Griffin 2012 Season

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Welcome to Season 2012 at Griffin, in which everything is bigger and better.
To begin with, our Main Season of the finest Australian stories has grown from four shows to five, including a partnership with Sydney Festival and the presentation of Griffin work in cities around Australia.
The five shows in the Main Season offer five very different nights in the theatre. Gordon Graham’s classic The Boys is a violent, confronting, edge-of-your-seat experience. Bojana Novakovic’s The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself is playful, bluesy, and seductive. Paul Capsis’ solo triumph Angela’s Kitchen is warm-hearted, gentle and affecting. Rick Viede’s A Hoax is a guilty pleasure – provocative and hilarious in the same breath. Finally, Ian Meadows’ Between Two Waves sweeps us inexorably into the dilemma of a warming world.
All the plays in the 2012 Main Season are united by characters who demand to be heard, and who will linger with you long after you leave their company: from the captivatingly violent Brett Sprague in The Boys; to the irrepressibly charismatic poet Mary; the strength and resilience of post-war migrants embodied in Angela; Rick Viede’s deceptively charming posse of outsiders desperate to be on the inside; and Ian Meadows’ Daniel and Fiona, a beautifully drawn and instantly recognisable couple confronting their own and the planet’s future.
Great characters of course demand great actors to bring them to life. In 2012, Griffin will again be the place to come for the best up close and personal encounters with some of the finest acting in the country.
On the theme of bigger and better, this year we’ve included the Independent Season in the Main brochure. The four works in this Season are co-presented with the most exciting independent artists and companies, and continue the dialogue between the hottest international and local talent. These works are characterised by their freshness, uniqueness of voice, and commitment to pushing boundaries. Enda Walsh’s The New Electric Ballroom conjures its own imaginative universe out of West Coast Irish rock and rollers. Vanessa Bates’ Porn.Cake channels Gen X dissatisfaction into an orgy of sponge. Elise Hearst’s The Sea Project weaves a delicate mystery on a poetic seashore. And Rapid Write brings you theatre that is as immediate as you can get (making its way from page to stage in just 8 weeks!).
Of course the Main and Independent seasons are just the beginning. In 2012 four new Griffin Studio resident artists will be joined by four more PlayWriting Australia residents. Between the Lines will continue to enrich the Griffin experience online and in different art forms, and the Festival of New Writing will continue to provide surprising and diverse treats (including another out of theatre extravaganza like 2011’s unforgettable Heartbreak Hotel).
And it’s not all art-making in 2012. The final stage of our capital works program will literally open the theatre (and a cafe) to the street, our sustainability program, How Green Are We,  will influence all aspects of the way we work, and our new Club Griffin will pamper theatre-lovers with extra special nights at the Stables.
So, there’s a lot going on at Griffin in 2012. What unites it all is a commitment to making urgent and contemporary theatre with the highest levels of craft and imagination. All the pieces in 2012 do what great new playwriting should do – pose big questions about identity, about who we are today and how we should be living. What underlies their presentation is a burning passion and energy to tell great stories. We’re bursting with it here at Griffin. And we can’t wait to share it. With you.
Sam Strong
Artistic Director

Welcome to Season 2012 at Griffin, in which everything is bigger and better.

To begin with, our Main Season of the finest Australian stories has grown from four shows to five, including a partnership with Sydney Festival and the presentation of Griffin work in cities around Australia.

The five shows in the Main Season offer five very different nights in the theatre. Gordon Graham’s classic The Boys is a violent, confronting, edge-of-your-seat experience. Bojana Novakovic’s The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself is playful, bluesy, and seductive. Paul Capsis’ solo triumph Angela’s Kitchen is warm-hearted, gentle and affecting. Rick Viede’s A Hoax is a guilty pleasure – provocative and hilarious in the same breath. Finally, Ian Meadows’ Between Two Waves sweeps us inexorably into the dilemma of a warming world.

All the plays in the 2012 Main Season are united by characters who demand to be heard, and who will linger with you long after you leave their company: from the captivatingly violent Brett Sprague in The Boys; to the irrepressibly charismatic poet Mary; the strength and resilience of post-war migrants embodied in Angela; Rick Viede’s deceptively charming posse of outsiders desperate to be on the inside; and Ian Meadows’ Daniel and Fiona, a beautifully drawn and instantly recognisable couple confronting their own and the planet’s future.

Great characters of course demand great actors to bring them to life. In 2012, Griffin will again be the place to come for the best up close and personal encounters with some of the finest acting in the country.

On the theme of bigger and better, this year we’ve included the Independent Season in the Main brochure. The four works in this Season are co-presented with the most exciting independent artists and companies, and continue the dialogue between the hottest international and local talent. These works are characterised by their freshness, uniqueness of voice, and commitment to pushing boundaries. Enda Walsh’s The New Electric Ballroom conjures its own imaginative universe out of West Coast Irish rock and rollers. Vanessa Bates’ Porn.Cake channels Gen X dissatisfaction into an orgy of sponge. Elise Hearst’s The Sea Project weaves a delicate mystery on a poetic seashore. And Rapid Write brings you theatre that is as immediate as you can get (making its way from page to stage in just 8 weeks!).

Of course the Main and Independent seasons are just the beginning. In 2012 four new Griffin Studio resident artists will be joined by four more PlayWriting Australia residents. Between the Lines will continue to enrich the Griffin experience online and in different art forms, and the Festival of New Writing will continue to provide surprising and diverse treats (including another out of theatre extravaganza like 2011’s unforgettable Heartbreak Hotel).

And it’s not all art-making in 2012. The final stage of our capital works program will literally open the theatre (and a cafe) to the street, our sustainability program, How Green Are We,  will influence all aspects of the way we work, and our new Club Griffin will pamper theatre-lovers with extra special nights at the Stables.

So, there’s a lot going on at Griffin in 2012. What unites it all is a commitment to making urgent and contemporary theatre with the highest levels of craft and imagination. All the pieces in 2012 do what great new playwriting should do – pose big questions about identity, about who we are today and how we should be living. What underlies their presentation is a burning passion and energy to tell great stories. We’re bursting with it here at Griffin. And we can’t wait to share it. With you.

Sam Strong
Artistic Director