Considering how the pandemic took place in 2020, it’s wild to think how so much can change in just five years. What more the state of a relationship, one that is explored in Jason Robert Brown’s acclaimed musical The Last Five Years. Coming to the KC Arts Centre this February, Singapore Repertory Theatre’s (SRT) upcoming production will star local music darlings Nathan Hartono and Inch Chua, as they trace the highs and lows of one couple’s turbulent relationship, love and marriage over half a decade.

Directed by Daniel Jenkins, the unique two-hander production opens on Valentine’s week, and unfolds in two opposing timelines— rising author Jamie (Nathan Hartono) moves forward from the spark of new love, while struggling actress Cathy looks back from the heartbreak. The two meet in the middle for a single, unforgettable moment of marriage, promising a stunning, sung-through experience that’s packed with powerhouse vocals and heart-stopping moments, showcasing a story of love that’s as real as it gets.

For Nathan and Inch, stepping into the roles of Jamie and Cathy was a mutual challenge they couldn’t resist. “This show was basically Inch and I psyching each other into doing it. It was like, ‘If you do it, I’ll do it,’ and she was all for it —she loves the show,” says Nathan. “The last few months for me have been about catching up with the hype, learning about the music and the writing, and it’s quite a dream role for me, considering that Joel, the music director, is a longtime collaborator, and director Daniel Jenkins has been an icon in local theatre for me ever since catching SRT’s The Pillowman back in 2008 as a teenager.”

Nathan and Inch’s reflections on their roles in The Last Five Years reveal deep personal connections to their characters, and an intense engagement with the production process. The script is described by Nathan as “a welcome challenge for both of us,” but one that they embrace wholeheartedly. “We both love to live a little on the edge,” he says. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done theatre, and there’s a very real feeling of inhabiting this skin once again. I need to remember what it feels like—what this current version of me feels like—and I’m still finding it.”

“The stakes, the anxiety, and the fear keep things sharp, though at one point I got so stressed at one point that I had a nightmare —we were performing in a school hall with no set, no lights. People started talking over us, and some left five minutes into it. At some point, they called it off—show’s over. and I woke up sweating,” he adds.

“That’s a sign that you care a lot for the quality of the production though,” says Inch. “For me, this is a show that makes me feel alive. The pressure is good. I feel like I’m biting off more than I can chew most of the time, and it excites me that I’m being stretched beyond my limits.”

On whether the twin storylines going both forward and backwards in time will be confusing for the audience, Nathan comments how it in fact, reflects the typical way we might remember past relationships. “Whether people get lost in the story, well, that’s not up to us,” he says. “But the beauty of the script is that it recognizes how these failed relationships and love stories are never remembered chronologically. They come in spurts—the good times and the bad times, which oddly makes the show more coherent when you think about it. The feeling the audience walks away with will be even more enhanced than if it were told in a straight timeline. There’s a consistent sense that because you know how it ends, it colours every scene more richly.”

“We all have personal experiences to draw from. But with Dan Jenkins, he’s a real tour de force, and our own process was about doing character breakdowns and plotting our own journeys,” says Inch. “Mine goes backwards, which is less intuitive than going forward for Jamie. It’s about retrieving and reliving a memory, and then stitching both timelines together, which Dan has managed to do very well.”

Both Nathan and Inch connect deeply with the material, drawing on personal experiences in their performances. Nathan discusses his empathy for Jamie. “I feel deeply empathetic for his journey because of the way it’s written, from this real place of sincerity, which can be shocking and chilling. He really shows all his cards, and there’s something beautiful about how some of the songs just carry you. They’re so real that I barely have to think, ‘Oh, I’m acting this line.’ It just comes out naturally because it’s not contrived or forced,” he says.

“But it’s also confronting because these are exact feelings I’ve had before. Jamie, as a creative, experiences a meteoric rise without knowing failure. I recall my own meteoric rise, feeling like everything was easy, like I was invincible. But your world can turn upside down, and the way you interact with people can be turned upside down,” he adds.

