Lovely Ugly

Griffin is inviting audiences out of the auditorium, bringing theatre out of the theatre and taking their stagecraft offstage

First published on 14 May 2012. Updated on 14 Jun 2012.

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For one night only in June, Griffin Theatre Company will spill out onto the streets of Kings Cross for a multi-venue site-specific theatre experience orchestrated by its resident artists, Lovely Ugly.

“We want to engage local people and to get audiences out of the traditional auditorium setup,” says Griffin’s artistic associate Belinda Kelly. “We also want to expand the idea of what theatre can be. It’s something a bit different to our main stage and indie output, and the chance to experiment with something we might do on a larger and more refined scale later on.”

Lovely Ugly will immerse audiences in the story of Kings Cross identity Joyce Germain, who was found dead in the bathroom of her Darlinghurst apartment in 2006 in what you might call suspicious circumstances: lipstick on the walls, the cord of an iron wrapped around her neck, a construction hat nearby and a clothes peg on her genitals.

Kelly assures us that the event is more David Lynch than Miss Marple, though. “The audience isn’t expected to figure out who the murderer is,” Kelly says. “Instead, it’s an exploration of a fractured and layered narrative with echoes of places, voices, contradictions, confusions. Characters crossing over and reappearing, connections, confessions and interrogations.”

Small audience groups will meet Germain at Griffin’s Stables Theatre, inspect the bizarre crime scene at Altamont Hotel and wind up as guests at Germain’s wake at the Kings Cross Hotel.

“Each audience member will have a different experience – groups will be staggered at different points. And the audience may get yelled at for a bit – it’s not for the faint-hearted.”

Not your usual passive theatre experience. And you can keep your phone on. “You might even get a call from us.”

Words by Darryn King |

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