I Am Seaweed playwright inspired by miso soup

A friend enamoured with making miso soup during the Covid-19 lockdown in Sydney, Australia, was the source of unlikely personal revelation for Singaporean theatremaker Cheryl Ho.

- Clement Yong

Watching her friend add dry wakame seaweed to the traditional Japanese heart-warmer, the 28-year-old was moved to marvel: "Some things, when put under pressure, really expand. I looked them straight in the eye and said, 'I am seaweed.'"

This moment of anthropomorphism has evolved to become the title of Ho's one-woman exploration of the excesses and pressures of hustle culture. This was something she felt acutely after graduation as a theatre freelancer trying to forge her way in a foreign country.

She co-produced I Am Seaweed with lighting and production designer Rachel Lee, a long-time collaborator. They took the performance to a 144-seater venue at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in October. And in January, they will stage it at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts studio theatre.

Ho says of the period in her life when she came up with this surreal but recognisably autobiographical monologue: "I was at a highly anxious point in my life, the self-help, self-improvement era where I wanted to optimise everything and be this invincible, resilient person."