11.01.24
Dear Grif-friend,
Let me be the five-hundredth person to wish you a very happy new year!! When do we stop saying it? Is it around this time? If you have an opinion please don’t hesitate to let me know.
For me, it is indeed a happy new year, but I must admit I’ve lost all sense of time because I’ve had the all-consuming joy of being deep inside our ten-week rehearsal period for our upcoming Stables-farewelling spectacular, The Lewis Trilogy. As one member of our wonderful ensemble, the legendary William Zappa, put it: “We’ve got double the time to rehearse three times the work.”
Rehearsing three plays together as one eight(ish)-hour epic is no mean feat, especially at humble Griffin, but I’ll say it now—I can’t wait for you to see The Lewis Trilogy. Directing our cast of eight actors through Louis Nowra’s iconic Australian tapestry has been one of the highlights of my career so far, and we’ve really become a tight-knit family. I suspect this shoestring DIY troupe extravagance is possibly the closest I’ll ever feel to how the theatre legends in the golden days of the 1970s Nimrod Theatre worked—so far it’s been a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience. If you haven’t booked your tickets to Lewis yet—the final show in the SBW Stables Theatre as we know it—I highly recommend you think about it now!
And in classic Griffin style, we’ve always got multiple pots on the boil. The limited Special Return Season of Jailbaby by Suzie Miller has officially re-opened and as of today you’ve only got 12 more chances to see it before the production ends! Opening night was absolutely abuzz on the weekend, and seeing the show with fresh eyes (and knowing how much polishing the cast and crew have been doing this time around) was mind-blowing. As ever, Suzie’s legal insights make her dialogue sizzle—she really is a master of her craft—but sitting in the theatre last Saturday I was simply gobsmacked by the performances. The performances! Director Andrea James and the cast have sharpened the production to a fine art, a well-oiled machine. If there is any doubt in your mind—ignore it. See this smoking gun of an Australian play.
Ok—I reeeeeally need to get back to rehearsal so I can put on a show you won’t soon forget. See you at Griffin in 2024—I can’t wait to show you what we’ve got in store!
Much love,
Declan x