Inch finds similar resonance with Cathy.. “I don’t just relate to Cathy. It’s the idea of every artist realizing the hopeless romantic in them,” she adds. “I also recognize myself in Jamie – sometimes I’d watch Nathan rehearse and go “wait, that’s totally my song.’ It’s relatable, especially for struggling artists—anyone who’s tried their best to fight tooth and nail for a relationship that’s doomed. It’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”

This naturally leads to a segue on their own experiences with dating. “Both of us have dated our fair share of creatives, and when you perform this show, it hits you that you’ve been through a lot of similar things to these characters,” says Nathan. “It sucks to learn you’re an archetype. But it’s quite typical in creative relationships. I believe the feelings are much truer as well, because I’m drawing from my own lived experiences.”

Nathan’s personal reflections continue as he opens up about his own evolving relationship with performance. “I’ve developed social anxiety over the years. Like, I can do a set and that’s great, but then…it’s not that I don’t want to talk to people, but suddenly, I just don’t know how to talk to people,” he confesses. This vulnerability is part of his process, as he struggles to “figure that out.” Despite this, he feels the pull to perform and embody his character, especially in songs like If I Didn’t Believe in You where the lyrics seem to take on a life of their own. “The words just carry you,” he says, describing how the emotions of the scene overwhelm him. “You start, and suddenly you’re at the end of the scene, caught in this whirlwind. How much of myself do I put in? A significant fraction, drawing from life experience and memory instead of fully inhabiting the role. It’s been fun to explore and figure out what this character feels like in my body.”

There’s also a youthful invincibility and arrogance that Nathan struggled to find, considering it’s something he’s lost touch with from his days just starting out, and how it no longer is a part of his personality. “It’s not innate to his personality,” comments Inch. “When we started, I told him, ‘Well, you’ve gotta learn to be a bit of an asshole to play Jamie’. For me, it’s so important to be genuine, and I love how that comes out in the writing. In any version of the show I see, I’m always interested to see how much of themselves the actors bring to the production. We’re not just trying to execute it well; we’re bringing a part of who we are. And I guess there’s a bit of me in how Cathy’s a bit of a love addict, kind of yearning and always trying to ignore the red flags and make it work.”

“I saw that happen firsthand with Inch, actually. Life reflects art, or vice versa I guess,” says Nathan. “And because of how relatable it is, I’ve got to decompress sometimes to remind myself of who I am. The rehearsal process has been quite intense because of the short runway, and I’ve definitely been spending more time in this headspace than I’m used to. I guess there are pros and cons to a lean production like this—it’s jam-packed, but it means that we really clear our schedules and work with each other to find that connection and make it work.”

Reflecting on the last five years, both Inch and Nathan try putting things into perspective as they look back on how they’ve spent it, particularly during the pandemic. “I actually met Nathan quite a bit during COVID. He would cycle over to my place and hang out, and we’d be doing things together like cooking. That was right after my show with T:>works, and I had a studio doing sound design and audio plays, where we would just be hanging and jamming together with friends.”

“On the flip side, besides those hangouts with Inch, I spent most of it confused and depressed. It felt like the most logical thing to do, but I was also fresh out of Sing! China and unsure which aspects of that music would stick around in my life,” says Nathan. “Out of that confusion came a lot of experimentation and broadening my horizons. Realizing 2020 was five years ago is pretty confronting actually. I’m 34 this year, and I’m just now getting used to how time really compresses.”

“The first few years of my 30s were spent mulling over that, but until you really feel and internalize what that means, it’s crazy. Five years just flew by, but really, they were useful years for me—years of clarity about what I want and don’t want out of life and my career. The craziness of Sing! China was a cool peak, but it also illuminated the things I want to stay away from in the future. It’s not the healthiest way to live,” he adds.

While Nathan and Inch aren’t the first stars people might think of when it comes to local musicals, their casting choice was intentional, and promises strong chemistry due to a good working relationship built on years of collaboration and trust. “We’ve always had great stage chemistry, and always able to riff off of each other. We did Songsmith together last time at the Esplanade, and all these projects we’ve done have always had this fun, casual vibe like, ‘Do you want to jump on this?'” says Inch. “It’s like we’re kids mucking around at the playground, and we’re so relaxed during the process.”

