Gezai opera, a traditional theatre form from the Minnan region and a national intangible cultural heritage, has a fresh urban turn. The new piece Rider opened at the Minnan Opera Art Centre and uses the lives of delivery riders as its theme, blending classic stagecraft with everyday modern life to show ordinary workers holding fast to kindness and honesty.

When the lights rise, the stage fills not with long-sleeved belles but with riders in work uniforms weaving the city on electric scooters. Traditional vocal lines gently tell their daily stories, and the audience senses the real human warmth behind those familiar strangers.

Musically, the show keeps gezai’s melodic core while adding contemporary percussion such as snare drum and xylophone to suggest speed and tension. Movement keeps opera’s expressive roots yet breathes urban texture, and a single box symbol stands in for the rider’s life much like a whip once stood for a horse. The result is a tender, modern-minded take that lets tradition speak to the present.