Three years on, See You, Anniversary remains a devastating reflection on our limited time and the ways we cherish it.

Originally staged in 2022, Nine Years Theatre’s (NYT) See You, Anniversary was among one of the strongest plays of the year, following a couple over each anniversary of their time together over 29 years. It’s a mundane-sounding premise, but one that, under Nelson Chia’s pen and direction, is elevated into a deeply emotional and powerful reflection on the value of time, where it is the act of celebrating yearly rituals that reinforces and strengthens commitment and devotion – a message that feels more clear than ever in its 2025 restaging.

Closely following the trajectory of NYT co-founders Nelson Chia and Mia Chee, who are also a married couple in real life and star in the show, See You, Anniversary follows Nian Kai Wen ‘Kelvin’ (Nelson) and Ji An Ni ‘Annie’ (Mia)’s relationship together, from first meeting as fellow Theatre Studies students at NUS, to marriage, to raising children and starting a theatre company together. What is special about this relationship is how the couple make it a point to celebrate each and every anniversary without fail every year, with every leap year particularly significant as they officially become a couple on 29th February. Tracking each celebration over the 29 years, what emerges is a story that emphasises the importance of remembering, commemorating, and honouring the most important person in each other’s life.

Originally staged at the Drama Centre Black Box, See You, Anniversary has now transferred to the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium at Funan. While the script and performances remain largely the same, the shift in venue elevates the entire experience. The larger, rounded performance space allows audience members to surround the stage on both ground level and from above, creating an intimacy that amplifies every laugh, every sob, every shared glance between Kelvin and Annie. You hear the communal reactions in stereo—a ripple of laughter across the crowd, sniffles from a corner, a couple holding hands a little tighter. The space becomes a cocoon, enveloping us in the couple’s story, making us complicit with every joy and disappointment they experience.

Wong Chee Wai’s set design too has adapted to the new space, and seems to take on new significance. Clear plastic chairs replace the wooden ones from the original run, while many more metallic wire clouds hover above, ghostly and ethereal. These evoke fragments of memory, delicate and impermanent—a visual metaphor for the fleeting nature of time and the fragile beauty of the moments we cling to. It is as if we are sitting beneath a sky stitched together by recollections, each one liable to dissolve at any second.

The play is structured according to scenes that are divided by blackouts and surtitles that mark the the time Kelvin and Annie have spent together. Each transition is a gentle nudge, reminding us of time’s relentless march. The projections mark their anniversaries since meeting, since marriage, tracing 29 years from 1991 to 2020. These markers are more than timestamps—they are echoes of our own lives, urging us to take stock of our milestones, our losses, our fleeting joys. References to Singapore’s ever-changing landscape—the construction of the Esplanade, the rise of Marina Bay Sands—serve as poignant parallels. Buildings change, skylines shift, and so do we; nothing is permanent.

Vick Low’s music remains a standout, resonates even more powerfully in this new configuration. His piano-driven score flows through the space like a living pulse. Moments of happiness are laced with hints of melancholy, while the devastating scenes strike with the precision of a clock winding down. There are notes that mimic ticking, crescendos that mirror the surge of grief, and quiet pauses that let the aching linger. Vick has essentially crafted a soundscape that doesn’t just accompany the play—it breathes alongside it.

But at the heart of it all, it is still Nelson and Mia’s performance that anchor and determine the success of this show. Their performances, already deeply personal and moving in 2022, have grown even richer with time. There is a rawness and a vulnerability, that feels heightened, no longer simply trying out these characters but playing them with every fibre of their being. Every touch, every glance, every pause speaks of a history that extends beyond the script—their shared lives bleeding seamlessly into their characters, Kelvin and Annie. It is rare to see a work where the boundary between actor and role dissolves so completely. We are not watching a performance; we are bearing witness to Nelson and Mia’s life story – how they met at university, how they started a theatre company together, and how they remain the proud parents of a pair of grown up twin girls, their asides to the audience showing their private thoughts and their fears, doubts and nerves for all to see.

It takes immense courage to do that in writing and in performing that, and every emotion that is displayed onstage is reflective of their genuine reactions and memories, their soul itself bared for all to see. But the focus of See You, Anniversary is never their family, their friends or their careers – it lies in this powerful, lifelong connection between Kelvin and Annie that makes even the most ordinary of moments soar. Nelson’s writing turns everyday moments into poetry—a post-production karaoke session that sparks a romance, a simple walk home that cements a lifelong bond. These scenes resonate because they are familiar, and even the cliche is made romantic again. We see ourselves in Kelvin and Annie—in their laughter, their bickering, their small acts of tenderness, as they dance with each other to celebrate Annie’s pregnancy, or the way they praise each other for their way with words. We root for them because their love feels real. It is sometimes messy, but always enduring, growing from separate individuals into a single unit making decisions together.

And so, when tragedy inevitably strikes, it hits with the force of something we knew was coming but still hoped to outrun. We grieve not just for Kelvin and Annie, but for every love we have known, every person we have lost, every memory we fear will fade. The final moments—where hands grasp tighter, voices tremble, and tears are not held back by the actors and audience — are almost unbearable in their honesty. It is a reminder that love, in its purest form, is both our greatest strength and our deepest vulnerability. This restaging of See You, Anniversary is not merely a repeat performance—it is a deepening, a ripening that asks us to confront the impermanence of everything we hold dear, and in doing so, urges us to hold on just a little tighter, love a little harder, and remember, always, to celebrate the time we are given. You come away from See You, Anniversary falling in love with Kelvin and Annie, Nelson and Mia, and with NYT, a love that stays with you long after the lights fade to black.

See You, Anniversary runs from 14th to 23rd February 2025 at The Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre at Funan. Tickets available from BookMyShow

Production Credits:

Playwright, Director and Performer Nelson Chia Producer and Performer Mia Chee Set Design Wong Chee Wai Lighting Design James Tan Music Composition and Sound Design Vick Low