07.09.23
Dear Grif-friend,
The Griffin office is bursting at the seams with anticipation, raucous laughter and the collective sound of busy hands crunching at keyboards—because we’re less than three weeks away from announcing our 2024 Season (!!!).
I am so immensely proud of our upcoming season—particularly in the midst of so many massive changes for our small-but-mighty company. As you know, next year, the SBW Stables Theatre will undergo a major redevelopment, which means that our 2024 will look very different to our usual slate. Some things will remain the same—we’re still as dedicated as ever to telling Australian stories on stage—but we’ve also got a whole host of huge surprises up our sleeve… so you’ll have to wait with bated breath until our Season Launch on the evening of Tuesday 26 September!
But that doesn’t mean there’s not ample wow factor buzzing in the SBW Stables Theatre right this very minute. We’re in the thicc (sorry, thick) of previews for Nakkiah Lui’s Blaque Showgirls and if the utter ridiculous quotability of the show that has been whipping around the office is anything to go by (“Jokes on you Chandon, I don’t have any balls!”), then you are in for an absolute treat.
The team has been grinding (both professionally and in Sani Townson’s silly, joyous choreography) to put the finishing touches on this show. If I were to try and define this one, I would say it’s kind of like a big slap to the face with a sexy wet rhinestoned fish wearing a tiny cowboy hat and false eyelashes—it’s big, it’s Blaque, it’s drowning in fake fur and zebra print and pussy wigs and low-brow humour mixed with high-brow instincts. It’s postmodern without being wanky. It’s my favourite kind of theatre and I’m so proud of the team helmed by co-directors Shari Sebbens and Ursula Yovich. Come along and get ready to cackle with a wine in hand—it’s a heck of a ride.
And the show isn’t just contained to the auditorium. The Griffin staff in partnership with the show’s Community Engagement Lead (the wonderful Neville Williams Boney) have been working their tushies off to fill the SBW Stables Theatre foyer with odes to real life blaque showgirls—an A-team of Sydney’s favourite Aunties, who you’ll spot as poster girls throughout the space. We’ve got posters, we’ve got calendars, we’ve got honest-to-god life-size cardboard cutouts. It’s such a fun environment to hang out in before and after the show—just trust us and immerse yourself.
Much love,
Declan x
Declan Greene
Artistic Director & CEO
