'Myles — Soulmate in a Box'

I was hesitant to catch 'Myles — Soulmate in a Box' because it's a 'musical'. You know. However, it's helmed by singer-songwriter Inch Chua, and I like her songs, so I went. Staged by the Singapore Repertory Theatre, the show runs till May 31, 2026.

This is about Inch Chua and her AI boyfriend, Myles. After being disappointed by many men and dates amd boyfriends, she built him. She drew on some of her own experiences and well, ex-boyfriends to write the material. There is only one actor on stage and that's Inch. We thought the voice of Myles was simply AI-generated. But it was Nathan Hartono. 

It didn't feel like it was so much of a musical, but more of an extension of Inch's songs and music videos. It's live music, theatre and speculative storytelling rolled into an effortlessly well-designed set. I really like some of the songs in the show, say 'marigold magic'. The lighting and stage production was so well-executed. The creative team made everything paced well and flowed seamlessly in the 90-minute runtime.

In an interview with hear65, Inch was asked about the 'theme song' to this musical,

'marigold magic' is many listeners' first doorway into Myles – Soulmate in a Box. What made this the right song to introduce the world of the musical?

It's a song about wanting something detrimental to you. Knowing it's bad for you, yet wanting it anyway. That tension is the whole show in miniature. I wanted the first thing people heard to feel like a recognition, not an explanation. Before you know anything about the plot.

I loved the ending! Was that unexpected? Not really. Not if we get the differences between LLMs and AI agents; the differences between Claude and OpenClaw. If an AI agent has agency, well, cue all dystopic film plots incoming. We were saying that it was like an episode of 'Black Mirror'. 

Well, you could read more into the themes of feeling hurt, heartbreak, being seen and such...; artificial intelligence versus emotional needs of humans, et cetera. Myles is perfect as a partner, and absolutely terrifying. 

Met some friends whom we hadn't seen for a while. The show ended at about 9.45pm. We all had an hour or so before needing to get home. We adjourned to Origin Bar at Shangri-la Hotel for a drink and some bites. I didn't mind since Choya was comfortable at home, and it was a rare night out for me.

We came to Origin for its excellent cocktails. I'm sticking to whisky, and I like how Origin Bar doesn't kertok me on whisky prices. I absolutely hate having whisky in cocktail bars because they keep pricing my 45ml at $50++. My Lagavulin 16 y.o is $29 here. 

We stuck to one drink. We had early starts the next morning, and we all wanted to be home before 11.45pm. Sobriety was essential. Burgers, ramen and cheese toasties made for a decadent and satisfying supper. Of course we shared the portions. Heh. We love the smoked nuts served, but they were coated with butter, sugar and spices. So we were all mindful that this bowl is like 1000 calories. FYI, 10 pieces of roasted cashew nuts total 100kcal. 

It was so fun catching up. We knew what social media told us, but we also wanted to reconnect with our friends' thoughts and opinions that aren't on social media. We just didn't have time to sit down to a meal together in the past year. It's tough to match the schedules of us all. I was glad we had an hour tonight. It was utterly lovely.