Mei Mac and Isabella Wei will play the two roles in The Hungry Ghost, a debut play billed as a sexy horror rom-com, at the Bush Theatre from 1 October.
Mei Mac and Isabella Wei are the two-hander cast of The Hungry Ghost, which has its world premiere at the Bush Theatre from 1 to 31 October 2026. Mac was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play for My Neighbour Totoro, and Wei joined the fourth series of Bridgerton as Posy Li earlier this year.
The play is the debut of Mei Leng Yew, a British writer of Malaysian-Chinese heritage who was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2025 with Down Side Up. Ailin Conant, artistic director of New Earth Theatre, directs — the company’s first full production under her leadership, presented in association with the Bush.
It is a ghost story with a domestic setting. A young woman moves in with her secret girlfriend on the first night of the ghost month, ignoring her mother’s warning, and brings something home with her; as the ghost takes hold, the lies she has built her life on start to come apart. The Bush describes it as a sexy horror rom-com about the space between superstition and rationality.
Mac’s stage work includes Dracula at the Lyric Hammersmith, Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play at the Young Vic and Manchester’s Royal Exchange, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Bridge Theatre. Wei, who is from Hong Kong and trained first as a dancer, made her television debut in 1899 and appeared in Black Doves; her film Whatcha Want premieres at Toronto next month.
The creative team has Yanni Ng as associate director, designs by Yimei Zhao with Sam Tam Tsz Hei as associate designer, lighting by Cheng Keng, sound by Carla Ng, movement by Jasmine Chiu, intimacy coordination by Sango Tajima and dramaturgy by Pippa Hill.
Tickets run from £15 to £25, with every seat at the first preview in the Studio priced at £15. Concessions take £5 off standard tickets over £20 for students, senior citizens, disabled patrons and those out of work, and a free membership gets under-30s and local residents up to £10 off.
There is a chilled performance on 17 October, a captioned performance on 21 October and an audio-described performance with touch tour on 24 October.
The Hungry Ghost runs at the Bush Theatre from Thursday 1 October to Saturday 31 October 2026, Monday to Saturday at 8pm with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 3pm. Press night is Monday 5 October at 7pm.
