Stirring, thought provoking, sophisticated. Ross Mueller’s The Ghost Writer is a well written piece of theatre bringing to life a world that highlights a society’s ever growing ignorance of a sometimes difficult and complex reality in favour of an easy ‘truth’. This world seems to be the one in which we live today - a world where society’s opinion can be altered by the media, where facts are replaced with assumption and where each magazine and TV screen has a different take on the truth. So how does society figure out the real story?

The Ghost Writer tells the story of every day people – people familiar to us, battling with lies, relationships, secrets, justice, avoidance and eventually confrontation with the truth. It is set in Melbourne and seems to touch on Australia’s connection with the missing child. It tells the story of a mother whose daughter Megan was murdered at the age of four. One night Megan went missing from her room, and six months later was found in the lake near her house. The mother’s boyfriend Brian was immediately branded as a suspect despite any real forensic evidence. The media’s portrayal of Brian soon lead society to believe that he was indeed this little girl’s killer. Illiterate, witty, and not afraid to speak her mind, Megan’s mother Brihanna (Louise Brehmer) employs the expertise of businessman Robert (Steven Tandy) and his publishing firm in Melbourne’s CBD to help her tell the real story – the truth. Seeing a book on Roberts’s desk about an Olympic athlete (written by one of his ghost writers) Brihanna decides she wants the same ghost writer to bring her story to life. That ghost writer happens to be Robert’s daughter, Claudia (Ling Hsueh Tang).

Claudia is an intense and complex character, struggling to conceal her own truths from everyone including her father and her love interest - West (Nicholas Cooper), refusing to tell him anything about her job, her life or even her first name. She has something to hide. She is an excellent writer and, after some persuasion, agrees to take on Brihanna’s story. She starts off by letting her own opinions, shaped by what she has read in the papers and seen on the news, cloud her actual factual knowledge of the situation. Much like real life cases such as Lindy Chamberlain, once a person is portrayed in a negative light by the media, it is quite likely that society will assume the worst of that person. Claudia believes that the case is closed. Brian was the killer. Brihanna on the other hand, claims that she knows who the real killer is, and that she wants everyone to recognise the real story.

This relationship and investigation drama is really enhanced by a clever set which takes us from the office to the bedrooms and homes of the characters, as well as the local café. Lighting and sound add to a smooth transition of scenes, whilst a superb cast really bring the writing off the page and onto the stage. Steven Tandy does an excellent job at creating Robert, the egotistical image of a quick talking, business savvy editor. Appealing to a somewhat mature audience, every second line spoken is met with a burst of laughter and quite a few nods suggesting ‘I know what you mean’. The scene between Claudia and her father just after he has, in effect fired her is very intense, as well as upsetting as we see Claudia struggle to come to terms with the injustice that is being done on Megan’s behalf, as well as the pain of her own hidden truths. When Brihanna reveals the truth behind Megan’s death to Claudia and West the room is completely silent. It is awkward and quite unsettling. The cast has done a fantastic job at engaging the audience in this story and expressing intense emotion which was felt through the entire theatre.

The Ghost Writer is a believable story of characters and events that could indeed relate to people we know and places that we live. It definitely raises the question of a society which seems to be growing ever more ignorant and somewhat communally distant. How do we decide what is truth and what is just a version of the truth? How do we accumulate information and what does it lead us to believe? A great piece of theatre that definitely provokes thought and really engages its audience.

 The Ghost Writer

Season: Thu 15 - Sat 31 May 2008
Preview: 8pm Wed 14 May 2008
Opening: 8pm Thu 15 May 2008
When: Wed - Sat: 8pm
Where: Sue Benner Theatre, Metro Arts 109 Edward Street
Tickets: Adults $22/ Conc. $16/ Preview $12/ Group (10+) $12
Bookings: (07) 3002 7100

Directed by Andrea Moor

Written by Ross Mueller

Featuring Louise Brehmer, Nicholas Cooper, Steven Tandy and Ling Hsueh Tang

Production design Kieran Swann

Lighting design by Jason Glenwright

Composer Jason Zadkovich