Georgina Pender’s solo theatre work GOOD GRIEF explores the calamity of grieving a parent who isn’t dead yet and asks what happens when they are? A darkly funny show about mothers and daughters, intergenerational trauma, and becoming the person you want to be.
GOOD GRIEF fuses storytelling and movement to create a raw, vulnerable yet darkly comedic new Australian work for the stage. Inspired by confessional, contemporary theatre like Fleabag, GOOD GRIEF comes fresh from a collaborative devising process to its Adelaide Fringe premiere.
Sydney-based writer and performer Georgina Pender started creating Good Grief after the death of her mother at 22, a loss further complicated by their fractured relationship – marred by alcoholism, mental illness, intergenerational trauma, and periods of non-contact.
Studying theatre and screen studies in Melbourne, Georgina performed in Melbourne Fringe and independent theatre productions (Sweet Dreaming 2017, Opheliamachine 2018, Pillow Talk 2017), and several short films. After a stint as a resident artist at the Convent Arts Collective in San Francisco, Georgina returned home to Sydney, where she began to create the work , first as a movement work within Hub Studio’s Emerging Artist Program, and then as a storytelling piece for King’s Cross Theatre’s This is Totally Fucked. Good Grief’s creative development debuted at Adelaide Fringe 2023 to sold out audiences.
“At 21, I received a text: my Mum had terminal cancer. The same day I was offered an internship in San Francisco. I went; she died four hours before my flight home. Most of my life I was grieving someone who wasn’t dead. When she died, the relationship changed, and so did I. This story is sad but it’s also fucking funny. It was hard to believe when it happened and I want to share the shades of grief with an audience whose Aussie culture doesn’t see a lot of complex expressions of loss on Australian stages.” – Georgina Pender
Alongside Georgina, GOOD GRIEF has been devised by collaborators Lauren Bennett (Theatre Works, Lab Kelpie) and Georgia Wilkinson (English Theatre Leipzig, Good Space Gallery) combining their practices of producing, directing, and design, with accompaniment by guitarist Oliver Close.
Show Details:
Dates: 26-30 September 2023, 9pm Duration: minutes
Venue: Boom Boom Room, Emerging Artists Sharehouse, Erskineville Town Hall Content warnings:
Death, violence, alcoholism, mental illness Creative Team:
Writer, Creator, Performer | Georgina Pender
Producers | Georgina Pender & Ruby Busuttil Assistant Director, Design | Georgia Wilkinson
Director | Lauren Bennett
Guitarist | Oliver Close
“Good Grief is a work that is both comforting and challenging. Georgina has a fierce commitment to truth as a performer. When she employs her natural sense of comedy she does so with a sharp curiosity. As a writer she harnesses her audience’s intelligence with a keen wit.” – Donald Woodburn (former Head of Voice, WAAPA)
A raw autobiographical theatre work that is sure to engage audiences, put GOOD GRIEF on your list of Fringe shows to see.
