'She had such a loud voice and was constantly yelling out in Hainanese,' he recalls with a chuckle.

Today, his 97-year-old grandmother is a shadow of her former fiesty self. Battling dementia and two strokes, she lives in a nursing home because she needs special medical attention.

He says, 'It is so sad to see her not being able to make sense, to watch a strong and vibrant woman fading away.'

Confronting a loved one's mortality is always difficult, says Chye, who has turned those emotions into an optimistic and life-affirming comedy, Catching Adam Cheng, which won the Best Play award at Action Theatre's playwriting competition, Theatre Idols, this year.

The play, about four old women who sneak out of a nursing home in the hope of catching Hong Kong crooner Adam Cheng in concert, is on from next Thursday to Nov 30 at The Room Upstairs.

Staged by Action Theatre and directed by Jeffrey Tan, the play stars Belinda Sunshine, Fanny Kee, Beatrice Chien, Carena Chor, Esther Yap and Irwin See.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!