A Note from Lee, 4 August

04.08.16

What a week for Griffin! Last Monday at the Helpmann Awards Matilda may have won 13 awards (congratulations of course!) but Griffin became the theatre embodiment of the Matilda tag line “Even if you are little you can do a lot”. The awards for Best Play, Best Actress, Best Director all went to The Bleeding Tree by Angus Cerini from Griffin’s 2015 season.

After eighteen months of fighting for the future of the company, to have the industry recognize that great work comes from the small spaces in this country was deeply moving. Ok I cried. But only when I saw Paula Arundell skipping across the stage to accept her award.

I managed not to cry when Marta Dusseldorp announced that we won the Helpmann for Best Play. But that was only because we had just had our first day of rehearsal on Gloria together and I was amazed that she was not only standing after such a long day but being so articulate too!

I did shed a tear or two at the closing of The Literati on Saturday night at Riverside in Parramatta. A beautiful cast, a season of laughter, a happy playwright, and a great collaboration with Bell Shakespeare — what’s not to love.

Add to all this the tears of relief (ok now I am exaggerating a little) that we are putting the finishing touches on our 2017 season. We will be ready to announce it all to you on September 5th… just 31 days from now. And no, I don’t know where the year has gone,  yes I have started my Christmas shopping.

Stay dry this week and thank you all for your messages of congratulations about  The Bleeding Tree — we are over the moon!

Love,
Lee

Lee Lewis
Artistic Director