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Falling by Pangdemonium: A Raw Glimpse into Life with Autism

PUBLISHED May 25th, 2016 07:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:02 pm

“We’re falling apart,” Tami (Tan Kheng Hua) says to her husband Bill (Adrian Pang) as they reach an impasse in their tiff. The silence that follows is fraught with the history of unspoken compromises and future complications — but only for a moment; each have to return to their parenting roles in a world that revolves around taking care of their severely autistic son, Josh (Andrew Marko).

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It’s tough to feel at home in their home. The parents and their adolescent daughter, Lisa (Fiona Lim) almost seem to tiptoe in constant reactiveness, for Josh is almost an adult and can hurt those around him — and himself — when he turns to more physical ways of expressing his frustration and fear. In this compelling portrait of how life with autism is like by playwright Deanna Jent, we are offered a glimpse into their day-to-day based on her own experiences. Josh can get upset by unexpected things like a barking dog, and keeping peace at home is an equilibrium the family scrambles to keep.

As the play progresses, so do the challenges — bible-toting grandma Sue (Neo Swee Lin) is coming for a weeklong stay, Josh’s caregiver quits on short notice, and Lisa grows increasingly vocal in her unhappiness at the limitations and lack of attention she receives. The effort of keeping equilibrium seems to take the greatest toll on his mother. It’s all Tami can do to tipple over into her own free fall as she struggles to keep the family afloat. Her fierce love and protection of Josh threatens to tear her own marriage and relationship with Lisa apart, yet it’s an impossible problem to which there are no solutions.

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It is a simple story: grandma comes to visit a family of four. The play doesn’t really go anywhere but it doesn’t have to, for this is exactly what reality is. There is humour to follow tears — it’s needed to keep sanity and light-heartedness in a life that demands so much — and there is chaos to follow a breath of peace. It is a story that is broadening and humbling, brought to life by an excellent cast, and an important one to watch.

Falling runs at KC Art Centre, Home of the SRT till 5 June 2016, from Tuesday to Sundays.


Contributor

Xiangyun gravitates towards ideas, aesthetics, and the written word. She requires music, coffee, and wine to function, along with regular swimming and baking sessions. She is also unreasonably suspicious about linear time and conformity.