Patalog Theatre and fortyfivedownstairs presents the Melbourne premiere of Grace Chapple’s scorching debut play, Never Closer, at fortyfivedownstairs, from 7 – 24 May 2026.
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 schoolfriends gather in her kitchen once more for 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, Never Closer is an unforgettable drama of home, friendship, 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.
Following sell-out seasons, first for 25A at Belvoir in 2022 and then returning to the upstairs theatre at Belvoir in 2024, this is the Melbourne premiere of Grace Chapple’s play. It also marks Patalog Theatre’s return to fortyfivedownstairs following its critically acclaimed productions of Far Away (2023) and Punk Rock (2019).
Director Marni Mount (Trophy Boys, POTUS) leads a cast of six of Melbourne’s most exciting young actors – recent Green Room Award winner Damon Baudin (Smokescreen, Boys on the Verge of Tears), Ella Ferris (Sunshine Super Girl, Scrublands), Karl Richmond (The Almighty Sometimes, Lifespan of a Fact, The Inheritance), Ben Walter (West Gate, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Enya Daly (Cyrano de Bergerac) and Molly Holohan (Saints, Recollection).
“I am incredibly excited by the team we have put together for this show,” says Mount. “Never Closer is one of those plays that simultaneously teaches us something about what it was to be in a particular place at a particular time, and reaches out to us right where we are in the current day.”
“Reading it for the first time, I laughed out loud, cried actual tears, and audibly gasped. It is rare for a play to elicit such strong reactions off the page, but Never Closer struck me in a way few scripts ever have. It’s a remarkable contribution to the future canon of Australian playwrighting, and Melbourne audiences deserve to see it!”
Director: Marni Mount | Featuring: Molly Holohan, Ella Ferris, Karl Richmond, Enya Daly, 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 | Assistant Director: Maeve Hook | Producers: Ben Walter (Patalog Theatre), Cameron Lukey (fortyfivedownstairs)
Never Closer
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Season: 9 – 24 May 2026 (previews: 7 & 8 May)
Information and Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
Image: Never Closer (supplied)