New and Now initiative by Wild Rice plunges into the deep end with Laura Hayes’ arresting play about a long-term abusive relationship.

They say there’s plenty of fish in the sea, but what if the one you end up hooking pulls you overboard? In Laura Hayes’ Wild Rice debut, the NAFA lecturer explores the often complex and damaging aspects of abusive relationships through the lens of one couple, as we follow their relationship over the years they spend together.

Directed by Sim Yan Ying “YY”, Dive also marks the first public performance from Wild Rice presented in their black box studio space. Compared to their main theatre, the space is significantly smaller, but also offers an opportunity to play with more minimalist and experimental explorations and give audiences a chance to feel even closer to the action, which Dive plays to its advantage. Dive takes its title from the central, unnamed couple’s meet cute, where the older person locks eyes with the younger on the springboard at the local swimming pool, about to plunge headfirst into the water.

Initially aged 19 and 16, Dive sees the two of them enter into a delirious whirlwind romance, where they remain committed to each other after that initial encounter. Over the course of Dive, we watch as the couple steadily grows older, following chronological order as they age into their 20s, then 30s, all the way up to their 50s and beyond. Director YY focuses primarily on the feeling of dread that occurs after the initial outburst – when will they next have a fight? How far will they be pushed? Much of this is how almost every scene seems to follow a similar format, where the two of them are having a relatively ordinary day, everything is fine, until the smallest, most unexpected interaction triggers a conflict.

It’s somewhat formulaic and even repetitive, to the point that internally, one might even begin to scream ‘just break up already!’ Each time, the victim downplays the extent of the abuse, always brushing it aside whenever side characters try to intervene, whether it’s a superior at work, or even the abuser’s own mother. Always, there is the feeling of being trapped, no way out the longer it drags on, frustratingly realistic with how hot and cold the relationships blows within a matter of seconds. But perhaps that is precisely the point of Dive – where as the audience, unable to intervene, we feel helpless to save them from themselves, caught in the same cycles, clinging on to the hope something, somewhere will change.

There are many times Dive still feels like an early draft of a script, where the degree of character development and depth is mostly limited. We learn that the older person becomes a doctor, and the younger becomes a lawyer. The older person is the abusive one, playing hot and cold as they burst into sudden outbursts, before hurriedly apologising and lovebombing the younger person, who is almost always painted as a helpless victim unable to fight back, filled with guilt for not being able to say no. It’s very much a one-sided, black and white look at abuse, at times difficult to really feel for these characters we never quite get to know beyond their problematic relationship, but for what it’s worth, acts as a useful enough primer for audience members unfamiliar with such relationships, focusing on how isolated and devastating a victim can end up being, even if in reality, the lines between the two are oftentimes blurred.

What is perhaps interesting then is the approach that director YY has chosen to take with this otherwise, mostly naturalistic play. Hayes’ script is deliciously descriptive in its setting and atmosphere, allowing us to imagine the space of museums, a party or the debris left behind after a fight. Yet it is deliberately ambiguous about its characters, choosing to leave out physical details of each half of the couple, right down to their gender. This allows director YY to play with the portrayals of both halves of the couple, constantly swapping the four-person cast (Irsyad Dawood, Jean Ng, Ebi Shankara, Ellison Tan) in and out of the scenes in various combinations and permutations. In so doing, Dive becomes more universal in nature, where we see that anyone and everyone, heterosexual or homosexual, could be part of an abusive relationship, as abused or abuser.

Each cast member also brings their own energy to the roles they play, regardless of whether they’re the older or younger half of the couple. Irsyad Dawood brings a youthful innocence to his performance, often with a sense of naivete that works especially well for when he is playing the couple in their younger years. Ellison Tan feels natural, shifting between the coy and coquettish, before bringing out a more demanding, fiery temper when she plays the abuser. Jean Ng has a tiredness to her that brings out the inherent exhaustion and physical toll of an abusive relationship. But it is Ebi Shankara who is the standout among the four, who plays both sides of the couple with aplomb. Ebi carries an earnestness to his performance, where you fully feel love emanating from his being during better days, while the split second switches where he flies into a primal rage are terrifying and catch you completely off-guard, before he hits you with puppy dog eyes, seemingly genuinely sorry that you understand how you can forgive him in that moment, and every moment after that.

Directing this cast, director YY also brings in her experience with physical theatre into the mix – one scene in particular sees them caught in a vicious embrace, rolling about the stage while a rippling spotlight shines down on them, mimicking light filtered through water (designed by NONFORM). The two are half loving, half struggling, and we are left unsure whether they are fighting or hugging, matching the narration that describes them, metaphorically, underwater, play-fighting that threatens to intensify into something far more fatal. This is further supported by the set (designed by Elizabeth Mak), with swimming pool tiles arranged in a rectangle on the ceiling, a reflective sheet laid out to appear like the surface of the water, making it feel like we’re underwater, slowly running out of air as we endure the trauma we witness onstage.

In all, Dive takes on a tentatively experimental approach to a decidedly non-experimental play, showing the potential it has if it went even further. It is a heavy script that does not take the subject matter lightly, and while that does make the pacing drag the longer the couple remain trapped, it is a story that will resonate with anyone who has been or knows someone in an abusive relationship. New writing is always a precious commodity in Singapore, and with Dive, Wild Rice has established the potential of its New and Now initiative and how willing they are to platform and host the staging of such work. Watching Dive, you’ll end up angry at the situation, while also transfixed by its ability to create a surreal, out-of-body experience as we watch the breakdown of a once happy relationship. You end up wondering if you too would be able to surface if you fall into the deep end, or, with the weight of the burdens and destruction of self-confidence over the years, end up drowning.

Photo Credit: Wild Rice

Dive plays from 5th to 22nd September at The Studio at Wild Rice. Tickets available here

Production Credits:

Playwright Laura Hayes Director / Costume Designer Sim Yan Ying “YY” Dramaturg Joel Tan Cast Irsyad Dawood, Jean Ng, Ebi Shankara, Ellison Tan Set & Lighting Designer Elizabeth Mak Sound Designer Guo Ningru Multimedia Designer NONFORM Hair Designer Ashley Lim Make-Up Designer Bobbie Ng Directing Intern Kay Lynn Er Dramaturg-in-Training Shona Benson