The Hungry Ghost
by Mei Leng Yew
1 Oct to 31 Oct
Studio
Details
Venue
Studio
Dates
1 Oct to 31 Oct
Age Guidance
16+
Content Guidance
Price
£15.00 to £25.00
About
“I feel like a newborn out in the world for the first time. I feel… ravenous.”
Tonight’s the night. She’s got a plan. And it involves her (secret) girlfriend, and the house they’re about to move into together.
And it doesn’t matter to her that her mum warns tonight is the first night of the ghost month. Because parents will say anything to keep you home.
Swiping an orange from the family altar and pocketing a coin she finds on her way over to the new place, she steps through the doorway – and unwittingly invites a hungry ghost into both of their lives. As the ghost starts to take over and she wrestles for control of her own body, her carefully constructed house of lies comes tumbling down around her.
A sexy horror rom-com exploring what takes root in the space between superstition and rationality. Starring Olivier Award nominee Mei Mac, The Hungry Ghost is the debut play from Mei Leng Yew, directed by New Earth Theatre Artistic Director Ailin Conant.
(Further casting to be announced)
Presented by New Earth Theatre in association with Bush Theatre.
Cast & Creatives
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Mei Mac
The Girl
Mei is an Olivier Award nominee for Best Actress in a Play and WhatsOnStage Award nominee for Best Performer in a Play. Theatre Includes: Dracula (Lyric Hammersmith); My Neighbour Totoro…
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Mei Mac
The Girl
Mei is an Olivier Award nominee for Best Actress in a Play and WhatsOnStage Award nominee for Best Performer in a Play.
Theatre Includes: Dracula (Lyric Hammersmith); My Neighbour Totoro (Barbican & RSC), Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play (Manchester Royal Exchange, Young Vic); Dear Elizabeth (Gate); Five Plays – Tongue (Young Vic); The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Bridge); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park); Under the Umbrella, The BFG (Birmingham Rep); Jackie the Baboon (Brunskill and Grimes); Romeo and Juliet (Papergang); Summer Times (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Peter Pan in Scarlet (Oxford Playhouse / New Vic); Snow Child (International Tour / York Theatre Royal); If The Lights Are Too Bright (Ovalhouse); Princess Mononoke (International Tour/ AiiA Theater Tokyo/ Whole Hog Theatre); Wild Swans (Young Vic/American Repertory Theater)
TV Includes: War (HBO), The War Between the Land and the Sea (Disney+ / BBC), Blue Lights (BBC), Horrible Science (BBC), East Mode (Comedy Central), Call the Midwife (BBC)
Film Includes: Sacrifice, My Country
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Mei Leng Yew
Writer
Mei Leng Yew
Writer
Mei Leng Yew is British writer of Malaysian-Chinese heritage. She is passionate about stories that are set in unique, highly personal worlds with characters who find joy in unusual places.
In 2025, was shortlisted for the Women’s Play for Playwriting in 2025 for her play Down Side Up. Her short film Safiyah Flies Across the Ocean was funded by Film London and subsequently screened at BAFTA-qualifying film festivals.
She is an alumni of the Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab, the Royal Court Intro to Playwriting Group and New Earth Theatre’s Writers Plus Academy. She is also a trustee for MAMA Youth Project, a charity that empowers diverse young people to work in Film & TV.
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Ailin Conant
Director
Ailin Conant
Director
Ailin is the Artistic Director of New Earth. Prior to this role, she was founding artistic director of Theatre Témoin, with commissions from The Lowry, The Everyman Cheltenham, and Without Walls, and productions in Rwanda, Israel, Kashmir, Lebanon, France, and the USA.
As a freelancer, Ailin is Senior Associate Director on My Neighbour Totoro with the RSC and Improbable, and has previously worked for the The Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Theatre503, Kansas City Rep (USA), Ayyam Al-Masrah (Gaza), Clown Me In (Lebanon), and The Catalyst (Switzerland).
As a twice-migrant and dual-heritage nomad, Ailin is passionate about cross-cultural and intercultural creative exchange, and is a board member of Projekt Europa.
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New Earth Theatre
Producer
New Earth Theatre
Producer
Founded in 1995, New Earth Theatre (formerly Yellow Earth) is the UK’s leading BESEA (British East and Southeast Asian) theatre company and a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England. Under new Artistic Director Ailin Conant, the company has expanded its creative partnerships, co-commissioning and developing new work with Headlong, Shakespeare’s Globe, Feng Ling, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, and Zoo Co, while investing in the freelance ecology through seed commissions for ten companies representing over 50 BESEA artists.
The Hungry Ghost is New Earth’s first full production under Ailin’s leadership.
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Yimei Zhao
Set & Costume Designer
Yimei Zhao
Set & Costume Designer
Yimei Zhao is a set and costume designer based in London. She graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a first class in Design for Performance. She is one of the 2023 Linbury Prize winners and she was also a resident design assistant at the National Theatre Design Studio in 2024.
As Designer: Porn Play (Royal Court); THE HEAT (Sadler’s Wells, The Lowry, South East Dance); The Society For New Cuisine (Omnibus Theatre); Before After (Southwark Playhouse).
As Associate Designer: The Hot Wing King (National Theatre); Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Young Vic).
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