REVIEW: Never Closer - Underground Theatre Company

Never Closer 

Presented by: Underground Theatre Company

Venue: Geoffrey Rush Drama Studio, University of Queensland

Date Attended: 8 July 2026

Written by: Grace Chapple

Director: Theodore Tupicoff Eales

Assistant Director and Sound Designer: Alexander Humphreys

Set Designer: Jester Roach

Costume Designer and Production Assistant: Rachel Smith

Props Designer: Ashleigh Winter

Lighting Designer: Reina Vunderink

Stage Manager: Christina McMahon

Voice and Dialect Coach: Marcus Oborn PRA

Intimacy and Fight Coordinator: Michaela Faux

Photographer: Nancy Yu

“I’m sure you’re a nice fella, but you’re just a reminder of 800 years of occupation.”

Nothing says “Merry Christmas!” quite like whiskey and a decade of unresolved resentment. Written by Grace Chapple and presented by Underground Theatre Company, Never Closer places six old friends inside one Northern Irish living room and waits for somebody to strike a match.

Set against the Troubles, the play begins in the late 1970s, with five teenagers gathered at Deirdre’s house for a farewell party before Niamh leaves for university in London. They drink, tease each other, and tell ghost stories, while subtle references to religion, checkpoints, and occupation slip easily into the conversation. Ten years later, it is Christmas Eve in 1987. The friends return (uninvited) to the same room carrying grudges, unfinished romances, and very strong opinions. Niamh also brings her English fiancé, Harry... The reunion goes about as smoothly as expected.

As the audience trickled in, the actors were already sitting around Deirdre’s living room, chatting and drinking as Irish music played. Tiered seating curved around the set, drawing the sold-out crowd into the gathering and making the room feel lively, intrusive, and difficult to escape. Jester Roach’s set created a convincing family home through mismatched couches, crocheted blankets, fringed lamps, books, and framed prints. It looked accumulated over many years, as though Deirdre had kept every object exactly where it had always been since Niamh left. The furniture also helped map the group’s changing loyalties. Friends paired off on couches, withdrew into armchairs, or hovered behind one another. Director Theodore Tupicoff Eales’ blocking kept exposing the gaps between these friends.

An abrupt explosion opened the play through Alexander Humphreys’ sound design. We only learnt later that Conor’s father had been killed, allowing that unseen violence to hang over everything that followed. The political context came through the friendships rather than lengthy explanations. It appeared in defensive remarks and arguments over who had stayed, who had left, and who had supposedly abandoned whom.

Zoë Ross portrayed Deirdre as the play’s emotional core. Deirdre was one of those complicated creatures who wanted her friends close but clearly harboured resentment towards them for building lives elsewhere. In one brilliantly handled scene, her restraint finally gave way to everything she had carried for ten years. Sure, Deirdre wasn’t always fair, but Ross made her loneliness easy to empathise with.

Tate Newman turned Jimmy into a likeable bundle of awkwardness. His early arrival created a gentle discomfort between him and Deirdre, with Jimmy clearly caring for her but becoming completely tongue-tied whenever their history surfaced. The lesson is simple: don’t wait ten years to confess your feelings dude!

Breanna Hartmann was natural and sharp as Mary, the friend most willing to call out everyone else’s nonsense. Her comic timing gave the production welcome breathing room, while small moments of vulnerability stopped Mary from becoming only the blunt observer on the sidelines.

Finnley Quinn clearly showed how far Niamh had travelled from the teenager who left home. She came back from London with new confidence, a British accent, and an English fiancé (all of which her friends handled with tremendous maturity...). Quinn kept Niamh’s affection for the group visible, even as she struggled against the hostility surrounding her return.

Vince Lapore delivered Harry’s extraordinary collection of ill-advised comments with excellent comic timing. He couldn’t hold his whiskey, hold his tongue, or read the room, and gradually realised he had wandered into a history he couldn’t fully understand. Harry hadn’t created the group’s problems. He had simply arrived with the ideal nationality for everyone to aim them at.

Fletcher Colfs gave a forceful performance as Conor, whose grief had hardened into anger at almost everyone around him. Drunk and determined to stir up trouble, he made the others visibly brace whenever his attention shifted towards them, while still letting us see the grief beneath his behaviour. His confrontation with Harry escalated convincingly into physical violence, supported by intimacy and fight coordinator Michaela Faux. Colfs also delivered one of the production’s strongest dialects, and the cast sustained the Northern Irish accents clearly through rapid arguments, emotional scenes, and plenty of intoxicated speech, with Marcus Oborn’s coaching evident throughout.

The cast really clicked in the group scenes. A drinking game shifted from teasing to passive aggression, then open cruelty, with sharp timing across the ensemble. Reactions carried as much weight as the dialogue: eyes dropped, bodies tightened, and everyone suddenly found their drink fascinating. Eales controlled the miscommunication and tension well, using humour and flashes of old affection to remind us why these people had once been close.

The momentum held across the 100-minute runtime, even when a few arguments circled around and around. That repetition suited a group finally finishing conversations they had avoided for years. The packed audience responded warmly to the comedy, while the silences around the sharper confrontations grew longer. The production also demanded considerable stamina from the cast (especially considering the alarming amount of liquid consumed onstage!).

Rachel Smith’s costumes clearly marked the move from adolescence into adulthood. Deirdre’s blue sweater and floral skirt gave her the softer appearance of a teacher, while Mary’s red knitwear suited her boldness. Jimmy’s thick sweater supported his warm presence, and Conor’s loose patterned shirts matched his increasingly unpredictable behaviour. Niamh grew more polished, reflecting the life she had built away from home. Reina Vunderink’s warm lighting gave the room a nostalgic glow, complementing the mustard walls and brown furniture. But that cosiness became increasingly ironic as the evening unravelled.

The final scene shifted forward in time again, widening the story beyond this particular group. I’ll avoid the spoiler details, but it offered a moving reminder not to let the sun set on your anger (especially when you’ve already waited ten years). And how homes can outlast the people who once believed they would remain there forever. Never Closer gave Underground Theatre Company’s young cast plenty to sink their teeth into, from political conflict and buried grief to awkward reunions and romance. Grace Chapple’s writing gave them room for humour, discomfort, and the specific cruelty of friends who know exactly where to aim.