22.08.24
Hey there, Grif-friend!
It’s JoJo, returned for my sophomore blog-post-slash-eNews-intro! I worked with Griffin as a Literary Assistant for the latter half of last year alongside the stellar Literary Manager Dylan Van Den Berg and equally stellar Literary Associate Julian Larnach. This time, I’m here as a Marketing Assistant helping out the small-but-mighty marketing team as we ramp up to the 2025 Season Launch (yeeeew!).
I’m writing this on a beautiful and sunny 25-degree day in Kings Cross while Lorde’s Solar Power plays over the office speaker, and I am READY for spring. The jasmine is beginning to bloom, t-shirts are back, and all of my lingering melancholy has dissolved in the sunlight. It’s time for drinks by the water and picnics in the park. Move over sadness, spring is here!
But what am I looking forward to most, you ask? Why, it’ll have to be Golden Blood 黄金血液 by Merlynn Tong! (Was that a good segue?) Golden Blood 黄金血液 is hitting the Sydney Theatre Company stage in just a couple of weeks and I am absolutely jazzed to see it again! The temporary, dare I say ethereal, nature of theatre means that these shows can be with us so fleetingly. When I saw Golden Blood 黄金血液 in 2022 I can remember being absolutely gobsmacked; the writing was so incredibly sophisticated, the acting stellar, the setting both decadent and haunting. I’ve been waiting for two years now to see it again and it’s happening soon—so if you haven’t grabbed tickets yet, what are you doing?!
This year really seems to have flown by, but then again, I feel that way every year, so maybe time just likes to fly by in general. In 2024 Griffin has seen the return season of Suzie Miller’s Jailbaby, the whole of Louis Nowra’s Lewis Trilogy, and Ellen van Neerven’s swim. Plus, the first ever Griffin Award Keynote, which was particularly special to me as a playwright myself. And we’re barrelling towards another season launch, even though I could’ve sworn that we just did one!?
When we come round to these milestone events in our calendars, it really is a reminder that, just like theatre, these pockets of time are fleeting and precious and can’t be pinned down. I suppose we should just try to savour them while they’re here, and hope that—if we’re lucky—they’ll come round again.
See you in a foyer soon!
Bye girl xoxo
JoJo
