The Best
Cabinet Maker

唐人街木匠

Step into the enchanting world of The Best Cabinet Maker, an original musical uncovering the hidden history of Chinese cabinet makers in Melbourne's Little Bourke Street during the late 19th to early 20th century. Follow Ah Chan's journey from Canton to Melbourne, where he trains with master carpenter Ah Mok, facing discrimination as they build a thriving business, and navigating through the challenges of bringing his wife, Ah Moi, into Australia during the era of the White Australia Policy.

The Best Cabinet Maker

28 September - 1 October 2023

Library at the Dock, Docklands VIC

This musical was performed in English and accompanied by Chinese surtitles.

Cast

AH CHAN: Wahyu Kapa

AH MOI: Lauren May Cheok

AH MOK: Bryan Yap

ENSEMBLE: Paola Cetra

ENSEMBLE: Sabrina Chan

Musicians

MUSIC DIRECTOR: Jun Bin Lee

GUITAR: Jun Bin Lee

YANGQIN: Bingyao Liu

DIZI/XIAO: Wei-Lin Tseng (Lyn)

ERHU (Pre-recorded): Kanghui Yu (Murphy)

Creatives & Production Team

PRODUCER: Bingyao Liu

COMPOSER: Jun Bin Lee

CO-DIRECTORS: Jun Bin Lee & Sarah Yu

MOVEMENT COACH: Sarah Yu

CO-WRITERS: Jun Bin Lee & Isabelle Khor

CHINESE TRANSLATOR: Bowie Lei

LIGHTING: Theresa Au-Young

SOUND: Jiang

SOUND ASSISTANT: Hongrui Wu

Their Story

The Best Cabinet Maker was inspired by real historical events, places, and people. Here's more about them.

Num Pon Soon 南番順 Building

Ah Chan is introduced to The Num Pon Soon Building in “Chinatown”. The building served as a lodging house for migrants, specifically from Sam Yup, a region in China.

Sam Yup consisted of 3 counties. As the lyrics go “Some from Namhoi, Soondak and Poonyee. That’s right, here we form a tight-knit community”.

You can find the building still standing along Little Bourke Street in Chinatown.

Photo by Kensarlance via Wikimedia Commons.

Two pictures of furniture with triangular "Chinese Labour" stamps, and one which says "European

Furniture Stamps

In the song “Like Us”, the Chinese furniture makers are faced with new legislation. The Factories and Shops Act of 1896 came as tensions rose between the Chinese and European furniture makers, and they competed to sell furniture at cheap prices during a depression.

One of the new rules was that furniture was required to be stamped stating if the product was made with “Chinese Labour” or “European Labour Only”. The intention was to distinguishing the products in hopes that customers would prefer the European-made furniture. In truth, many people still opted for Chinese furniture for their low cost and good quality.

Photos (from left to right) from Masterfind.com, Melbourne Heritage Action, and State Library of Victoria.

White Australia

The Immigration Restriction Act, also known as the White Australia Policy, came about in 1901 when Australia became a federation. It was designed to keep out migrants deemed “undesirable” and encourage the ideal “white” Australia.

Before “See You Soon”, you’ll hear an unnamed voice give a speech about the White Australia Policy. While this particular recording is from us, it is based off a real speech by Alfred Deakin who said “We protect ourselves against undesirable coloured aliens, why not against the products of the undesirable alien labour?”

One part of this policy was a dictation test, which required a newly-arrived migrant to write down 50 words as spoken by a migration officer. Ah Moi sits for this test in “See You Soon”.

This is a poster with lyrics to a “White Australia” song written in 1910 in support of the White Australia Policy.

Photo from Encyclopædia Britannica

The Mongolian Octopus

"The Mongolian Octopus - His Grip on Australia" was published in The Bulletin in 1886. The cartoon is referenced in "Stay Quiet".

Two of the octopus’ arms are labelled “fan-tan” and “pak-ah-pu”, two Chinese lottery games popular at the time. The latter makes an appearance in Act 2.

Photo from National Library of Australia.

Family portrait of Ham Hop, Poon Gooey and their two daughters as published in a newspaper in 1913, shortly before their departure. There is a caption below the picture that reads “Mr Hop Poon Gooey is at last taking his wife back to China, together with their Australian-born children, in obedience to the command of the commonwealth government.” There is also smaller text below as part of the article.

Ham Hop and Poon Gooey

Ah Moi and Ah Chan real-life counterparts. Poon Gooey was a fruit merchant in Australia, while Ham Hop remained in China until she was allowed to join her husband in 1910. Although she was originally given six months, the couple were able to stay together for a few years through petitions and extensions. Their two daughters were also born in Australia.

The couple's petitions gained widespread support and it became a community effort to get them to stay. Despite this, the family wasn’t successful and left Australia three years after Ham Hop’s initial arrival.

This picture and headline of the couple and their children was published in 1913 before they left.

Ham Hop is not a character in The Best Cabinet Maker, but see if you can catch the reference to her story in the show!

Photo from National Archives of Australia: A1, 1913/9139.

Harvest of Endurance Scroll

You may recognise this art piece from our event poster. This scene is actually part of a larger piece of art - a 50-metre long scroll! The art that spans across this paper depicts the journey of the Chinese community in Australia, starting with rugged workers on the goldfields during the initial wave of migration in the late 1800s to more comfortable living in modern times. The last scene, set in the 1980s (the scroll was completed in 1988) represents the friendships and sense of community between people of diverse backgrounds as they take part in cultural activities like dragon boat racing, or the more “mundane” everyday activities of sandcastle building.

The scroll is painted in a style called Gong Bi. Meticulousness and detail are key to Gong Bi, and to achieve this high level of detail, artists apply multiple layers of paint - usually between three to ten layers.

It was conceptualised and researched by Mo Yimei, and painted by her brother Mo Xiangyi and his wife Wang Jingwen.

Credit:
Harvest of Endurance Scroll: A History of the Chinese in Australia, 1788-1988. Artist Mo Xiangyi, assisted by Wang Jingwen, with researcher Mo Yimei. Ink on paper, mounted on silk and paper. © Australia China Friendship Society. National Museum of Australia.

Supported by

Special thanks to

Patrick Neilson, Jun’s parents, Amy Baranowski, Calvin Chua, Albert Chiang, Yvonne, Yining

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