Rejected by the 1962 Adelaide Festival Board of Governors as 'unappetising far' - they considered it would be 'impossible to understand' - The Ham Funeral is now regarded as a modernist classic. Set in a dingy British rooming house, the play tells the story of a young poet, who lodges with Mr and Mrs Lusty. When Mr Lusty suddenly drops dead Mrs Lusty takes the opportunity to give a lavish feast, 'an 'am funeral', in his honour. Mrs Lusty then begins to act out her fantasies about the young poet, with comically tragic consequences. '[The Ham Funeral] generates emotion, compels attention. It is moving, tender, ruthlessly funny, exhilarating and sometimes all of these things together.' - The Sydney Morning Herald