Modern love is chaos, but somewhere in the mess, we still find connection.

What is love? The question hangs, rhetorical, almost mocking, over the opening moments of Falling Falling Falling Falling, as the young ensemble strides down a catwalk-like runway, phones up, posing for selfies as if this were the “catwalk of fame.” It’s a clever visual choice by director Daniel Jenkins, immediately situating us in the world of a generation raised in the digital glare—seen, curated, and constantly performing.

This production, brought to life by an energetic cast featuring Leon Saint Claire, Liew Ai Wen, Afiq Bin Faisal, Ameera Shuhaila, Alicia Hua Li Ying, Diego Alfonso, Tinotenda Zimhunga, Choo Xin Hui, Danielle Yeo, Celestine Sixuan Groleau, Raksha Murali, Ng Xin Hui, Feroz J. Malik, Chua Yuen Zheng Roy, dives headfirst into the messy, chaotic, and often painfully funny terrain of modern relationships.

Based on Simon Longman’s script, the show throws us into awkward first dates, mismatched expectations, emotional outbursts, toxic spirals and fleeting sparks that barely get the chance to ignite. With no microphones used, the young actors are made to project, to reach us without amplification, an artistic choice that forces authenticity. Their rawness becomes part of the texture of the show.

Early vignettes resemble a speed-dating gauntlet, complete with disastrous chemistry, unexpected honesty, and baffling rituals (“Smell me,” she says—are these really the dating norms of today?). One boy admits the truth even though it ruins his chances; another tries his luck with bravado only to be met with a torrent of vulgarity. Some of the language is deliberately excessive: a f-bomb lands like punctuation, which prompts the audience to question whether the shock belongs to the characters, the generation, or our own discomfort.

The show soon fractures into layered exchanges: three sets of dates playing out simultaneously; couples arguing; a girl exhausted by the dating cycle; two men spiralling into insults; two girls navigating something tender yet fraught. The range of relationships: romantic, dysfunctional, hopeful, fragile, creates a living collage of the many ways people fail to understand one another.

Longman’s script is intentionally chaotic, mirroring the cyclical repetition of life and love. Conversations loop. Movements repeat. Patterns reappear. “We are all the same,” they exclaim at one point, a moment punctuated by Studio VAGABOND’s stark set, Genevieve Peck’s moody lighting, Daniel Wong’s atmospheric sound, and Sharin Zulkinia’s evocative floor projections where faces emerge like ghosts of past connections.

A sinister version of musical chairs becomes the show’s centrepiece: an “evil carousel” of hopes, missed opportunities and mismatched conversations. As chairs disappear, people fall away, one by one, until only two remain: the girl and the boy with the big afro. “What is your dream?” hangs in the air, gentle but loaded with the weight of every previous misstep.

There are moments of reconnection too, with former partners meeting again, tentatively, awkwardly, maybe even happier apart. Two boisterous friends reunite and reflect on how time moves, how people change or stay stuck. Deep breaths recur throughout the show, arms rising, chests expanding, all small reminders to slow down, to reset, and to keep going.

And as the play circles back to where it began, it becomes clear that this is less a linear story than a reflection of the world these young performers inhabit. A world of constant falling: into love, out of love, into mistakes, out of certainty. A world where technology promises closeness but often delivers isolation. A world full of reminiscence, self-doubt, and the stubborn hope that someone, somewhere, might catch you.

Falling Falling Falling Falling is chaotic, confusing, funny, violent, sad, but embraces the mess rather than smoothing it over. It asks what relationships mean in an age where everyone is talking but few are connecting. It asks what it means to keep trying. To keep falling and to get up again. Ultimately, the play returns us to the same question it began with, perhaps larger this time, perhaps heavier: What is love? What is life? Here, the answer seems to be: it’s everything we fall through, and everything we rise from.

Falling Falling Falling Falling played from 20th to 22nd November 2025 at the SOTA Studio Theatre. More information available here

Production Credits

Writer Simon Longman Director Daniel Jenkins Cast Leon Saint Claire, Liew Ai Wen, Afiq Bin Faisal, Ameera Shuhaila, Alicia Hua Li Ying, Diego Alfonso, Tinotenda Zimhunga, Choo Xin Hui, Danielle Yeo, Celestine Sixuan Groleau Raksha Murali, Ng Xin Hui, Feroz J. Malik, Chua Yuen Zheng, Roy Set Designer Studio VAGABOND Lighting Designer Genevieve Peck Sound Designer Daniel Wong Multimedia Designer Sharin Zulkinia