GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY WELCOMES JANE BODIE AS ASSOCIATE ARTIST

Jane Bodie joins Griffin Theatre Company as Associate Artist after three years as Head of Playwriting at NIDA. An acclaimed playwright, director and screenwriter in both Australia and the UK for the last fifteen years, Jane’s play This Year’s Ashes premiered to critical acclaim at Griffin in 2011. Her other works include A Single Act (winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award 2006), Music (Playwriting Australia Festival 2011), Out Night One and Still. Jane’s work has also played on international stages in London, New York, Ireland and Brazil.

Jane’s other awards include a Green Room Award for outstanding writing and she was nominated for the Ewa Czajor award for her work as an emerging director. Jane has written extensively for TV and Radio, including The Secret Life of Us, Crash Burn, Channel 4’s No Angels and Moving Wallpaper and several plays for Radio Four and ABC Radio National. She also worked at The Royal Court Theatre as a teacher and mentor on their Young Writers Programme, and has worked as a dramaturg and writers mentor at Playwriting Australia.

Artistic Director Lee Lewis said “Jane Bodie comes to Griffin after her very successful years as Head of Playwriting at NIDA. One of this country's leading playwrights, she is also a gifted and generous dramaturg, balancing her passion for writing with deep love of the craft. Her play This Year’s Ashes was a hit with Griffin audiences in 2011 and I am looking forward to having her great theatre brain and infectious laugh in the building!”

We would like to welcome Jane to the Griffin family. We are wholeheartedly excited for the wonderful year ahead.

This Year's Ashes by Jane Bodie

This Year's Ashes is a funny play but has a underlying sadness.

There are rules in this city
Never bring them back to your place
Never more than three shags
Never tell them your real name
Never mention the cricket Never (ever) cry

Ellen (Belinda Bromillow) lives alone and generally is going through a difficult time. She isn't happy at work, she is drinking and sleeping with strangers.  Ellen spends most nights propping up bars, drinking alone to the point for numbness, so when she awakes in the morning she has no idea who is in the bed with her, nor does she care.
She returns home to her Elizabeth Bay flat to find her father who has been missing for a couple of years. It is the Ashes and he has returned to listen to it on the radio as they did it the past.
The scenes with her father are touching and sensitive bringing the past and present together.  Ellen gives him a comical speech about everything that she hates about Sydney. He (Tony Llewellyn-Jones) gives Ellen a run down of the out and in rules of cricket. This was very cleverly written and if Tony did make a mistake you would never know!  This is in contrast to the 'morning after' scenes which are very awkward, amusing and a little tense with Nathan Lovejoy. Nathan's part is very amusing, he is the typical bumbling man who knows what has happened and is slightly embarrassed. He would like her to stay and as she isn't talking he fills in the dead air with anything that falls out of his month. The scene with the pillow is hilarious!
At the end I left hoping that there is going to be a sequel. Though the play has a definite ending I want to know whether she gets her life back together and if she does how does she do it.  So, Jane can you please write a life after the Ashes?