A Note From Julian, 4 April
04.04.24
Hi Grif-friend,
My name’s Jules and I’m the Literary Associate at Griffin Theatre Company. Last time we spoke I was telling you about how my job largely entails hanging out with writers. I’m a little biased but I think playwrights are the greatest people to sit with at a dinner party. They’re full of drama, are always prepped with weird and wonderful trivia and are great at asking questions!
One of my personal playwriting heroes is Louis Nowra—always probing, always full of heart and always with a glass of chardonnay in hand. With Griffin currently staging his epic The Lewis Trilogy, I’ve been lucky enough to see not only the shows (Summer of the Aliens is my personal fave—bring some tissues!) but the audiences too. I rate how good a Griffin show is by whether an audience is still talking about a show by the time they come down our stairs. Of a night, from my office (a good 60 feet away from the theatre doors) I can hear the sobs, laughter and chatter of audiences still talking about the show (on a weekend it’s the special treat of seeing an audience grow into a mini show family).
Other people you’d love to have at a dinner party are the in-house artists who form Griffin Studio. Sadly, our 2023 cohort are officially finishing their year-long creative residency this week. I’d love to take the chance to thank the amazing artists who have come on board with us this year: Michelle Lim Davidson, Emma Maye Gibson and Randa Sayed. It’s been a pleasure to have you around the office, to see your artistry grow and your work flourish—believe me, this will not be the last we see of any of their works! Watch this space!
None of the people I share an office with will agree with this but I wish I had a drum at my desk for moments like this. Re-geared to playwrights ready to take the leap from promising to proven, this year’s Griffin Studio selection process was exciting and extensive. With 57 submissions, an extensive longlisting process and a series of interviews with an incredibly talented shortlist, three new playwrights will be joining this amazing network and creating new works for the company. The envelope please… our 2024 Studio cohort is…
Josipa Draisma. Jorjia Gillis and Jacob Parker! They’ll be joining us for a year and becoming embedded in the company’s Artistic team, they’ll take part in forums and masterclasses, receive an industry mentor as well as developing a new work for the Griffin stage. Can’t wait to see what they’ll get up to.
Griffin will also be partnering up with Accessible Arts for their Next Level Creative Mentorship program. We’ll be welcoming back Create NSW Incubator shortlistee and Griffin Studio alum, the amazing Bedelia Lowrenčev. They’ll be receiving creative and professional mentorship from the Griffin Artistic team and receiving project funding to develop a pitch for an innovative work of their choosing!
That’s all for me this time but as I always say, invite a playwright to a dinner party you won’t regret it. Also, I’ve now admitted that I can hear you from my desk when you leave the theatre so only say nice things about me.
From,
Julian
Julian Larnach
Literary Associate
