07.08.25
Dear Griff-friend,
Hi! My name’s Jimi, and I’m very pleased to share that I’ve started as Griffin’s full-time Production Manager—I started with Griffin in June at the same time as Ticketing Manager Gavin and have been having a ball beginning to work with the rest of the team here at Griffin HQ.
Working in production and events in a behind-the-scenes capacity is very fulfilling; I’m fortunate enough to work with talented creatives on design and technical disciplines like Set, Costume, Lighting and Sound, as well as our imaginative Directors, Writers and Dramaturgs to help bring everything to life on-time and on-budget.
I want to take a moment to shout-out a few other production family members who’ve been across our shows this year, starting with the fabulous Sherydan Simson who was across Koreaboo and, of course, Damion Holling who’s been across Nucleus and has worked on enough Griffin shows over the years to write his own eNews note.
Damion is currently hard at work helping create the set for Whitefella Yella Tree. As the show is (very excitingly) going to three different theatres (all much bigger than the SBW Stables Theatre), Damion and Designer Mason Browne have worked to create a versatile re-imagining of the gorgeous set that graced the Stables stage in 2022. I’ve been lucky enough to see some behind-the-scenes pictures of the build in progress, but you’ll have to go see Whitefella Yella Tree to see it for yourself! The production is at Sydney Theatre Company from 19 September – 18 October, La Boite Theatre from 23 October – 8 November and University of Melbourne Arts & Culture from 13– 15 November.
I am also very pleased to share that rehearsals for the highly anticipated Birdsong of Tomorrow have kicked off this week and as a fellow bird nerd I’m so excited to see this show come to life. I’ll leave you all with my favourite Sydney inner-city bird to encounter: the grey butcherbird. I’ve found this very common species is a lot harder to spot than the usual array of magpies, kookaburras and bin-chickens you’ll see around the city. It has a beautiful sing-song call that you may have already heard a million times— with some patience and a little luck you’ll be rewarded with a sighting of a grey-white bird a little smaller than a magpie, with a distinctive pointy beak. There’s plenty of clips of their calls on the internet and countless pictures if you need some help zeroing in on them—like I said they can be a little shy and harder to find than some other species. Happy spotting!
I look forward to meeting you in a foyer somewhere soon. Don’t let the all-black attire fool you—while a few of us in the production world are fairly shy I promise we don’t bite and we definitely love a yap if given the opportunity.
Cheers,
Jimi
Jimi Rawlings
Production Manager
