Reid’s fiancee Shivneel Singh will play Mr Darcy in a theatre production of Pride and Prejudice this week as a tribute to her
Singh says he will donate the money he makes from the play to mental health awareness
Shivneel Singh has never read a Jane Austen classic and hates romantic period dramas.
But he’s about to play Mr Darcy in The Pumphouse Theatre production of Pride and Prejudice as a tribute to his late fiancé Monica ‘Mon’ Reid, who loved them.
Singh, 33, auditioned in the memory of Reid - whose favourite period dramas included Bridgerton, The Crown and Outlander.
“Elizabeth Bennett and Mon are both witty, stubborn and have sharp tongues.
“Mon ... loved this genre. When my audition was over, I looked up at the heavens and thought ‘Mon, I hope you enjoyed that’,” Singh told the Herald.
Shivneel Singh will play Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice opposite actress Jack Frances Corte as Elizabeth Bennett. Singh was engaged to Monica Reid who went missing and died in June.
Monica Reid, 26, was found dead two days after going missing on June 14 this year.
She was last seen alive on Matipo Rd, Te Atatū, in West Auckland and her body was found on June 16. Her death was referred to the coroner.
Singh, who works as a data insight analyst, says performing in Pride and Prejudice will be a distraction to help him process the grief of losing Reid, and there have already been times during rehearsals when he’s shed a tear on stage.
In September, when Singh was overwhelmed by grief, he told his fellow cast members about his loss - and says they were caring and supportive.
Monica Reid got engaged to Shivneel Singh in January and bought a house with him in April, two months before she went missing in June.
“If I wasn’t having a good day, they knew why. It was also hard being in a romantic story and trying to be emotionally available.”
Singh says Reid, the youngest of eight siblings, would have been “perfect” as Jane - the eldest of the four Bennett sisters.
“Like Jane, Mon was kind, beautiful and maternal - she really looked after her sisters and wanted to do good by everyone. People gravitated to her for advice or to vent.”
Reid was musically talented and loved to act. She was also a passionate environmentalist who spent a lot of her spare time volunteering.
In 2019 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and studied Theatre, Italian and Film and Television at Victoria University.
She was also this year’s Auckland Rose and was in the running to represent New Zealand in the Rose of Tralee International Festival.
The late Monica Reid as Morticia and her fiance Shivneel Singh as Gomez from the Addams Family. Reid was musically talented and they both loved acting.
The couple moved to Auckland, got engaged in January and bought a house in April.
Reid was passionate about urban planning and public transport. While she was completing her studies, she worked at the Auckland Transitional Operations Company controlling traffic lights.
The pair met when they performed in a one-act play and got to know each other car pooling to rehearsals. Singh said he always knew Mon was “the one. ”I knew she would do great things, and I wanted a front row seat”.
Shivneel Singh said he always knew Monica Reid was "the one" for him. This photo was taken the day after he proposed to her on the Gold Coast.
While holidaying on the Gold Coast, Singh got down on one knee and proposed to Reid. He gave her a ring that was a family heirloom and said, ”It’s always been you, do you want to marry me?”
Underneath the dimples and confident smiles, Singh says Reid had “dark moments” and lived with anxiety and depression.
The last time Singh saw Reid was when he kissed her goodbye on the way to work.
Shivneel Singh struggles to understand why his fiance, Monica Reid, left home without leaving a note or saying goodbye.
He struggles to understand why Reid left home on a rainy afternoon, without leaving a note, or saying goodbye.
Singh says Reid was stressed at the time, with assignment deadlines looming, and recovering from Covid - which prevented her from competing in the NZ Rose of Tralee.
Singh said at times his fiance Monica Reid lacked confidence and was conscious of what people thought of her.
“Covid was disruptive, and Mon lost her drive. We were moving to our new home in Westgate, she had a job interview lined up. I was so excited I thought we’d turned a new page so I had no idea what happened that Friday.
“At times Mon lacked confidence which made her down. She was super smart but was also conscious of what people thought of her. She was taking her meds and seeing a counsellor. Mon had massive downs in the past five years, but it was never life-ending.”
The couple’s new house in Westgate remains empty. Singh is unsure whether he will move into it - or rent it out. He misses being “goofy” and talking in different accents with Reid. He says Mon owes him a lifetime in the next life.
He is donating the money he makes from the play - which will premiere on Wednesday at The Pumphouse theatre in Takapuna - to support mental health awareness.
Shivneel Singh says Monica Reid's death has left a huge gap in his life.
“I believe mental health should be a responsibility rather than just a topic of discussion. It’s not enough to just simply talk about it.”
“Mon has left a big gap in our lives. I hope I will find love but I don’t know what that looks like at this point.
“As Mr Darcy said, ‘Bells, they will never ring if they are made imperfectly.. but if they are cast of stronger stuff, of quality, you ring them once and you can’t control the vibration, can you?’
“Mon was that bell made of quality. And once you ring that bell, you can’t control the vibration. It’s like, ’Oh I have got feelings that I can’t control.’ I hope I will have a happy ending but it will suck until then.”
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
