The Dear Departed: Live Radio Play

By Stanley Houghton, adapted for radio by Bart Meehan

This March, The Mill Theatre tries something deliciously different: a live radio play, performed and recorded in front of an audience. Before screens took over our living rooms, radio drama was the beating heart of storytelling — and in Australia, it was once a golden age. From the 1930s to the 1950s, locally made radio plays and serials dominated the airwaves, shaping national culture and shared imagination. This production revives that tradition, inviting you to watch the mechanics of storytelling in real time: actors at microphones, sound effects created live, music underscoring the action — and a brand-new recording captured every night. It’s theatre, radio, and time travel all at once.

Our first radio play is The Dear Departed, a wickedly funny one-act comedy by British playwright Stanley Houghton, adapted for live radio performance. Set in the 1930s, the play skewers middle-class respectability as two selfish sisters, Mrs Slater and Mrs Jordan, descend into chaos over inheritance, furniture, and the very convenient assumption that their elderly parent has become a burden. Sharp, absurd, and gleefully unkind, The Dear Departed exposes how quickly moral values crumble when money is involved. Light on content and high on laughs, this is a joyous, silly, and surprisingly biting comedy — and a rare chance to be part of a live audience as a radio play is made before your eyes. Come for the nostalgia, stay for the chaos, and leave having witnessed something you truly don’t see (or hear) every day.

Duration: 50 minutes approximately

Audience suitability: Anyone who likes a laugh!

This production is done in collaboration with ArtSound FM.

Cast

Andrea Close: Amelia Slater

Sarah Hartley: Victoria Slater (20-21 March)

Aleksis Andreitchenko: Victoria Slater (27-28 March)

Richard Manning: Henry Slater

Helen McFarlane: Elizabeth Jordan

Timmy Sekuless: Ben Jordan

Graeme Rhodes: Host and Abel Merryweather

Production Team

Playwright: Stanley Houghton

Adapted by Bart Meehan and Lexi Sekuless

Director: Lexi Sekuless

Stage Manager: Ciara Ford

Information about Stanley Houghton

William Stanley Houghton (1881–1913) was an English playwright and a leading figure of the Manchester School of dramatists, alongside Allan Monkhouse and Harold Brighouse. Born in Cheshire and educated in Manchester, he balanced office work in his father’s business with writing, acting, and theatre criticism before turning to playwriting full-time. Houghton achieved major success with Hindle Wakes (1912), a bold and influential drama that secured his national reputation. Strongly influenced by Ibsen, Shaw, and Wilde, his plays are rooted in Northern English settings while exploring universal social and moral themes. His promising career was cut short by his death at just 32, but his work remains a significant contribution to early 20th-century British theatre.

TICKETS

General admission tickets are $40 exclusive of GST and Humanitix booking fees. In 2026 The Mill had to increase tickets by passing on GST to patrons (we are very sorry to do this but the BAS payments are rotten!)

Concession tickets for Full-Time Students, Health Care or Pension Card holders are $35 exclusive of GST and Humanitix booking fees.

Mill Subscribers get tickets at reduced prices. You can subscribe here for the same deal!

Tickets are fully transferable up to one day before the event only. No refunds are available.

Tickets are for entry only and are available online until one hour before the show. From that point, box office tickets in person are available for purchase.

The information below goes into a lot of detail but if you have further questions, please email us at hello@milltheatreatdairyroad.com. A small team can see that inbox and we respond very quickly. The Mill is a very quirky space and we want to welcome you!

SEATING & ACCESS

All tickets are general admission and no seats are reserved so the earlier you arrive, the better position you will have. If you have any access needs and require reserved seating you must email us before the show please hello@milltheatreatdairyroad.com
Seating is in an L-shape to create a dynamic and intimate playing space.
The venue is fully accessible for wheelchairs with a ramp from the P3 parking spot and same level access from entry into building 3.3 into the theatre all the way to the accessible seating positions inside the Mill. We have two wheelchair seating positions both with very different views. Please contact us at hello@milltheatreatdairyroad.com so we can talk through the options, including adding companion card tickets. One option is on the short side, the other option is on the long side. All accessible bookings will be reserved.
Every seat in the house has a great view, and a different view. Patrons walk through the set to find your seats, adding to the intimacy of the space. This means, late arrivals or patrons who leave the theatre before intermission or the end will NOT BE ADMITTED TO THE THEATRE.

ARRIVAL & PROTOCOLS

ENTERING

Please head to the Box Office on arrival. You really must do this please. If you have already purchased a ticket, the Front of House team checks off the name of every booked attendee. Please do not try to walk directly into the theatre.
If you haven’t purchased a ticket, you can get one onsite an hour before show time. However, it is a very small theatre and we have started selling out and we do not hold any seats.
The doors open approximately 15 minutes before show time. The Front of House team will let you know when you can enter.

LOCK OUT

Due to the unique layout of the venue, the audience walks through the stage to take their seats. This means we cannot accommodate anyone slipping in late for the beginning of the show or for the return after intermission. This also means, if you need to leave during the show, we cannot allow you back in. If patrons are rude or resistant about this fact then it makes for both an unsafe and unpleasant time for everyone. Please think about this before you book and before you arrive.
The Front of House team rings a bell and counts the audience to ensure you won’t miss out but please don’t tempt fate otherwise you will be locked out and we cannot let you in. We even call any audience who might be running late to make sure you won’t miss the show!

CAST AND CREW

We have a COVID-contingency cast member. This process means that should any cast or crew be unwell, our contingency cast will step in to ensure the safest environment for the company and audience. The Front of House team will ensure audiences are alerted to any changes before each show.

LOCATION

The Mill Theatre is in Building 3.3, the Screencraft and KeepCo building which is a short walk from Capital Brewing. There are two easy ways to approach the Theatre:

PARK in P3 at the back of the precinct. From there you will see building 3.3 which has a large Screencraft sign. The public entrance is just up from that sign (not underneath it!). Once inside, walk about 5 metres and the theatre is to the right, next to Mojo Guitars.

WALK from Capital Brewing or the Less sculpture into the KeepCo building, pass Ramen Daddy and at the end of the corridor we are on the left.

PARKING

All parking in the precinct is free with several accessible parking spots in all the parking locations. The best spot to park is P3 at the back of the precinct. If you park elsewhere please be warned that signage and way-finding around the precinct is extremely difficult. Arrive in plenty of time to possibly get lost, possibly be in a bad mood, and remedy that with a drink at our bar before enjoying a smashing show!

Contact the host of LIVE Radio Play: The Dear Departed by Stanley Houghton adapted by Bart Meehan