New Ghosts Theatre Company Premieres BORN ON A THURSDAY at Sydney’s Old Fitz Theatre
Jack Kearney’s poignant new Australian drama explores family, memory, and resilience in Western Sydney.
New Ghosts Theatre Company (NGTC) Will Close its 2025 season with the world premiere of Jack Kearney’s Born on a Thursday, a deeply affecting new Australian play about family, memory, and the resilience found in ordinary life. Directed by Lucy Clements, the production runs from November 28 to December 14 at The Old Fitz Theatre in Woolloomooloo.
Set in Western Sydney, Born on a Thursday follows April, who returns home after years abroad to find her family profoundly changed. Her brother is no longer the boy she remembers, and her mother remains steadfastly unchanged. What begins as a tentative reunion evolves into an unflinching exploration of grief, silence, and love — a story about coming home, not in triumph, but with trembling hands.
“I like theatre that concerns itself with the seemingly ordinary and works to peel back the skin of the thing,” said playwright Jack Kearney. “This play is about finding beauty and pain in the smallness of a world we recognise — where injury and trauma coexist with what’s for tea and the footy score. It’s Australian to the core, in the things we say and the ghosts we live alongside.”
Director Lucy Clements brings her signature emotional precision to Kearney’s script, leading a cast that includes Deborah Galanos (Sweat, Sydney Theatre Company), James Lugton (The Twelve), Owen Hasluck (Blue), Sharon Millerchip (The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race), and Sofia Nolan (RFDS).
“Born on a Thursday sits at the intersection of everything I love about theatre — it’s new, Australian, and pulses with truth,” said Clements. “Jack submitted the script through our Open Submissions program, and I knew immediately it was something special. I believe it has the makings of a new Australian classic.”
The production is presented in partnership with the Australian Sports Brain Bank, whose mission to advance research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and related brain injuries resonates deeply with the play’s central themes. Consultation with the organisation helped shape both the writing and performance.
This collaboration continues New Ghosts Theatre Company’s commitment to producing socially engaged works that amplify the missions of partner non-profits, extending the impact of theatre beyond the stage.
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