“We’ve known each other for so long, through so many projects and phases—at least on my part. There’s no judgment, and we’ve built up a very safe connection,” says Nathan. “We’ve really done so many weird things over the years, like Inch being a confused Christmas elf and a Lord of the Rings elf for my podcast. We’ve done so many collaborations, and this is just another one on the list. I’ve never had to think about the chemistry and dynamic—it’s just there, naturally.”

Thinking of how close they are, they try to remember each other’s birthdays and struggle, eventually concluding that while it is important to celebrate and perform rituals, the date doesn’t matter so much. “I even forget my own birthday sometimes. I’m not that sentimental about these things, but I do believe in rituals as a peak human experience. If aliens came to Earth, they’d think, “Wow, people are standing in front of a cake on fire, and it must mean something.” But it’s a reminder to do more things sometimes,” says Inch. “Sometimes people put too much emphasis on a date, but really, aren’t we all just glad you’re alive every day? Instead of hyperfixating on the anniversary, why not just be glad that you love each other every other day?”

“Time seems to compress, and I think it’s important to mark your achievements and milestones, because it’s so easy to forget,” says Nathan. “Between my partner and I, we pick a monthiversary rather than a specific date. As I get older, I like celebrating my birthday more, even though in the past I preferred it to be on a small scale. But I love celebrating others, and usually, I’m the one to get the cake. That’s always fun. It feels like a personal gift in its own way, accounting for the occasion. Are you going to buy it? It’s nice to commemorate these things, and in general, maybe it’s getting older and more sentimental.”

Thinking about how far ahead in the future they plan for, both conclude that five years is a bit too much to think about, but primarily live their lives one day at a time, with general short term and long term goals rather than setting things in stone. “The stuff I’ve been doing between solo projects and releasing music has been more low-key, where I’ve been more about experimenting and avoiding boredom, collaborating with a lot of new friends, and making music in interesting places,” says Nathan. “I’ve been doing a lot of electronic improv sets. It’s quite liberating to do these things, as opposed to the other side of music, which comes with expectations and pressure, which is fine too, but I like trying this other side as well, especially after going independent from a music label this year.”

“I like to plan things about a year in advance, if not, usually I just adopt a ‘let it roll’ attitude. For the longer term projects, I plan maybe two to three years in advance, but really, you can’t predict how the commercial gigs or the events scene will work,’ says Inch. I really hate the feeling of having planned something, only for other cool things to pop up, and I can’t do them because of prior commitments. So, the sweet spot is balancing it with personal time and projects.”

And as for their advice on dating and love, both Nathan and Inch have some thoughts on making it work. “Jamie’s pitfall is that he tries to fix problems he shouldn’t really be fixing. When you start micromanaging a problem, it bothers you more and more, and you see it as a failure,” says Nathan. :When it’s your partner, you start seeing them as a failure, and it spirals quickly. That happened to me, and when I couldn’t solve it in past relationships, my sense of self broke down. I thought, ‘If you can’t solve this, how can you have kids?’ Sometimes, I wish I could scream at Jamie and tell him, ‘No, you just need to be there for her.’ I guess one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in previous relationships is that when there are problems, it’s not necessarily your role to fix them. Sometimes it’s just about being there and listening, being a supporting structure—a beam—rather than immediately jumping into problem-solving mode.”

“I believe that there’s true love out there, but it can happen to you via multiple people,” says Inch. “I do think that the most important thing this musical reminds us about is that you have to be honest with yourself; otherwise, you can’t be honest with others.”

“True love is a conscious decision you make every day to be with your partner. Some days it’s easier, some days it’s harder, but you have to make that decision every single day and never take it for granted,” concludes Nathan. “Love is intoxicating and can be devastating, but whatever path it takes, it’s going to be okay. There’s no permanent damage by any means. There are different timelines to jump around, things have a beginning and an end, but life goes on. There are more feelings to be had, and they can be just as high or low. The key is daring to feel these feelings, and knowing that it’s going to be okay. Relationships are not the be-all and end-all.”

The Last Five Years plays from 12th February to 1st March 2025 at the KC Arts Centre. Tickets available here