Ghosting the Party Review
04.06.2022
Ghosting the Party contains depictions of suicide and drug use, mentions of mental illness and self harm.
Ghosting the Party is a dark comedy piece, written by Melissa Bubnic and directed by Andrea James for Griffin Theatre Company’s 2022 season.
Grace (Belinda Giblin) is a grandmother who, after returning from a funeral, decides her time is up and she’d rather die now than watch her friends die and her own health slowly decline. Through the play we see various plans and mentions of how Grace is going to end her life while her overprotective and concerned daughter, Dorothy (Jillian O’Dowd), tries to talk her out of it. Meanwhile, Grace’s granddaughter Suzie (Amy Hack) Is halfway across the world trying to escape the drama of her family and her life in Australia, including her parents divorce and her own breakup. Belinda Giblin gave a hilarious performance as Grace.
The show is mostly set in Grace’s home. A diamond shaped stage was covered in floral wallpaper with a ceiling fan and a very intimate audience. Isabel Hudson did an amazing job making the space feel very cosy and homely, but also quite lonely at times with a single rocking chair in the centre of the stage.
Overall, Ghosting the Party is a hilarious piece and a successful dark comedy exploring the fear and acceptance of death, intergenerational trauma, motherhood, and relationships between women of different generations in families. The show has clear audience in older women, more specifically mothers and adult daughters, but also had me as a young person thinking about my relationships with the women in my family. Bubnic is amazing at finding the comedy in very taboo subjects like assisted dying and suicide.
“If a lemon’s gone mouldy, you don’t put it in the fridge and let it rot for another 17 years.”
4.5 Stars.
Jollee, 17 [she/they]
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11.06.2022
Truly and undeniably special.
I feel all so often we as creatives get caught up in trying to be experimental, shocking or original- with embellishments and choreography- that we overlook the raw reflection on the human experience. Ghosting the Party eloquently portrays the latter with skill, vulnerability, and heart.
It made me so proud to be a woman and of my lineage of matriarchs who have suffered through and overcome so much. It is no less than a celebration of the feminine experience across the last three generations, with a special and sensitive magnification on mental health. I recently lost my grandmother last year and watched this show with my mum. It contributed to a world of healing and perspective that I didn’t anticipate… so, thank you.
Melissa Bubnic is a stellar and deeply intuitive writer whose work is poetic yet rough around the edges. This bliss is only enhanced by Andrea James’ picturesque direction of the flawless cast at hand; Belinda Giblin, Amy Hack and JilIan O’Dowd. Belinda is Australia’s Meryl Streep, Jillian’s range is absolutely wild and Amy is mesmerisingly truthful. I have no peeves in the slightest, this team is perfection and I hope to see more from them all.
I also want to compliment the design. It was hauntingly delicate, presenting historically traditional femininity with floral and pinks mixed with ghostly lighting changes. This was contrasted nicely with Amy’s dark, modern costumes and makeup. It was stark and unfitting in the best way possible. When we were in different settings than the family home, we had to kick our imagination into gear as the lack of change was distracting at first but in retrospect, I like that the original set remains. It speaks to not being able to get rid of our roots and how they’re always present. In addition, the cast overcame any distraction as they were just phenomenal.
5 Stars.
Anjelica, 21 [she/her]
Griffin Theatre Company’s Ghosting the Party played at the SBW Stables Theatre from the 20th May to the 18th June.