Black comedy. Motherhood. Witty.
Coming home from her sister’s funeral, Grace decides that at 87 years old… her time has come. She’s done with it all. She’s ready to leave the party.
Her daughter, Dorothy, decides her mum is just depressed. She makes it her mission to show Grace the beauty of living. But Dorothy is divorced. Stuck in a dead-end job. Estranged from her own daughter, Suzie, who lives halfway across the world. Soon, Dorothy starts to worry that her mum might have the right idea.
Pushing up daisies. Kicking the bucket. Ghosting the Party. The euphemisms are endless. For a phenomenon so certain and all-encompassing, humans are terribly good at looking for ways to avoid talking about death. It’s easy to forget that the concept of ‘checking out’ can be complex, contradictory—funny, even. Especially when an old lady with a bone-dry wit is involved.
Three generations of women face brutal questions of mortality in this uproarious pitch-black comedy from Melissa Bubnic, internationally-renowned writer of Boys Will Be Boys and Beached, with Griffin’s Associate Artist Andrea James in the director’s chair—hand on heart and tongue in cheek. Painted with poetry, unflinching honesty and an almost absurd amount of biting one-liners, confronting death has never been this (gravely) funny.
Winner of The Lysicrates Prize
Want to go deeper? View the online program
From Declan
‘This is probably the funniest comedy about dying anyone could dare to wish for. The first time I read Ghosting the Party I laughed and gasped and laugh-gasped on every page. It’s been a while between drinks for Griffin and Melissa—Beached was staged in 2013—so we’re thrilled to have her back.’
Director Andrea James
Designer Isabel Hudson
Lighting Designer Verity Hampson
Associate Lighting Designer Saint Clair
Composer & Sound Designer Phil Downing
Stage Manager Madelaine Osborn
With Belinda Giblin, Amy Hack, Jillian O’Dowd
Preview 20 – 24 May
Opening Night 25 & 26 May
Season 27 May – 18 June
Performance Times
Monday – Friday 7pm
Saturday 1pm & 7pm
Meet the Artists
Tuesday 31 May
Captioned Performance
Tuesday 24 May
Run Time
80 minutes (no interval)
Latecomers
Please note, there is a complete lock-out on all performances and latecomers won’t be admitted, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to us, grab a drink, and get settled.
2022 Main Season Ticket Pricing
| Full | $62 |
| Senior, Preview, Groups 8+ | $52 |
| Concession | $46 |
| Under 35 | $38 |
| Monday Rush* | $20 |
*Monday Rush tickets are available online and over the phone on Mondays from noon, for that evening’s performance until sold out.
2022 Season Subscription Pricing
| 6 Play | 5 Play | 4 Play | |||
| Full | $288 | Full | $255 | Full | $216 |
| Senior, Preview | $240 | Senior, Preview | $205 | Senior, Preview | $176 |
| Concession | $210 | Concession | $185 | Concession | $156 |
| Under 35 | $192 | Under 35 | $170 | Under 35 | $140 |
| 3 Play | 2 Play | Griffin Lookout | |||
| Full | $168 | Full | $116 | Single | $35 |
| Senior, Preview | $138 | Senior, Preview | $98 | 2-pack | $64 |
| Concession | $123 | Concession | $86 | Concession | |
| Under 35 | $108 | Under 35 | $74 | Under 35 | |
Production Images
Images by Clare Hawley
Meet the Team
Meet the Playwright
Trailer
“Ghosting the Party is wickedly funny, desperately loving, and just sharp enough to pierce your heart.” ★★★★½—Cassie Tongue, The Sydney Morning Herald
“Director Andrea James has created great synergy with Hack, O’Dowd, and Giblin. They work seamlessly together like a chamber music trio, alternating counterpoint and harmony, coming in and out of the melody on cue.”★★★★—Rita Bratovich, Time Out Sydney
“This debut production of Ghosting the Party is often bitingly funny, brazen and clear-eyed in its take on the things that keep us on this side of the veil, and why one would choose to pass through it.” ★★★★—Kate Pendergast, Audrey Journal
“Scintillating, hilarious, unpredictable and shocking.”★★★★—Diana Simmonds, Limelight
“Bubnic’s wonderful words and ideas, are brought to the stage by director Andrea James, who is herself brilliantly humorous.” ★★★★½—Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See
“An important, hilarious and challenging play served up by a fine cast.”—Martin Portus, Stage Whispers
“Caustically funny, clever and completely full of life. The cast are impeccable in their comedic timing as they contemplate questions about death and family that are too large to solve.”—Shon Ho, CityHub
“If you feel like crying, laughing, and crying again, head down to the SBW Stables for that aching, terrible, wonderful pull of familial love.” ★★★★—Charlotte Smee, Theatre Thoughts
“Bubnic’s script is whip-smart and morbid, turning an honest, open eye on women’s lives and their deaths, including all the compromises, mistakes, and disappointments they’ve encountered along the way to what they want.” Julia Clark, Night Writes
How to use your Dine & Discover voucher:
To use your voucher at Griffin, call our friendly Box Office team with the below information on hand:
- Your 9-digit character code (which can be found just under the QR code of your voucher).
- Your card details to pay the remainder of the ticket price.
- The performance details for the show you’d like to book into.
Please note that only one voucher can be use per transaction. Your vouchers are valid until 30 June 2022. Please visit the Service NSW website for further information.
Ghosting the Party contains depictions of suicide and drug use, descriptions of self-harm, coarse language and sexual references.
If you have questions regarding the content of the play, please contact our Box Office team.
24-Hour NSW Mental Health Line
1800 011 511
Lifeline
13 11 14
This project was supported through a residency at the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, the University of Sydney.
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