Exclusive: Billionaire philanthropist secures future of intimate Sydney theatre | LindaMorrissmh
, the one-woman play by Suzie Miller, which has won over audiences in London’s West End.
Artistic director Declan Greene says the renovations will make all the difference to audiences and actors: “We’ve had shows in the theatre with seven or eight actors rehearsing in the corridor. To enter or exit the stage you have to walk through a toilet.”Meagher says: “We don’t want to lose that sense of intimacy, we’re not all of a sudden going to be staging massive musicals. We do risky work. Everything we do is new, and not everything works financially.
Griffin’s association with the Neilson Foundation began during the COVID-19 lockdowns that shut the theatre in 2020. Meagher received a call from Paris Neilson asking how the family foundation might help. “We almost fell off our chairs,” he recounts. The Neilson Foundation made two donations of $50,000 each.The SBW Foundation, set up by Dr Rodney Seaborn, purchased the site in 1986 for $200,000 after Seaborn stepped in to save the theatre for Griffin when it was likely to be sold and redeveloped. Lowry says the SBW Foundation continues to own a nearby terrace house they are to lease to Griffin as offices.
“The sale will strengthen the foundation’s ability to continue assisting Griffin and supporting the performing arts more widely for decades to come,” Lowry says. “After years of nurturing Griffin, helping it financially care for its nest at the SBW Stables and watching the company develop and grow from strength to strength the foundation is delighted to see it stretch its creative wings and take flight.
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