Lunchbox Theatre presents Beyond the Sea: A heartwarming (ghost) story
By Eden Martens, January 21 2026—
Beyond the Sea by Kristen De Silva was an insightful, emotional, and very funny play to watch accompanied with a bite to eat at Lunchbox Theatre. The play follows Gwen (Meg Farhall), a deeply caring and quick-witted widow on her last day of work, and Theo (Mike Tan), a divorced man on a journey to rediscover himself and begin dating again. The two encounter each other while Theo is waiting for his date to join him at the ghost tour date Gwen works at, and they strike up a conversation that ends up changing both their lives.
The play premiered in 2021, and was originally commissioned to be performed by a married couple during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Knowing this ahead of time made me appreciate the chemistry of the two actors, and the powerful desire for human connection portrayed. The comedy of the play balanced well with some of the heavier topics of grief and pursuing new directions in life, matching the casual, early afternoon energy in the Lunchbox Theatre audience. Dialogue was easy to follow and enjoy and there was little staging action.
From the beginning, I loved the humour, especially from Farhall. The audience was constantly laughing at the well-timed jokes. Throughout the play the constant humour from Gwen contributed a lot to her characterization as someone who uses jokes to take attention away from her struggles. However, a few of the bits like the off-stage littering and ghost show performances became overused after two or three repetitions, and although Theo’s awkwardness helped show the audience who he was and how he was trying to be more considerate of others, there were times it overstepped endearing and landed more in annoying territory.
As the play went on past a very strong and hilarious beginning, I found the middle to be slower and less engaging. In retrospect, it did well to set up the ending through the appearance of the fox and the discussion of Gwen and Theo’s past partners. But in the moment it lost some of my attention, and certain parts of the middle, like the exchange of embarrassing stories, lacked depth to me and seemed like filler.
Despite this, the ending of the play completely regained my interest. I had picked up some throwaway lines such as Gwen’s belief that only two years were needed to adjust to a big change in life, the timeline of her husband’s death. It wasn’t hard to see the direction the play was taking with Gwen’s grief, but seeing her visually transform into the Woman in White brought everything together and was my favourite part of the play. The use of costuming to represent Gwen unveiling her struggles to Theo and letting the audience understand her desire to mirror the story of the “Woman in White” ghost tour was brilliant. Farhall’s quiet display of emotions in the final moments of the play really stuck with me, and the whole theatre was hushed and moved by their final exchange.
Although the topics explored in Beyond the Sea like finding a path forward after the loss of a partner weren’t exactly new, and there were definitely some cliches in how it was presented, it was made great by a few unique twists to make it more than another portrayal of grief and resilience.
Beyond the Sea is no longer showing, but Lunchbox Theatre has many other great plays in store for you, your friends, and family. Tickets and details for their current and upcoming shows can be found on the Lunchbox Theatre website. If their other shows are as good as Beyond the Sea, you’re in for a treat.