Muffins at the Death Cafe

What happens when six people who have never met before sign up for a program to talk about death? Plenty of black humour for a start. At the Death Cafe, mortality is on the menu along with the muffins. A bittersweet comedy about love and loss by Dina Ross.

When award-winning playwright Dina Ross read an article about Death Cafés, the idea for a play came to her immediately. “I was intrigued by the idea of a group of people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to talk about death,” she explains. “Why? Death is the ultimate taboo. But supposing each of those people had a need to explore mortality for very personal reasons. That’s how the plot for ‘Muffins at the Death Café’ was born.”

The play is a world-first – no-one has written about Death Cafés before. ‘Muffins at the Death Café’ has its world premiere at the Mechanics Institute Brunswick’s Metanoia Theatre, on 21 October. Directed by Wolf Heidecker, artistic director of Larrikin Ensemble Theatre, the bittersweet comedy brings together a talented cast: Rosemary Johns, Otis Binnie, Victor Gralak, Jo-Anne Armstrong, Sharon Karina and Morgan Phillips, reflecting Melbourne’s multi-cultural society.

Death Cafés were founded by Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who organized the first ‘Café Mortel’ in 2004. Since then they have mushroomed across the UK and USA, with the first Café held in Melbourne in 2013. Over coffee, tea, cake (and muffins!) people can come together to discuss death and mortality in a friendly, non-judgmental atmosphere.

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