This programme is from one of the spate of plays that were a part of the revival of Peranakan theatre in the 1950s and 1960s, after the Japanese Occupation. Peranakan theatre from the 1950s featured all-male casts, with female impersonators filling in women’s roles, most notably William Tan and Ong Chwee Kim. The plays were put on by amateurs, usually to raise funds for charitable organizations. Janda Kaya is about a beautiful widow who entraps a young bachelor through witchcraft. When she ill-treats his mother, he discovers her secret and order is restored in the house.
