Artistic Director Lee Lewis has announced her second season for Griffin Theatre Company. The bold and exciting offering reflects Lewis’s passion for the diversity of voices writing for the Australian stage. In its Main and Independent seasons, comprised entirely of Australian work, Griffin will present or co-present six world premieres of new Australian plays.
“The stories in 2015 will take you to magical lands, journey into suburbs, pull apart minds, give in to revenge and travel around the world to find answers to questions we wrestle with today: How do you tell someone you love them? How do we connect to each other in an increasingly disconnected world? How do you know if someone is lying? What happens after you fire the gun? Is it possible to forgive the crimes of the 20th century?” Lewis said.
The year begins with the wondrous journey of Masquerade, based on the iconic children’s book by Kit Williams. Written by award-winning playwright and actor Kate Mulvany, it will have its world premiere as part of Sydney Festival at the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House.
Directed by Sam Strong and Lee Lewis, and co-produced by Griffin Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia, Masquerade interweaves the magical world of the children’s tale with a contemporary Australian story. The musical world of the play will be composed and performed by Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen.
Next year the SBW Stables will see the world premiere of Caress/Ache by Suzie Miller. One of our most fearless playwrights, Miller will attack the complex issue of human frailty and need on a global scale, with Anthony Skuse directing. Up next is a psychological thriller The House on the Lake, a twisting labyrinth of playwright Aidan Fennessy’s devising, directed by Sarah Giles.
It will be followed by the world premiere of Angus Cerini’s 2014 Griffin Award winning play The Bleeding Tree, a darkly macabre comedy about revenge and violence. The final work of the year will be Kit Brookman’s new work A Rabbit For Kim Jong-iI, a comic espionage about betrayal, forgiveness and regret that is unbelievably based on a true story.
In 2015 Griffin will partner on its second co-presentation with Asian-Australian performance company Performance 4a, Yasukichi Murakami: Through a Distant Lens. Using photographic projections, video, original music and soundscape, Japanese-Australian photographer and writer Mayu Kanamori goes in search of Yasukichi Murakami’s lost photographs of early 20th Century northern Australia.
Following the extraordinary success of Griffin and Performance 4a’s collaboration on The Serpent’s Table in 2014, this production signals Griffin’s ongoing commitment to presenting the diversity of Australian stories on the main stage.
In addition to its Main Stage Season, Griffin supports the work of some of Australia’s most talented independent theatre makers. The 2015 season includes: The Unspoken Word is ‘Joe’ written by Zoey Dawson and directed by Declan Greene, which was critically acclaimed at the Melbourne Fringe and Brisbane Festivals; Nicholas Hope’s Five Properties of Chainmale, which Hope will also direct; Mary Rachel Brown’s The Dapto Chaser, directed by Glynn Nicholas; Anna Barnes’s MinusOneSister, directed by Luke Rogers; and Benito di Fonzo’s A Riff on Keef: The Human Myth, directed by Lucinda Gleeson.
To celebrate the launch of the 2015 season, Griffin has released a limited Earlybird offer, for subscribers to purchase the four Main Season shows for only $136, and additional Independent Season shows at the heavily discounted price of $28 each. This offer is available only until Monday 22 September 2014. Griffin subscribers will also have access to an exclusive allocation of discounted tickets for Masquerade until 8 December, presented as part of Sydney Festival 2015 at Sydney Opera House.
For more information on the 2015 Season, visit: www.griffintheatre.com.au for details.
Image: The Dapto Chaser (left) and MinusOneSister – courtesy of Griffin Theatre Company