Family dramas played out on the theatre stage seldom probe the sometimes joyful, sometimes agonising fury of sibling rivalries. Sure, we have domestic sagas involving characters related to each other – Pinter’s The Homecoming, Wilder’s Our Town, Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, any play by Chekov – yet few of them centre on the intricate, abiding connection between siblings.

Shan-Ree Tan and Angie Diaz in The One, Ensemble Theatre, 2022. Photo © Prudence Upton

The intense bond between sisters and brothers bears ample fodder for the perfect blend of comedy and drama. That relationship is even more intimate when the siblings find shelter and comfort in their shared experiences of being ‘outsiders’. Children of migrants, for instance, often possess deeply acute emotional connections with one another – they can commiserate on the mutual experiences of being neither of the country of their new home, or of the country they left. This sense of displacement, this ‘one foot there, one foot here’ mentality is at the emotional core of Vanessa Bates’ new play, The One.

Brother/sister duo Eric and Mel are polar opposites, forced to engage with each other as they prepare a huge birthday party...