ajhlovestheatre

THE HUNGRY GHOST

by Mei Leng Yew

directed by Ailin Conant

Bush Theatre Studio, London – until 31 October 2026

running time: 1 hour 50 minutes including interval 

https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/the-hungry-ghost/

It’s a tonic to see a new play that feels so genuinely original. Comedy-horror on stage is hardly an overpopulated genre anyway, but then to get it served up with the twin saucings of lesbian romance and authentic Chinese folklore, and you have something pretty special. It’s fitting that The Hungry Ghost completes it’s sold out season in the Bush Theatre’s Studio on Halloween but it would be even more appropriate for it to be playing during the Chinese 7th lunar month, also known as Ghost Month when the gates of the underworld open and restless spirits are briefly free to roam the earth again. 

Mei Mac plays unnamed Girl, a contemporary Chinese-Brit planning to leave the over-protective confines of the family home to move in with her girlfriend Naomi. Isabella Wei plays the relentlessly ravenous phantom that invades Girl’s body to rampant comic effect, while also providing some moments of genuine shock and revulsion. It’s probably not fair to give away too much of what happens, but it’s quite the wild ride: I mean, how often do you get to see onstage a lesbian romcom and demonic possession mash-up. Visceral, preposterous and strangely charming, it’s the kind of show that the audience responds to vocally. A section where Girl/Ghost goes on the food rampage in Sainsbury’s is particularly funny, and also borderline revolting. 

Mei Leng Yew’s scripts gets some rather obvious fun out of spoofing Girl’s traditionalist mother but displays genuine wit in the presentation of the other relationships, and the aftermaths of some of the Ghost’s more extreme behaviour. If the jump-scares and brevity of scenes sometimes collectively suggest screen rather than stage, she has an impressive knack of blending together raucous, messy (literally!) comedy, goosebump-inducing horror and an ethereal poeticism that you definitely don’t see coming. No spoilers, but the conclusion is lump-in-the-throat-inducingly sad and beautiful, especially if you’ve recently had a bereavement.

Ailin Conant’s clever, pacy staging for New Earth Theatre Company plays out on a unit set by Yimei Zhao that’s rather less basic than it initially looks, and the lighting by Cheng Keng is a vital component in the production’s overall impact. Carla Ng’s music and sound are suitably discombobulating.

Both actors are fabulous. Mac is so engaging and lovable, with a creditable skill at morphing into other characters by changing stance, gait and facial arrangement. If there’s an issue with her performance it’s that she sometimes pushes a bit too hard, as though pitching her work for a theatre about four times the size of the one she’s playing in, but she’s very very good. Wei is thoroughly eerie as the ghost; worryingly volatile and with a gift for jet black deadpan comedy. When she transforms into the young woman that the ghost once was, the adjustment is quietly breathtaking.

As tangy and refreshing as the pomelos that the ravenous ghost feasts upon. It won’t be surprising if The Hungry Ghost follows the same route as the very engaging Heart Wall, with which it shares a bit of thematic DNA, and ends up in the main house when the next roster of Bush shows is announced. It fully deserves it. Yummy.