FIRST TAKES: The Divorce Party - When Theatre, Dinner, and Drama Mix… and Force Us to Talk About Endings

Immersive theatre in Singapore can be a gamble. Either everyone is too paiseh to interact, or someone’s uncle becomes the main character by accident.

The Divorce Party! — Dream Academy’s new dinner-theatre spectacle — finds a sweet spot somewhere in between. It’s loud, chaotic, self-aware, and so deeply Asian that at times it feels less like a performance and more like you’ve been dropped into a family WhatsApp chat thread with room service.

The premise is deliciously simple: instead of celebrating a marriage, we’re celebrating the end of one. In a region where divorce is usually whispered about behind Tupperware, seeing it turned into a full-blown themed event — complete with invitations, a dress code, LAM POW, and dramatic family lore — feels strangely liberating.

You arrive for a three-course dinner at Capitol Kempinski, and the performers weave through the tables like seasoned wedding MCs who’ve graduated from drama school. Alison May Shiau’s over-the-top best-friend energy carries the evening, while the Choo Plastic family spins layers of gossip, secrets, and camp with a familiarity that hits close to home. Because truly — no one does high drama like a Southeast Asian family.

The food is surprisingly solid (a crucial factor in dinner-theatre survival), and the pacing is tight enough that you never feel trapped in a gimmick. It’s fun. It’s silly. It’s theatre that doesn’t try to be atas.

But beneath all the humour, something tender slips in.

Because The Divorce Party! touches a nerve —
Why don’t we talk about separation?

Not the rumours.
Not the blame.
Not the “aiyah, these two no fate.”
But the actual emotional and cultural weight of a breakup.

In Asia, weddings are public spectacles; divorces are private wounds.
We celebrate beginnings with ten-course dinners, but we hide endings behind polite silence. We hold space for marriage joy — but not for heartbreak resilience.

So when a production stages a divorce as a communal celebration, it feels oddly radical. It suggests that endings deserve witnesses too — that closure doesn’t have to be solitary, shameful, or hidden. Maybe healing can look like laughter, awkward aunties, overpriced hotel drinks, and a themed party that lets the pain breathe.

Our first take is this:

The Divorce Party! isn’t pretending to be deep, but it becomes meaningful simply by letting us laugh at something we rarely name.
Go for the food.
Stay for the chaos.
Leave with a new thought about endings — and why we should talk about them.

More on Asia’s evolving rituals and relationships in our future features, and immersive theatre culture in Asia in our future features —
but for now, this is our First Take.

The Divorce Party
Currently booking from 18 November 2025 to 14 December 2025
Age Rating ADVISORY (SOME MATURE CONTENT AND COARSE LANGUAGE)
The Atelier Ballroom, 4th floor of The Capitol Kempinski Hotel