SINGAPORE – Heavily pregnant in 1953, Taiwanese opera performer Chen Shui-liang was playing the male lover in an outdoor performance of The Butterfly Lovers when labour contractions hit. Heading backstage mid-show, she birthed Chen Sheng-fu – who grew up to become the family troupe’s artistic director.

“It’s an absurd and completely improbable scenario. It happened when she was still going on a date with her on-stage lover Zhu Yingtai,” says director Huang Chih-kai, who retells this real-life story he heard from the 96-year-old gezaixi troupe Ming Hwa Yuan Arts And Cultural Group in his upcoming play Final Bow.