SINGAPORE – The vengeful Greek tales of Medea and Medusa have in recent years been rehabilitated globally as feminist sagas of justified rage. Now, Singapore performer Claire Teo, who is blind, has created a localised version full of shock and drama, set in an HDB estate.

Far from jumping on a bandwagon, Monstress – an Esplanade co-production with Teo and Art:Dis – is a long-simmering cry of rage by the 27-year-old artist.

At non-profit organisation Art:Dis’ space in Bukit Merah, she says of her debut play: “It was a consolidation of all the things that I’ve been passionate and angry about.”

Monstress plays as part of the Esplanade’s The Studios season from Sept 4 to 6.

Teo’s story of a sexually assaulted blind girl and a single mother neighbour increasingly frustrated with caring for her autistic son takes some longstanding complaints of Singapore society by its horns. The feminist element is unimpeachable – “We unfairly shame and fear women who question” – but it is equally an indictment of the non-confrontational ethos baked into Singaporeans’ DNA.

In 2023, a father who claimed to have killed his 11-year-old twin sons with autism to alleviate his wife’s burdens was sentenced to 14 years in jail.

“I dug deeper, and realised that there’s a lot more cases overseas,” Teo says when asked if these cases in the news spurred her play. “I wondered how many caregivers struggle with this to escape the isolation. How can we offer a space or a community that is ready to offer support before it’s too late?”

Monstress is born of deep personal experience. After a first staging in March 2025 of a version she co-wrote with Jean Tay, Teo – who also works at a residence for girls aged 15 to 21 who have had adverse experience...