A Note from Lee, 6 December

06.12.18

Blue sky. Warm days. Christmas sing-alongs. Office parties. And one last little Griffin show for the year. It’s a rom-com. A light and lovely look at this city that is sometimes tough to handle. I saw the first preview last night and the room was swept away by the spirit of the work. It is a perfect way to end your Griffin year.

And what a year it has been. Cast your mind back to the extraordinary battle on the flag pole of Parliament House in David Finnigan’s Kill Climate Deniers; to Tara Morice’s heartbreaking spiral into homelessness in Brooke Robinson’s Good Cook. Friendly. Clean.; to The Almighty Sometimes by the unstoppable Kendall Feaver, which pulled us into the world and mind of a talented young woman struggling to find and own her voice; to the mash-up of music videos and Molière that was Justin Fleming’s The Misanthrope (with our friends at Bell Shakespeare); to watching Michelle Lim Davidson’s ‘Lily’ celebrate her 100th birthday in Nick Coyle’s The Feather in the Web.

These five playwrights have made us feel so much, think much more, and engage with ideas and issues in ways we could not imagine. They have given us memories which will always stay etched in our minds. I will not forget Sheridan Harbridge choosing ‘the perfect song to die to,’ or Tina Bursill’s track-suited improv teacher ‘Jenni’ (my personal nightmare come to life). I will be always haunted by the evidence of love in the image of a mother shaving her daughter’s leg. I will always giggle remembering Bec Massey strutting around in Danielle Cormack’s impossibly high heels. I’m sure you have your favourite moments too.

I want to thank all five playwrights for gifting us with original work that we can hand down to the next generations. And I want to thank all the actors who were brave enough to go into the new play experience (which can be both frightening and exhilarating); for literally breathing life into characters who have never been seen on a stage before… Claire Lovering (Kimberly in The Feather in the Web): I hope you are sitting on a beach drinking a Four Pillars gin and tonic as we speak. We had 23 actors in our Main Season plays this year: Lucia Mastrantone, Rebecca Massey, Eden Falk, Sheridan Harbridge, Emily HaveaTara Morice, Fayssal Bazzi, Kelly Paterniti, Penny CookHannah Waterman, Brenna Harding, Shiv Palekar, Belinda McClory, Danielle Cormack, Cat Davies, Simon Burke, Ben Gerrard, Anthony Taufa, Hamish Michael, Claire Lovering, Michelle Lim Davidson, Tina Bursill, Gareth Davies, and Charlie Garber. The talent in this country is extraordinary. We’re so grateful to each and every one of these generous creators for putting up with our hideously small dressing room, for lifting their voices above the loud hum of the air conditioners, and for infusing every moment of their performances with life and knowledge and compassion. You are all the best!

Now, get back to what you were doing! You have a lot to get done before we all take a break—including buying your Gift Certificates and Subscriptions for family and friends in 2019! The last day you can buy them is Thursday 20 December, and we can email them to you on the 21st (snail mail obviously takes longer, so don’t leave to the last minute!).

Love,
Lee