A Note from Lee, 9 November

09.11.17

There are moments in Merciless Gods that will stay with me always. Moments where the mysterious alchemy of word and actor and the beautiful Stables stage conspire to burn through the fatigue of the day, the frustration with governments, the sadness for friends fighting battles they fear they are generationally destined to lose. Moments that made a profound relief rise up in me that the power of performance to inspire hope is not diminished. I needed that. Inspiration. Thank you to the whole Little Ones Theatre team for bringing a bucket of inspiration to Sydney all the way from Melbourne.

Thank you too to the Diving For Pearls team who have taken Katherine Thomson’s extraordinary play down to its original home in Wollongong and then on to Parramatta.

Thank you to all the playwrights who are drafting away on new plays which will find their way to us through the Griffin Award.

Thank you to everyone who was able to support our fundraiser, Griffin Soundcheck, on Sunday. There were bad jokes from Phil Spencer, great jokes from Susie Youssef, Sheridan Harbridge doing the splits, twice, Simon Burke making all sorts of insinuations about Big Ted, Justin Smith charming us, Genevieve Lemon delighting us, and the musical genius of Max Lambert and Roger Lock to remind us of the extraordinary talent that has been at Griffin this year. All these artists generously donated their performances so that we could upgrade our sound equipment. It was a really special afternoon.

It’s the time of the year when I can look back and see how much you have all done to support Australian playwrights, Australian voices and Australian stories. Every time you come and see a play at Griffin you are engaging in the creative conversation that shapes this country. I love that you know that you don’t have to ‘love’ everything you see and that you are so willing to understand why a play needs to be on the Griffin stage even if it is not your particular cup of tea. I talk about you a lot as I describe why Griffin is so special—I often say that we have the best audience in the country. It does drive other companies a bit nuts when I say that but I won’t back down. You are curious, you are brave, you are open minded, you are articulate and you are passionate. You are also way too busy and yet you find time to make sure you stay part of the most important theatre enterprise, the making of new work. So most of all, thank YOU. You inspire me.

That feels like the last newsletter of the year. It’s not. There will be more. I am just a bit more reflective today for some reason.

Love,
Lee

Artistic Director
Griffin Theatre Company