Griffin Theatre Company will stage its 2026 season of new Australian stories at Belvoir St Theatre’s Downstairs Theatre, as part of a newly announced year-long residency.
Griffin’s Kings Cross home, the SBW Stables Theatre, is currently being rebuilt from the ground up to ensure its accessibility and expand its seating capacity by 44%. The new theatre is due to reopen in 2027.
As direct descendants of Sydney’s Nimrod Theatre Company, Belvoir and Griffin’s long association first began in 1974 when Nimrod expanded its operations in Kings Cross to Belvoir Street, resulting in two hubs for new Australian storytelling. Griffin has occupied the theatre where the Nimrod was previously based, in Nimrod St, Darlinghurst, since 1986.
The new partnership between Belvoir and Griffin – which reflects the two inner city Sydney companies’ shared history and values – was announced on Monday (8 September). That evening, each company launched their 2026 seasons at Belvoir.
Griffin and Belvoir: celebrating Australian storytelling
‘Australian theatre has always thrived when companies back each other,’ said Belvoir’s Artistic Director Eamon Flack.
‘Belvoir and Griffin are both the children of the legendary Nimrod Theatre Company, both companies are rooted in Australian storytelling, and both companies are geared towards discovering further possibilities for Australian theatre. So Griffin’s residency is not just a practical arrangement. It’s about making sure that artists have the space to take risks, and that audiences get to see the very best of what’s coming next. Thanks too to everyone who chipped in to our foyer renovation last year: all that extra space is going to come in handy…’
Read: 2026 season announcements: our rolling guide to the performing arts
Griffin Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Declan Greene added: ‘At a time where theatre is often pressured to be bigger, sparklier, shinier, we’re jumping from our tiny venue to… an even tinier one. And we couldn’t be more thrilled.
‘For decades, intimacy has been the defining feature of the Griffin experience. It’s an astonishing incubating force for new plays and the Downstairs Theatre can attest to this too, with its own legacy of incredible new plays. This is the DNA that both Griffin and Belvoir share. John Bell, Richard Wherrett and Ken and Lillian Horler paved the way for both our companies to thrive and create dedicated spaces for Australian stories – a legacy that we’re more than proud to continue over 50 years on. We are beyond grateful, then, to Belvoir, for their enormous generosity – allowing their cousins to crash on their couch for a year,’ Greene said.
Griffin and Belvoir: rebuilding the SBW Stables Theatre
Belvoir’s Downstairs Theatre seats 80 people. Prior to its planned demolition as part of the rebuild, Griffin’s SBW Stables Theatre seated a maximum of 105 people.
Once completed, the new SBW Stables Theatre will seat 138; the theatre will also be accessible via an elevator, and for the first time, the Griffin Theatre Company building will also offer an onsite rehearsal space.
As part of the partnership, Belvoir and Griffin will also combine their independent theatre programs 25Aand Lookoutfor 2026, in order to ensure that opportunities for the next generation of artists are maintained in the new year.
Both Belvoir and Griffin Theatre Company launched their 2026 seasons at Belvoir on Monday 8 September. Visit the Belvoir and Griffin websites for details.
Also on ArtsHub:
Life is a Dream review: a classic comes alive at Belvoir
Life is a Dream, produced by Fervour and running now at Belvoir’s 25A, is an adaptation of Calderon de la Barca’s 1635 La vida es sueño.
The original is a dramatic meditation on the nature of reality, on moral philosophy and social and familial relationships, and other big chewy topics. It’s a Spanish Golden Age classic; something along the lines of A Midsummer’s Night Dream or King Lear.
Those existential concerns are carried over into this version, along with the premise: Segismundo (Ariyan Sharma) is a young man who has spent his life imprisoned in his bedroom, oblivious to the fact that he is the prince of Poland… Read more.
