Melbourne Theatre Company acknowledges the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, create and gather. We pay our respects to all First Nations people, their Elders past and present, and their enduring connections to Country, knowledge and stories. As a Company we remain committed to the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for voice, truth and treaty.

Dying: A Life Well Lived

A conversation with Benjamin Law, Kimba Griffith and Marieke Hardy

Wednesday 29 October, 6pm

Southbank Theatre, The Lawler

Free event

What makes a good life? What makes a good death? And how do we make the most of the time we have? Join us for a free in-conversation event with playwright Benjamin Law and ceremony creator Kimba Griffith, hosted by Marieke Hardy.

Approx. 1 hour

Catch the 7.30pm performance of Dying: A Memoir right after this free event (tickets sold separately).

Please note: This event takes place in the Lawler at Southbank Theatre, while Dying: A Memoir is performed nearby in the Fairfax Studio at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Registrations Closed

Explore

Registrations Closed

About the Event

When acclaimed author Cory Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness, what followed was an astonishing creative surge that resulted in an intimate, wry and unsentimental memoir of what it means to face death head on. Now, that memoir has been adapted with great care by writer Benjamin Law (The Family Law), a family friend of Taylor’s, into a new play mounted by Melbourne Theatre Company.

In this session, Law joins funeral director Kimba Griffith and host Marieke Hardy to consider the rituals, language and taboos that shape western society’s dysfunctional relationship with death and consider how Taylor’s astonishing memoir offers us a powerful, poignant and lucid blueprint for approaching our own mortality.

Don’t miss this special event exploring with compassion and curiosity some of the biggest questions we all face. This is a free event, but RSVPs are essential. Click here to register.

Registering for this event does not include entry to any performance of Dying. Tickets to Dying can be purchased separately here.

Presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre

Wheelchair Accessible

Artwork for Benjamin Law

Benjamin Law

Artwork for Kimba Griffith

Kimba Griffith

Artwork for Marieke Hardy

Marieke Hardy

Artwork for Benjamin Law

Benjamin Law

Benjamin Law is an Australian writer and broadcaster. He’s the author of The Family Law (2010), Gaysia (2012), the Quarterly Essay Moral Panic 101 (2017) and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia (2019). Benjamin is also an AWGIE Award-winning screenwriter who created and co-wrote three seasons of the award-winning TV series The Family Law (SBS/Hulu/Comedy Central Asia), wrote the sold-out mainstage play Torch the Place (Melbourne Theatre Company, 2020), and is co-executive producer, co-creator and co-writer on the Netflix comedy-drama Wellmania (2023). He has a PhD in creative writing and cultural studies from the Queensland University of Technology.

Every week, Benjamin co-hosts ABC Radio National’s weekly national pop culture show Stop Everything and interviews public figures for Good Weekend. He hosted ABC TV’s two-part feature documentary on Chinese-Australian history Waltzing the Dragon, and has appeared on TV shows like Australian Survivor (Ten), Filthy Rich and Homeless (SBS), Q&A (ABC), The Drum (ABC) and The Project (Ten). He has also written for over 50 publications in Australia and beyond – including the Monthly, frankie, Guardian, Monocle and Australian Financial Review – and is a literary scout for Hachette Australia.

Benjamin works and lives on Gadigal Country, part of the Eora Nation (Sydney). He is a board member of Story Factory, committee member of the Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship and ambassador for Plan Australia, the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, Victorian Pride Centre, Bridge for Asylum Seekers and the Pinnacle Foundation.

Artwork for Kimba Griffith

Kimba Griffith

Kimba Griffith's skill set is broad, having worked across a myriad of creative and deeply human pursuits, but her calling lies in meeting grieving families just as they are, and offering a safe container for people to create meaningful farewells that include laughter and authentic remembering, while also gently acknowledging feelings of loss, sadness and confusion.

As an acclaimed jazz vocalist, birth attendant, ceremonialist, funeral director, and compassionate companion to the dying, Kimba is able to hold space in a quiet and composed manner, be assertive when advocating for families’ needs and desires, and brings her skills as a writer, ceremony creator, and ritualist to craft an authentic ritual, ceremony or last hurrah.

Artwork for Marieke Hardy

Marieke Hardy

Marieke Hardy is a curator, screenwriter, artist, and producer. She has penned columns for The Age, The Drum, and Frankie magazine, and written for many television shows, including Laid, Barons, The Family Law, Heartbreak High, and Seven Types of Ambiguity. She was co-curator of international literary salon Women of Letters and a regular panelist on the ABC's Book Club for 11 years. She is a recipient of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fellowship and currently co-curates monthly spoken word event Better Off Said.

Get Directions

The Lawler

140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006