything to be in, he wanted to see the struggle and it was at 2am. Everyone was exhausted and we did a couple of crying scenes before that. So after we finished it, I remembered the director was crying and he took his chair and said I don’t want to do crying scenes anymore.
3) You acted very well, we loved your role as Mdm Oon Ah Chiam, how did you prepare for your role?
Koe Yeet: Honestly, we had an amazing team, before our shoot, we had a couple of sessions where all of us would sit together with the other party and we would figure out the background stories of us. So this is the storyline, but there is no background story. So we would sit together and say why do you think Ah Chiam and Suan Jiah would just meet and become friends? And then we create a background story, because this and that happens and then we have input from the director, even the writer, who would sit down with us. I think because of that, because we have such a tight knit production team, we spend so much time together even before the show. When you watch the show, you feel like there is a background story in each character, and each actor plays it very well.
4) It is not easy to handle such a challenging role and you did it very well! What would you like to say to our readers who are looking forward to catch Season 2 like us?
Koe Yeet: Thank you! I would say if you watched Season 1, Season 2 is going to blow your mind. Season 1 is more sad, more drama, a more melodramatic storyline. Season 2 is a lot of fun, a lot of colours and different cultural backgrounds. All of this come together to make this happen. It is going to be very interesting, it is going to be a ride. I can’t wait to watch it.
Mark your calendar and catch Titoudao: Dawn Of A New Stage available for priority viewing on mewatch from 7 March, and from 14 March on mewatch and Channel 5, Tuesdays at 9.30pm. It will also be available from 21 March on Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube.
