About

It’s only by taking risks and embracing the idea that some new productions will fail that you can realise the ambition of a (The) Bleeding Tree or a Prima Facie. That’s the whole point of the Production Partners: to trust Griffin and to back you to keep taking risks, no questions asked.” Kate Morgan, Founding Production Partner 

As a new writing theatre, we program stories that reflect our time, place and the unique voice of contemporary Australia. It takes courage to support untried and untested work, plays that can be raw and unflinching, big and bold.   

To ensure that the most ambitious stories can be told, we need private production support for one play each year. For over a decade, we have aligned a group of generous donors, our Productions Partners, with works that are risky and challenging and therefore require more to realise their full potential – works that are ahead of their time like Suzie Miller’s Jailbaby and Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree, challenging topics like Alana Valentine’s Ladies Day and Meyne Wyatt’s City of Gold, or the ambitious staging of Andrea James and Catherine Ryan’s Dogged. Each of these works require more to realise their full potential, from specialised skills to join the creative team, to large casts (like Louis Nowra’s The Lewis Trilogy), additional dramaturgical support and anything the work may require to make sure it lands on stage as it was intended to.  

The Production Partner program is for people who believe in giving a platform to Australia’s bold and courageous stories, stories that articulate a new and powerful vision, that brings strength, insight and candour to the Griffin stage. As we continue to create work outside our home the SBW Stables Theatre, this support is even more crucial.  

In 2025, our Production Partner program will support Naturism by Ang Collins. Performed by an all-nude cast, this play is a ridiculous wild comedy that poses some big questions about the state of our planet and the intergenerational responsibility. Staging the unstable relationship between humans and our climate is a difficult and sometimes unpopular endeavour. It is incomprehensibly big, scary issue that we struggle to grapple with both individually and collectively.  

Griffin has a proud history of courageous, challenging works on this topic (Ian MeadowsBetween Two Waves and David Finnigan’s Kill Climate Deniers), and Naturism is no exception. The bravery of this work will be required of its actors as much as its writer. Artistic Director Declan Greene will champion this project as director and dramaturg and is building an impressive team. Nudity on stage isn’t easy and Chloë Dallimore, the project’s Intimacy Director, has already said this will be the most challenging production she’s worked on. 

With a cast of five and the drastically bigger stage, the scale of this work is huge! The costume budget hasn’t been completely stripped, as the script includes some out-of-this-world moments and psychedelic dream sequences which we can’t wait to see realised for its premiere in October.  

Become a Production Partner

We invite you to become a Production Partner by making a tax-deductible gift of $10,000 or more. To thank you for your generous support, you’ll be acknowledged in our programs and on our website, be kept up to date with tailored communications and will have the opportunity to attend a number of special Production Partner events aligned with Naturism.  

Not to mention you’ll join a group of theatre-loving visionaries connected to this exciting production, from the top of the rehearsal period through to opening (and beyond).  

To make your donation or to discuss the program further, please contact Head of Development Jake Shavikin on (02) 8960 7799 or [email protected].

Previous Production Partner Shows

The support of our Production Partner program allows Griffin to expand our repertoire with phenomenal and challenging works that ignite conversations nationally and internationally. Previous Griffin productions that have been supported by Productions Partners include:

  • The Lewis Trilogy by Louis Nowra
  • Jailbaby by Suzie Miller
  • Whitefella Yella Tree by Dylan Van Den Berg
  • Dogged by Andrea James & Catherine Ryan
  • City of Gold by Meyne Wyatt
  • Prima Facie by Suzie Miller 
  • Kill Climate Deniers by David Finnigan 
  • The Homosexuals, or “Faggots” by Declan Greene
  • Ladies Day by Alana Valentine
  • The Bleeding Tree by Angus Cerini
Production Partner Testimonials

Original Production Partner donor Gil Appleton says of her experience supporting Angus Cerinis The Bleeding Tree in 2015:

It took just one reading to convince me to support The Bleeding Tree. My decision was totally justified. It was great getting to know all the creatives and watching rehearsals as the production evolved. It was theatre-making from a new perspective (for me), and seeing the brilliant final result on several occasions—including first and last performances—made me very proud to have been involved with this thrilling, confronting, beautiful play.

Read more about Gil’s experience as a superstar supporter of Griffin here.

Thank You

We are so grateful for the generosity of our Production Partners:

Production Partners 2024
The Lewis Trilogy by Louis Nowra

Darin Cooper Foundation
Robert Dick & Erin Shiel
Rosemary Hannah & Lynette Preston
Richard McHugh & Kate Morgan
Bruce Meagher & Greg Waters
Julia Pincus & Ian Learmonth
Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation

Production Partners 2023
Jailbaby by Suzie Miller

Lisa Barker & Don Russell
Darin Cooper Foundation
Robert Dick & Erin Shiel
Rachel Doyle
Danny Gilbert AM & Kathleen Gilbert
Rosemary Hannah & Lynette Preston
Richard McHugh & Kate Morgan
Bruce Meagher & Greg Waters
Julia Pincus & Ian Learmonth
Andrew Post & Sue Quill
Penelope Wass