Griffin Theatre Company will throw open the Stables Theatre doors from Monday 6 June for a week-long festival celebrating all things new writing.
The festival will see industry, creatives, actors, playwrights and the general community flock to the Stables for a jam-packed week of events including the announcement of the winner of the 2011 Griffin Award for best new Australian play, Currency Press’s 40th Anniversary, and Griffin Studio’s interactive Heartbreak Hotel, as well as the 24-hour Play Offs and Griffringe performances.
Griffin’s Artistic Director Sam Strong (pictured) says “I couldn’t be more excited about the Festival of New Writing. We’ve crammed an impossible (and impossibly varied) amount of activity into one week but ultimately the aim is simple; to make Griffin even more of a hub for artists and audiences. We want to celebrate our writing culture andwelcome as many people as possible to the home of Australian storytelling.”
A major highlight of the Festival, the Griffin Award for best new Australian play sees the winner receive a cash prize of $10,000 from the Award’s generous sponsors at PKF Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors. This year Griffin will be staging readings of extracts from all the short-listed plays, keeping a writer or five in great suspense before the winner is announced.
Next, the doors of the HeartbreakHotel will creak open as Griffin’s resident Studio directors and writers respond to the public’s submission of objects and tales of heartbreak, woe and redemption. Popping up for one night only at the Stables Theatre, Heartbreak Hotel is a full-on sensory, immersive and transformative event that promises to deliver guests more than your average evening at the theatre.
Griffin then joins Australia’s oldest active independent publisher and only specialist performing arts publisher Currency Press to help celebrate its 40th anniversary. In association with Currency, Griffin will present a medley offavourite play scenes selected by authors and staff from Currency's rich history of publishing Australian drama. The reading will be directed by SamStrong.
The Festival continues with a night of unexpected and uncharted adventures with the next Griffringe series of short work and work in development. Following the performance there will be an artist forum including Lachlan Philpott (Silent Disco) and Jane Bodie (This Year’s Ashes), an announcement of the expansion of the company’s Artist Card support program, and a drinks party in the foyer.
As the week comes to an end, the 24-hour Play Offs see the inspiring Jane Bodie lead the 2011 NIDA Playwrights as they churn out exciting new short plays in just 12 hours. Handing over to the NIDA Directors at the crack of dawn on Saturday, a group of talented actors will rehearse furiously before presenting the six brand new plays to the unsuspecting public at 7pm.
Griffin will also be kicking off the Junior version of the Play Offs on Saturday night. Presented in partnership with atyp, Griffin’s young associates will collaborate with atyp’s raw talent and Fresh Ink writers’ program to produce a batch of brand new short plays. Audiences will be able to witness the work of the next generation on stage on Sunday, the final night of the festival.
The following Festival of New Writing events are open to the public:
Tuesday 7 June: Griffin Award - $10
Wednesday 8 June: Heartbreak Hotel - $20 (includes a drink)
Thursday 9 June: Currency Forum - $10
Friday 10 June: Griffringe - $10
Saturday 11 June: 24 Hour Play Offs - $10
Sunday 12 June: Junior 24 Hour Play Offs - $10
Venue: SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross
Season: 6 – 12 June, 2011
Time: All events start at 7pm
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