Never Closer
SHOW DETAILS:
Thursday 15 October – Sunday 1 November 2026
preview: Thursday 15 October
opening night: Friday 16 October
duration: 90 minutes no interval
times:
Tuesday to Saturday 7:30pm
Sunday 5pm
ticket price: $35 – $55
bookings: 03 9662 9966
warnings:
- coarse language
- heavy themes
- loud noises
- bright lights
- herbal cigarettes
- simulated violence
- sexual references
1987. Moonlight bathes a troubled Northern Ireland in a mournful melancholy. Night after night, a young woman lies awake, seeing phantoms in the shadows and hearing banshees wail on the gusts of night.
Dierdre is stuck – between friends, lovers and nations; haunted by the ghosts of the lives she almost lived. When her old school friends gather in her kitchen on Christmas Eve, their once charming differences devolve into divisive fractures, revealing a dormant powder keg tempting the tiniest of sparks.
Set against the backdrop of an occupied Ireland, Grace Chapple’s scorching debut play is an unforgettable drama of home, friendship, the decision to leave or stay and the possibility of forgiveness. A new Australian work from a young playwright ruminating on her ancestral land, Never Closer catches the tremors of a whole country and time, resonating with striking clarity to this present moment.
★★★★ “one of the finest ensemble performances I’ve seen for a while” Cameron Woodhead, The Age
★★★★ “packs a powerful punch” Thuy On, Limelight
★★★★ “Grace Chapple has a shining future ahead of her.” Jennifer Beasley, Theatre Matters
Writer: Grace Chapple
Director: Marni Mount
Associate Director: Maeve Hook
Cast: Ella Ferris, Molly Holahan, Enya Daly, Karl Richmond, Damon Baudin & Ben Walter
Set & Costume Designers: Dann Barber & Ella Butler
Sound Designer: Rachel Lewindon
Lighting Designer: Sam Martin
Stage Manager: Liz Bird
Voice & Dialect Coach: Anna McCrossin-Owen
Producer: Ben Walter (Patalog Theatre) and Cameron Lukey (fortyfivedownstairs)
Associate Sound Design: Julian Smith-Gard
Assistant Stage Manager: Ivy Miller
Intimacy Co-ordinator: Eliza Grundy
Fight Choreographer: Joshua Bell
Design Assistance: Maz Tynan
Ticket Prices:
Preview: $35
Full: $49 ($55 Sunday)
Concession: $39 ($45 Sunday)
Group 6+: $39 ($45 Sunday)
Mob tickets (discount for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island mob): $35
Concessions:
Pensioners/Full-time students/MEAA members
Ticket sales are subject to a booking fee of $5.00 per ticket plus any merchant charges for payments by American Express
Ticket fees are charged reluctantly. As an unfunded CBD located venue, our expenses continue to rise. If fortyfivedownstairs is to survive, we are obliged to increase our revenue without inflicting costs on already struggling artists. Without support, we risk losing artists or having to close our doors. We do hope for your understanding!