Griffin Theatre Company Reopens With WHEREVER SHE WANDERS

Griffin Theatre Company will reopen the SBW Stables Theatre with the latest work from award-winning playwright Kendall Feaver, Wherever She Wanders, from Friday 5th November to Saturday 11th December.

At one of the country's oldest residential colleges, student and aspiring journalist Nikki Faletau is on a collision course with Jo Mulligan, the first female Master of the college. Scandals inside the college rarely reach the outside world, as there's always quiet money to mop up the mess.

When a serious allegation is made against a fellow resident, loyalties are divided as these emerging and established feminists find themselves embroiled in an online media storm where there are no certain winners.

On the surface, Wherever She Wanders is about the rape culture often reported at Australian universities, however it's also a play about activism in an era when anyone with a smartphone can have a political voice, and the resulting removal of nuance from difficult conversations.

But it's mostly about the increased disconnect between politics of female baby boomers and millennials: young women tackling the complexities of systemic and relatively invisible sexism, and an older generation of women who are being implicated as part of the very problem they've spent their lives trying to solve.

Feaver said, "Twenty-nine years ago, the Ormond College scandal (and Helen Garner's ensuing book) caused a media storm and exposed a generational gulf in feminism. I wondered how this story would manifest today: a world where accusations can now be made directly to the internet, where young activists are using social media to mobilise on a global scale, and where very-real-human-beings are caught in ever-shifting waves of public outrage or support. So much has changed since The First Stone. But as debate around rape culture returns, once again, to mainstream Australian media, it's clear just how much hasn't changed at all."

Griffin's Associate Artistic Director, Tessa Leong, will be making her directing debut at the SBW Stables with Kendall's play, commenting, "Dialogue like Kendall's doesn't come along often and it's her astute ability to present nuanced and complex characters in a flawed and imperfect world that is both confronting and enlightening. I look forward to sharing this work that believes in the power of a single voice to make change and the possibility of collective action."

Griffin Theatre Company have created a full COVID-safe plan in alignment with the NSW Government's regulations to ensure the return to theatre is safe and comfortable.

DIRECTOR Tessa Leong DESIGNER Ella Butler LIGHTING DESIGNER Govin Ruben LIGHTING ASSOCIATE Sam Read COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER James Brown SOUND ASSOCIATE Daniel Herten STAGE MANAGER Hannah Crane WITH Tony Cogin, Emily Havea, Mark Paguio, Jane Phegan, Fiona Press and Julia Robertson

BOOKINGS: https://griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/wherever-she-wanders-2/ or (02) 9361 3817

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