In 1984 Noel began an association with The Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney which would eventually see him serving two terms as the Chairman of its Board of Directors and working on its play-reading and assessment committee as well as being Artistic Director of its annual D-Week Festival of new and emerging works alongside fellow actor/playwright Karin Mainwaring. During this time he co-wrote with Brett Murphy Issues Addressed for Griffin, which he also directed, as well as directing the rock and roll cabaret Crosscuts. His plays The Secret House and Half Safe were both produced there.
“The recent past can sometimes seem a lifetime ago, and in the case of The Griffin Theatre Co. that is literally true as some founding/early members have already sadly passed on, taking their stories with them. Griffin is a vibrant, successful theatre company but its early days are not well recorded, something that many of us who were involved in creating and/or nurturing the company through those times would like to see addressed.” (Noel Hodda)
John Senczuk, an early member and designer of many Griffin shows, has compiled and published a history of Griffin from first-hand accounts and extensive research, titled Griffin Rising – The First Decade of the Griffin Theatre Company 1979-88. He has also compiled and published a collection of playwright Grant Fraser’s early Griffin plays.
Grant Fraser: Five Griffin Plays
Contents: Love and the Single Teenager: or, Ten Variations on Romance and Reality (1981), Cheap Thrills(1982), Street Level (1983), Summertime Blues (1984), Backbeat (1988)
Playwright Grant Fraser’s early writing career was synonymous with the evolving theatrical style and audacity of the fledgling Griffin Theatre Company; his plays built the brand, encouraging a young and vibrant audience.
From the break-out success of his debut production at the Stables in 1981 – Love and the Single Teenager – a new ‘ Grant Fraser play’ was an annual fixture to launch the Company’s season (a highlight of the Festival of Sydney). Sun-Herald Theatre Critic Mick Barnes championed Grant Fraser as ‘Sydney’s chronicler of teenage love’ who had ‘his finger on the responses of teenagers to each other and to their parents.’
This anthology of five plays – their first time in print – represents his work over the first ten years of the Griffin Theatre Company, and is redolent of the Company and its culture at this time.
Early History: A summary of the beginnings of the Company can be found on the Griffin Wikipedia entry.
In 1986 Peter Kingston was appointed the Company’s first ever Artistic Director. He was followed into that position by Ian Watson.
In 1999, The Sun Herald described Griffin as Australia’s ‘Theatre of the Decade’.
The films Lantana, The Boys, and The Heartbreak Kid (which later spun off into the television series Heartbreak High) were based on plays first produced by Griffin. Away, Australia’s most produced contemporary play, also premiered at the company.
