24.07.25
Hi Grif-friends,
Very excited to say a very enthusiastic “Hi!” to you all and I am thrilled to have joined the Grif-family as the Ticketing Manager.
My love for Griffin knows no bounds and began in the most cliché of ways… on a date (or at least, I thought it was a date). It was 2008 and I arrived at the pokey old foyer an hour before the show was due to start—thirty minutes before I was meant to meet my “date.” Sitting in the foyer, I had no idea just how much I would love to be in the SWB Stables Theatre. We headed upstairs and shuffled into our spot on the bench seats (which, as I’d soon learn, is not my favourite spot in the theatre). We eagerly awaited the moment when Lachlan Philpott’s Colder began. The house was full, the audience chattering and just as the lights dimmed my “date” leant over and said, “Remind me to tell you about the guy I’ve started seeing.” I’ll always be grateful to Lachlan’s writing because I remember Colder far more vividly than that sentence. Yet, as far as memories go, they’re forever tied together.
Something utterly magical happened that night. It eclipsed any preconceived notion of how I thought the night would go. I fell deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with Griffin. And I wanted more. That one play turned into two… then three and then suddenly I found myself subscribing year after year. The Boys, Prima Facie, First Love is the Revolution, The Floating World, Angela’s Kitchen, Between Two Waves, The Bleeding Tree and so many more… these works fueled my love of Australian theatre.
I still remember the thrill of stepping onto the kite-shaped stage for the first time. I attended the 2014 General Auditions and an extremely ill-prepared Gavin stepped up onto the fluffy pink stage (Declan Greene’s Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography was currently in season) and a very empathetic Lee Lewis smiled ever so supportively as I tried my hardest to remember the lines to a monologue from Jane Bodie’s This Years Ashes. Head held high, I walked out of the audition knowing that though I may never take to that stage again, I got to stand and dream, even for a brief moment.
As the years went by, I found myself answering the call to move to Melbourne. Still, I always made sure that I had the time put aside to fly up four or five times a year to see Griffin’s latest offering. Never did I imagine that a move back to Sydney would land me a role with my favourite company and yet, here I am, writing this, surrounded by plays and passion. Passion for new Australian works. Passion for artists and writers. Passion for the new theatre being built right outside the window. Passion for the audiences we can’t wait to welcome into the new space.
I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all in my own small way, connecting you with the works. So, give me a call, book a ticket or two and I’ll no doubt see you at the next Griffin show.
Talk soon,
Gavin
Gavin Roach
Ticketing Manager
