Griffin Theatre Company secures $1 million funding boost from City of Sydney

Griffin Theatre Company’s upgrade of Darlinghurst’s historic SBW Stables Theatre has secured $1 million in funding from the City of Sydney.

Founded in 1979, Griffin Theatre Company is the only one of its kind solely dedicated to developing and staging Australian plays. The company purchased the theatre in 2022.

The upgrade will increase the capacity of the Nimrod Street auditorium to 140 seats, make the venue accessible, add a new rehearsal room, create a bigger bar and foyer space, and improve technical equipment, dressing rooms and amenities.

Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore advised “Griffin’s artistic director, Declan Greene, has described the Stables as a theatre of first chances, a successful, beloved inner-city institution that continues to catapult brilliant local stories out to national and international audiences.

“Supporting this redevelopment is part of our commitment to creating more space for artists to produce and rehearse their work, as spiralling costs threaten our thriving creative community.”

Griffin’s artistic director Declan Greene added “for 45 years we’ve used our tiny theatre to take chances on big, challenging stories and some of our recent favourites have emerged from the heart of our Kings Cross community – like Green Park by Elias Jamieson Brown and This Much Is True by Louis Nowra.

“This major redevelopment of our home is about offering more to the local artists, audiences and communities who have held and supported Griffin for over four decades: more creative space, more access, more opportunities for engagement.

“We are incredibly grateful to the City of Sydney for helping us take another major step towards achieving these goals, and for their continued care and innovation around the creative life of our city.”

Griffin has so far raised $13.4 million dollars for this redevelopment, which includes the $1 million from the City of Sydney. Griffin has additional fundraising it needs to secure before the project can go ahead.

Image. Griffin Theatre Stables Exterior. Credit: TZG Architects.