Play brought creators together, and tore them apart

Miriam Cheong and Shannen Tan, who are behind the work Lotus Root Support Group, about living with polycystic ovary syndrome, have reconciled

- Charmaine Lim

The restaging of Lotus Root Support Group about living with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - is long ovary-due after its soldout shows in 2022.

Co-creators and co-performers Miriam Cheong, 29, and Shannen Tan, 31, overhauled the original show for a more intimate, autobiographical look at how they live with PCOS, and included a part about the rift in their friendship due to the stresses of staging the show.

Of the show title, Cheong says: "Our ovaries have many little dots on them that look like Swiss cheese, moon craters or lotus roots." Adeeb Fazah returns as coproducer for the show after being its assistant producer during the first staging.

PCOS, the most common endocrine disorder, is a condition with unknown causes and no cure. In 2023, The Straits Times reported that data from the World Health estimates Organisation that around 10 to 15 per cent of women in Singapore have PCOS.

Some of the most common symptoms include irregular menstrual cycles; extra body hair on the chest, stomach and back; malepattern baldness; infertility; and weight gain around the stomach.

A 2022 study published in The Annals, the official medical journal of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, examined the ability of clinicians in Singapore to diagnose and help patients properly manage PCOS. The survey included 160 anonymous and voluntary responses from clinicians in the fields of endocrinology, family medicine, general practice and gynaecology.