Until Death: The Haque Collective’s Upcoming Play Lifts the Shroud of Silence on Miscarriage and Grief
PUBLISHED November 3rd, 2021 05:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 02:49 pm
A baby is a bundle of joy that brings families together – cuddled, cooed over, and celebrated by all. Yet when crisis strikes, a couple is often left to pick up the pieces of their lost child alone. Despite the fact that miscarriages are statistically common – affecting as many as one in five women in Singapore – talking about it remains a taboo, something to be swiftly swept under the carpet of ordinary life.
An upcoming production by The Haque Collective this November, Until Death is a brave bid to lift this shroud of silence surrounding miscarriage. Launched in 2019 by veteran director Kamil Haque, The Haque Collective is a relative newcomer to the local theatre scene. But they’ve already made a name for hard-hitting productions like The Jugular Vein, a dark comedy that unmasks the bitterness lurking between four female friends. Until Death is another original script that gives voice to the unspoken and unspeakable, through the lens of one young, grieving couple.
The play opens on a rosy scene of the expectant husband and wife in their living room, as they bicker playfully and break into spontaneous slow-dancing – every inch the couple in love. Tarun Satyakumar plays the joyful, positive Nick D’Cruz – an architect and devoted husband who already dreams of watching his favourite Barcelona football team with his son. His better half, Chiara Tan (Kimberley Kiew), is a sharp-witted literature lover and teacher, with a penchant for delving deeply into ideas. Their son is 23 weeks in the making – and it feels like their future couldn’t be brighter.
Yet when tragedy strikes, their joyful bubble of a world bursts with frightening ease. Drawing reference from searing legal dramas like Kramer vs. Kramer and Pieces of a Woman, as well as the actors’ personal experiences, the play explores the way grief opens a chasm between even those who deeply love each other.
Ever the optimist, Nick focuses on what seems to him the best solution: moving on and hoping for another child down the line. Meanwhile, Chiara drowns in the immensity of her sorrow, increasingly resenting her partner for striving to swim onward. Their different ways of grieving set them at odds, dragging them into a tussle about what to do with the urn carrying their son’s remains – one that threatens to spill over into a bitter legal battle.
Until Death is a poignant meditation on miscarriage and the mental impacts we seldom talk about – shame, guilt, isolation, and more. But it also promises to strike a chord for anyone who has grappled with loss – and in these pandemic times, many of us have.
Until Death by The Haque Collective runs from 11 to 14 November 2021 at Stamford Arts Centre, Blackbox Theatre, 155 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187962. Tickets are priced at S$45.
All photos courtesy of The Haque Collective
