By Kirstin Sow
Pangdemonium commenced their 10th year anniversary with the Asian premiere of The Son, directed by Tracie Pang. Written by acclaimed playwright Florian Zeller, The Son is the finale that caps off Zeller’s trilogy of other award winning plays, which includes The Father (which Pangdemonium performed in 2018) and The Mother.
At first look, the play appears to be a typical domestic drama about family relations and generational conflict. Delving deeper into the plot, we see the manifestation of their teenage son’s mental condition through his erratic behaviour as he copes with his parents’ divorce and their expectations of him.
Divorced parents, Pierre (Adrian Pang) and Anne (Shona Benson) are confused as they struggle to comprehend their son Nicholas’ (Zachary Pang) self-destructive behaviour and mental state. Is it merely just teenage angst, rebellion or is there something more to him constantly feeling down and trodden? They become increasingly helpless and frustrated as they try to save their child.
This is a play about changing family dynamics, love, perceptions on various mental health conditions, and the toll on the individual and their caregivers. Beneath the mask that the son puts on for his family, lies a desperate plea for help regarding his spiralling mental condition. As the play progresses, the contrast between rationality and irrationality becomes even more apparent when the characters view mental conditions through a rational lens as juxtaposed against Nicolas’s irrational thoughts and explanations for his own behaviour.
Set in Pierre and Anne’s home, Petrina Dawn Tan’s simple and gorgeous stage set portrays a charming and cosy home. Accompanied by warm lighting, the clever stage design made the Drama Centre Theatre stage far larger than it is, providing an illusion of depth in a single, enlarged living room space. The melancholic mood is further enhanced with effective change in lighting complemented by sad music. Under the facade of a neatly organised living space, the messy emotional states of the various characters feels even more jarring.
Pierre and Anne showcase the detachment between them with their angry, frustrating exchanges in the beginning. As a partner and father, Pierre is assertive, affectionate, angry, and a disciplinarian, while Anne is a concerned, worried mother reminiscing the good, old days where her son was in happy spirits. Nicolas gives a great performance as the aloof, disturbed teenager plagued with troubling issues of his parents’ divorce and “life weighing him down”.
The growing distance between the family becomes extremely evident when they are communicating with one another. Nicolas buries his head in his hands, and turns away from the parents, while Pierre and Anne constantly look at their phones, distracted from what their child is experiencing and talking, as if unaware or ignoring the problem at present.
If you enjoy dramas about family topics, this is not one to be missed! Expect a blend of drama, comedy, and tragedy that will keep you at the edge of your seat, bringing you on an emotional journey from the start to finish. The poignant story is well executed, though with an emotional but hasty ending. Bringing the audience through a gamut of emotions, the play takes a plot twist, adding to a suspenseful story development.
Set at a time where mental health issues are becoming more prevalent in society with many battling with their own inner demons, The Son is an apt drama in discussing the misconceptions and negative stigma associated with mental health. Even though one’s family members and loved ones might have good intentions to help, sometimes “love is not enough and love will never be enough” and it would be better to seek out professional help when dealing with mental health problems.
The Son is currently staging at the Drama Centre Theatre till 7 March, with tickets from $25 to $75. Get more information about the play here.
