as seen through the eye's of his little known Malaysian-born concubine. Sun, a western educated physician, was a key figure in a revolutionary wave which overthrew China's Qing Dynasty and put an end to the monarchy in 1911.
But "One Hundred Years in Waiting," staged by Theatre Practice and The Necessary Stage, turns the spotlight on Chen Cui Fen instead, Reuters reported.
Chen struggled by Sun's side as a comrade and concubine for almost two decades, only to leave him just before he was sworn in as provisional president for the new Chinese republic.
Enchanted by Chen's story, three local playwrights and two directors pieced together the story of Chen and Sun, who was exiled by the Qing government and spent time in Singapore and Malaysia plotting his uprisings.
"There was barely anything written on Chen Cui Fen. It was very shocking considering that she was his comrade for 17 years, 10 uprisings," Alvin Tan, the play's director, told Reuters on Friday.
"She made bombs, she smuggled things for the revolution, she cooked food for the fighters, but she's not regarded anywhere near a heroine."
Sun's first wife was documented in history books. His second wife, Soong Ching-ling, went on to become a well known political figure in her own right. But Chen's status as Sun's mistress remained in the shadows.
The play, which opened in Singapore on Thursday as part of the city-state's three-week long Arts Festival, remains true to the historical events but juxtaposes the past with a modern day actor who is playing Sun Yat Sen.
The parallel between the lives of the actor and Chen bring up the theme of personal, social, political, sexual and global revolution, Tan said.
The question of why Chen left Sun when he finally succeeded is a lingering puzzle. Some suspect Chen willingly gave up her place to the sophisticated Soong for a better China, Tan said.
"We will never know what is the full answer," he said. "It's not in the history books."
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