The Ghost Writer

Brihanna, brash and outspoken, wants the truth to be told about her deceased baby but she needs a ‘ghost writer’ to tell it. Robert wants to publish the story but it’s got to be finished in six weeks. Claudia, his daughter and first choice as the writer, is not well but willing to give it a go, while Claudia’s completely anonymous lover watches from the sidelines before being drawn into this ghostly hodgepodge.

First produced in 2007 in Melbourne, Ross Mueller’s play trawls aspects of past crimes against infants (like the Azaria Chamberlain case), while many people try to ride the storm of a new missing baby case.

The four actors in this tight production by Jane Angharad share a stage at Flight Path Theatre that looks set for wintry action. During scene breaks, rain falls on all sides into containers beneath the stage, saying something about the weather patterns in Melbourne. The design is by James Smithers. It looks brilliant, though I’m not quite sure exactly why it was required, so accurate are the portrayals.

Mel Day, as Claudia the writer, is rangy and spirited, standing up to her pressing father on the one hand and to her unknown lover on the other. Never mind how much she looks (and sounds) like Claudia Karvan.

As Robert, Mark Langham is completely believable as the hard-pressed, down-to-his-last dollar publisher, ready to sacrifice his own daughter if needs be. It’s terrific to see such a key 60+ performance as this in such fine hands.

Which is not to say that Emma Dalton, as Brihanna, and Shan-Ree Tan as the shifting, changing West, are not exactly right. Both register highly: Emma as the lost but fierce Mother; Shan-Ree as the anxious onlooker. 

2007 was a big year for playwright Ross Mueller, when the Melbourne Theatre Company premiered The Ghost Writer. 17 years later it has returned, as bitter-sweet and snappy as ever.

Frank Hatherley

Photo credit: Braiden Toko