15.04.26
A gift to the future of playwriting
On the cusp of opening our new home for Australian playwriting—with the redevelopment of the iconic Stables Theatre well underway—Griffin has been incredibly fortunate to have received a one-off donation to purchase a Kings Cross terrace house to establish a writers’ centre.
Thanks to the generosity of Ruth Ritchie, a long-term and cherished member of our donor community, funds were provided to Griffin to purchase 15 Craigend Street, adjacent to Griffin’s offices at 13 Craigend Street. Neighbouring the new Griffin Theatre—more than just a footnote—this 3-bedroom terrace in Kings Cross will be beating heart of the new theatre.
Ruth’s vision for the terrace is that it will be provided to playwrights in perpetuity—a home for playwrights to work, meet, research and write new Australian plays. Similar to how Creative Land Trusts work (a burgeoning movement globally where an organisation holds a property in trust) thereby providing artists with secure working space to address displacement through urban renewal and gentrification, Griffin will establish a separate legal entity to manage the terrace house to the benefit of the playwriting community.
The vision for the Writers’ Centre
Both Ruth and Griffin’s shared vision for 15 Craigend Street is multi-pronged, with the writer at the centre. Griffin has spent the last few months consulting with playwrights to further refine and inform how the new writers’ centre might operate.
Griffin is considering a range of options, but some of the possibilities for the terrace include:
• a small private apartment upstairs for interstate and regional writers to have a base in Sydney,
• hot-desking workspace for writers on an as-needed basis,
• space for table reads and small creative developments,
• meeting space for writers, either for dramaturgical sessions or other meetings as needed,
• a library of printed scripts—both Australian and international, published and unpublished—as well as additional books on dramaturgy and theatre more broadly.
This list is by no means exhaustive and is the first step in cementing a true home for Australian playwriting.
Timeline & More Information
Currently, the terrace is being used by Griffin while our regular offices are used as the site office for the Redevelopment of the Stables Theatre. Once the new building is finished, Griffin will move back into our offices at 13 Craigend Street and 15 Craigend Street will be officially launched as a writers’ centre in 2027.
If you’re an artist or arts worker and would like more information about this incredible opportunity for Griffin and our artistic community, please email Literary Associate Daley Rangi at [email protected].
If you are interested in supporting the efforts of our soon-to-be-launched writers’ centre, please get in touch with our Development team at [email protected].
