23.06.22
G’day Grif-friends,
This Griffin News note comes from me, Jeremy, the Production Manager here at Griffin Theatre Company. Between myself and the indomitable Ally Moon, our Production Coordinator, we handle the comings and goings of shows at the SBW Stables Theatre—wrangling furniture, props, costumes and actors into rehearsal rooms around Sydney; hanging lights, building shelves, loading trucks, running inventories, booking crew members and countless other myriad things that go into the glamorous back end of theatre! It’s pretty awesome to be working in one of Sydney’s most idiosyncratic little venues—we always have some big challenges (and even bigger ideas!) and are fortunate to have a whole raft of super creative and generous problem-solvers on our team.
June’s a funny one for us production folk. We start to get into the middle of our Season of work, and are often betwixt the rehearsal room, the theatre and visiting our various builders, prop-makers and costumiers around the city. And of course, we’re already looking forward to preparations and scheduling for next year’s exciting program. As the days start to get chillier, the early mornings and late nights mean we have to remember to get out of the theatre and get some sun! You can usually spot us and the crew outside on Nimrod St with a strong long black, catching some winter rays during our lunch break.
This last weekend we said a fond farewell to Ghosting the Party and pulled down literally a truckload of florally wallpapered walls, then turned around to begin our installation of Golden Blood (黄金血液), bringing in an equivalently-sized truck of a beautiful shiny brass floor—the team who’ve been in the theatre this week won’t be getting that golden sparkle out of their minds any time soon! Don’t miss this show—as well as welcoming actors Merlynn Tong and Charles Wu, we’re saying hello and welcome to a design trio of Michael Hankin (Set and Costume Designer), Fausto Brusamolino (Lighting Designer) and Rainbow Chan (Sound Designer).The whole Golden Blood team has been working incredibly hard in the theatre this week to get the show ready for Friday’s preview! Get your tickets now because this is a HOT show; a seriously fun and uplifting technicolor mess of a night out, with such a wonderful story at its heart.
What else have we got on? Pre-production and rehearsal preparations for Whitefella Yella Tree, directed by our Artistic Director, Declan Greene. Based on the sketches and model boxes, this is going to be another gorgeous and touching work, and after our season here in Sydney, we’re excited to ship this one down to the Canberra Theatre Centre at the end of September. We also lately had a lot of fun with our Development friends in the office next door, putting together our delightful EOFY campaign. If you haven’t seen them yet, check out the videos HERE and HERE—with the comedic skills of Anthony Yangoyan and Rebecca Massey on full display (also, I must find where I put my ‘Over Budget’ stamp…). The financial support from our audiences, subscribers and donors really does make a difference across the company, providing programming and commissioning opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.
Well, I’m back off to the theatre proper now for the Thursday night technical rehearsal. The whole team and I are looking forward to welcoming you to an extravagantly beautiful production, and can’t wait for you to join us in our little corner of Darlinghurst throughout the season.
Jeremy Page
Production Manager
