Come early to enjoy the pop-up bar and the expansive dusk view out over the forest canopy.

The lasting goodbye, a play about grief and finding solace.

A man’s discovery that science confirms the existence of an intelligent network of communication between trees, opens his mind to the wonder and awe of life and to the connection of all living things. 

Ghost Trees is story that draws on science, imagination and the indefatigable love for things lost. It is one man’s struggle to cope with the loss of his partner to cancer and a search for answers. He finds the devastating effects of kauri dieback on the trees surrounding his house symptomatic of a deeper malaise – climate change, species extinction, increasing isolation, and loss of identity. 

Playwright Gary Stalker looks for meaning in these events and finds an extraordinary connectedness between all living entities. Delving into the world of the phytophthora that is killing kauri, Gary takes you on a journey where the past, present and future merge together. Unable to move forward, he is caught at the intersection of multiple realities; a strangely poetic place, of magical thinking - a place where matter meets spirit and conversations happen with the departed and the large kauri that surround his home.

An immersive experience that combines magical storytelling with a creative soundscape, the narrator takes you on his journey from the darkness of despair back into the light. 

Directed by Paul Gittins and performed by Gary Stalker, with an evocative soundscape by Jude Robertson, Ghost Trees is an affirming and engaging experience that delivers one man's insights into life, death and the remarkable intelligence behind it all. 

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More information can be found on our website: www.goingwestfest.co.nz
and on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GoingWestFest

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