Who doesn’t enjoy immersing in the joys and happiness of a wedding? What if you’re invited to the wedding, only to find out that it’s a cover story for an underground theatre production? If you are curious, you’d better grab your tickets soon, as Pandemonium’s A Mirror only runs from now to 12 July 2026, presented at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre. Tickets for the event are eligible for purchase with Culture Pass credits.
This is the also the second last production, before the famed theatre company Pangdemonium ends its 16-year run with the production Come From Away in September 2026. Just as Pangdemonium has brought laughter, tears, surprise and excitement to audiences over the years, Pangdemonium’s A Mirror embodies that same ethos, bringing us through a roller coaster ride of emotions.
Pandemonium’s A Mirror
GO GREEN SG: Many free, fun, family-friendly eco activities
HOLIDAY COLOURING COMPETITION: Get Creative in the Playground In Your Style Competition with More Than $2,000 in Prizes To Be Won
Set in a dystopian state, the story beckons questions on what the truth is, and whether the world as we know it, is the entire reality. It challenges the balance between artistic freedom and addressing audience appetite, while conforming to the regulations of the milieu one resides in. The play was written by British playwright Sam Holcroft and originally debuted in London in 2023 to great acclaim. Directed by Tracie Pang, the Pangdemonium production marks the Singapore debut of the renowned play, armed with stellar performance by a strong cast.
As my companion and I got into the line to enter the theatre, we were welcomed by the sign “Welcome to the wedding of Leyla and Joel”. We did a double take. Did we come to the right event? When we entered the theatre, the space was decorated into a wedding venue (and we realised that Singtel Waterfront Theatre could be a good space for an unconventional wedding if you need to host a half thousand attendees and don’t mind decorating the space).
We got seated and were greeted by the ‘groom’, the ‘best man’ and the ‘registrar’, and were asked whose side we were on. Audiences promptly caught on to the cue, and we all played along and claimed to be from the groom’s/bride’s side.
We had fun discussing the imagined lore behind our connection to the groom/bride. The tables quickly turned, when the wedding was revealed to be a disguise for a secret theatre, and our supposed connections to the couple, was in reality (pun intended) a collective masquerade for the audience, in the event that authorities intruded.
If the show opened with a beautiful wedding, with everyone cheering for the couple’s impending happiness, then it was truly a surprise in the next second, when the characters broke the fourth wall to address the audience directly to unveil the dark reality that would be played out in the play.
“We Always Have a Choice”
This was Adem’s response to Celik’s defensive claim that “we have no choice!”, calling out Celik’s cowardly behaviour for what it was. Danger was always around the corner, with repeated interruptions of alarms going off and car horns sounding in the distance. The audience was no longer a passive spectator, but were pulled into the same realm as the actors (or were they really acting?), and interpolated into the role of conspirators.
Did we have a choice? We could always choose to walk out of the theatre, but would we?
I think the fascinating aspect of the entire narrative was that, while we were seemingly put through 2.5 hours of ordeal where we were thrown into the role of conspirators and constantly put through scares of authorities swooping in at any point in time, we were also an active interlocutor who could choose to remove ourselves from the space, and the situation.
We were frequently reminded that this was an underground act that was all too real, with the actors doubling as stagehands to change the set between scenes, and scrambling to put together the fake façade of a wedding every time danger appeared to knock on the door.
It was a thought-provoking piece, and yet the play-within-play was easy to comprehend even for theatre first-timers, with relatable moments of neighbourhood gossips, and seeing the optimism of a young person fresh in his career just as young Adem was, as an aspiring playwright.
The music was well-executed as a blend of live music and background track, that was intertwined so closely that you could barely tell when it’s live, and when it was just a ‘fake’ music soundtrack playing in the background.
Curtain Call
The tight and authentic performance of the cast was appreciated by the audience, as was evident from the long applause from the audience.
As we left the space after the show, many of us emerged in deep thought and with much realisation. Was Adem only a younger counterpart to who Bax was, was he a refraction of Celik, a reflection of the authenticity that Mei sought, or was the entire play itself a mirror for a reality of the world we lived in? And does it even matter?
Pangdemonium: A Mirror
Performance Season: 26 June to 12 July 2026, daily
Performance Venue: Singtel Waterfront Theatre, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
Performance Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes, with no intermission
IMDA Rating: Advisory 16 (Some Mature Content and Coarse Language)
Age Rating: 12 years old and above (No entry for children under 12)
Ticket Booking Website
This story is not sponsored.
