Three Shows. Three nights. Following their debut, The Last Supper, Cipta Theatre Company’s Belonging Showcase endeavoured to pose a resonant question to its keen audience: where is home? From Singapore to India to Australia, the Showcase brought much cheer and heartfelt joy to the Guild Theatre. Produced by Cipta’s dynamite duo Jessica Fanwong and Jessica Tran, the show was bound to delight, especially with the bio box team blaring ABBA bangers from loudspeakers as the audience entered the theatre. You can’t go wrong from there.

Beginning with Michelle Yu’s piece, Neither Here Nor There is a poignant testimony to the feeling of going home. Yu works primarily with a series of monologues, reflecting on a family’s move to Australia from Singapore and an evocative introspection into a mother-daughter relationship. Under Victoria Winata’s skilled direction, both are portrayed with touching realism, laden with cultural nuance. Christie Ch’ng, with her knack for capturing conflict and cheer in one, is perfectly suited as the Main Character. Whether arguing with her mother, reminiscing over her childhood in Singapore, or forging new pathways with the Friend (played by the serene Weiying (Irene) Lu), it is easy to root for her. Crystal So, as the Mother, is brilliant. She captures both the loving exasperation and the inevitable cultural disconnect that comes from a family uprooted. So reminded me of my own mother – the same intonation, the same tired inflections, and the earnest expression of love through food. The choice to use filmed footage and voiceover with close-up projections of the actors enjoying kaya toast and roti enriched the text visually. Yu’s writing resonated with me strongly, with lines and references that felt like they’d been taken verbatim from my Singaporean-Malaysian family’s Whatsapp chat.

However, I personally struggled with the piece’s structure. The monologues, though truly moving and well-written, were largely situated towards the beginning of an already short piece. It almost felt like the audience didn’t truly earn them nor their subsequent emotional payoff – like the pacing of the play didn’t align with the emotional tempo of the viewers . To necessitate and provoke the pathos that the monologues and performers deserved, starting the play with the duologue between Ch’ng and Lu’s characters could have possibly achieved this. Overall, Neither Here Nor There brimmed with a pulsing emotional heart filled with promise.

The Misfits was pitched as a play about a demon going vegan amidst a family fighting for an inheritance. While I’d argue the play was more of a horror-comedy ensemble piece about the family itself rather than about Mara (played by Akshita Benny with a earnest charm well-suited to the premise of a vegan demon) Sana Singh’s narrative is phenomenal nevertheless. South Asian mythology interwoven within a complex nuanced exploration of tradition, power, identity, AND theatre? They ate... literally. It's about a family-business-conglomerate of flesh-eating demons. At one point, there’s a demon from a jar labelled “Flesh Chips.” It’s great. Cipta should sell those as merchandise. Benny, Ishani Phatarpekar, Nishka Fernando, Stuti Ghosh, and Krishitaa Purusothaman are a riotous ensemble. Nishka Varghese has an excellent grasp of dynamics in her direction, bringing out the dysfunction and the drama with ease. There was a sort of dual plot; each character had their own unique, secret problem, which was paired with the dispute over who was to inherit the company. It was deeply entertaining to watch. Phatarpekar and Fernando are dynamite together, with sensational warring sibling energy. Purusothaman easily had the best comedic timing out of the lot as a laidback very clearly Gen Z demon. The stalwart presence of Ghosh as the matriarch serves to make the final reveal more fruitful in its shocking aftermath. There were a few moments towards the beginning where some vocal projection could have been implemented to make the beginning exposition around the conflict clearer. Yet, with such a fun ensemble – especially in the dark red light moments of the actors going gremlin mode – the conflict continued to entertain.

The final showing, The Cut That Always Bleeds, was the perfect choice to conclude the show. Hallie Vermeend’s compelling writing style and Zara Taqvi’s sleek direction epitomised the real ‘experimental’ side of the showcase. From the non-linear interweaving of the challenges facing medical students Mimi (Isabel D’Souza), Dan (Tom Worsnop) and Petra (Mateenah Adeleke), to the heartbeats rippling through the theatre, to the careful balance of forceful duologues versus earnest direct addresses, to the striking lighting work; it was a masterful blend of narrative and theatre tech magic. The complexities of Melbourne sharehouse life are captured both in the set motifs – the gorgeous lamp which elicited an audible response from the people in the audience at my showing – and within the development of the students’ interwoven relationships. D’Souza, Worsnop, and Adeleke are a wonderful trio, whose chemistry still comes out on top even against the striking tech work around them. I found myself rooting for all three of them at any given time, amidst conflict, resolution, and earth-shattering reveals all at once. As a team, these actors handled the challenge of a non-linear tale with clear, effortless synergy. I do wish we could have seen more of the three actually being med students though I can understand the ‘cut’ of this potential plot point (pun intended, sorry Farrago).

These three stories could not have come to life without the wonder that is the production team. With three shows, I cannot even imagine the amount of work needed from Production Manager Ella Kerr and Production Assistant Kristy Cornell to coordinate all of this. The design work of Aminah Tasnuva (Set) and Dahlia Karam (Design Assistant & Props Master) rendered the set a flexible and comforting quality, as well as creating a homely atmosphere. Sound & Lighting Designer Penelope Toong’s tech prowess was on full display here, giving each individual piece its own feel with seeming ease, every change of light every new sound cue perfectly suited to each show. My props to Stage Manager Shu Kei Anson Ng and Assistant Stage Manager Bella Russell (who doubles as Costume Designer, fabulous costume work) for managing the transitions of each piece with masterful care. I commend the work of Equity Officer Tara Jindal, Publicity Officer Michelle Huang and Production & Equity Consultant Nabila Malik.

Fundamentally, Cipta’s Belonging Showcase reminds us that home is where the heart is, even when the heart is lost at times. I could easily believe that I was watching real families, families who had upended their lives to come and work out their many, many issues on the stage. There was a real love, a real sense of belonging.