Teochew Puppet And Opera House
Armenian Street, Penang
Visited December 2018

I came across the Teochew Puppet And Opera House by accident when I was looking for the Sun Yat-Sen Museum next door.

I’m glad I found it. It’s a fun little museum dedicated to the preservation and propagation of Teochew operatic arts and puppet opera, a traditional art-form that could be in danger of dying out if not for places like this.

The present director of the Teochew puppet opera troupe named Kim Giak Low Choon, Ms Ling Goh, is a retired Teochew opera actress and she is the founder of this museum. She is the fourth generation of her family in this field. Her great-grandfather Yang Bingjin brought the opera troupe from Teochew to Singapore in the late 19th century.

The Painted Face exhibits masculine characteristics with exaggerated, bombastic movement and booming speech. The colour and pattern of the painted face usually determines the temperament of the character, for example red denotes courage and loyalty, black denotes uprightness and integrity and white denotes treachery and villainy.

Puppet shows, Teochew opera and Teochew music may be staged here periodically and there are videos available if no live performance is happening.

You can try your hand at operating the puppets which are surprisingly heavy after a while.

The puppet bodies and feet are made from wood and the legs are made of steel.

Costumes, hats, props and heads are interchangeable. 

Visitors are free to try on one of the Teochew opera costumes for a great photo.

Opening Hours & Admission Charges

• Open from 10 am to 6 pm.
• Closed on Mondays.

Ticket Prices 

• Regular Admission: RM 10 
• MyKad Concession: RM 5
• Ages 6 and below:  Free

Price includes opera costume try-on.

The name outside the building reads Mor Hun Club.

How To Get to Teochew Puppet And Opera House

 The location of Teochew Puppet and Opera House can be found on this map:

Address:

122 Armenian Street, George Town, 10200 George Town, Penang

Tel: 04-262 0377

You can find more details on their Facebook page.

Nearby

The Sun Yet-Sen Museum and the Penang Islamic Museum are next door. The Asia Camera Museum, Khoo Kongsi and many other places of interest are nearby.

 See my Penang Heritage Trail for details of other attractions worth seeing in historic George Town. 

Share this page: