Kindness

Matt Whittet

Company: Griffin Theatre
Year the project commenced:2018 
Year it became impossible:2020 
Audience not reached:3500​​​​​​​
“The simplest acts of kindness are sometimes the most important”. 2020 saw a world where acts of kindness were too often thought impossible turn into one swept by the kindness pandemic. As we chanted ‘we are all in this together’ and mourned the loss of so much art, creativity and gathering of community, we also celebrated the empathy, generosity and community spirit which the sudden flood of unfilled time allowed us. With so many planned and near-executed plays and performance pieces cancelled or indefinitely postponed, theatre artists and arts workers turned their attention (again) to donating time and expertise to community projects, sharing homemade marmalades, sewing face masks for charity and allowing time to listen and share stories with friends. In the midst of all that, Matt Whittet’s play seems prescient; even if it never happened. “Kindness”, writes Matt, “is a play about community and the things we do to stand by others.” It was programmed as part of Griffin Theatre’s 2020 season, but due to COVID-19, was cancelled on the cusp of opening to the public. “It's about a young man who has lost his mother and is trapped inside a complicated grief. His friends all gather around him and they talk, and they eat, and they tell each other stories. it's a very gentle work about people who are willing to listen deeply and how young adult navigate the fallout from loss”.
We know Kindness will always have a role to play, but for the time being Matt’s play is impossible. As Matt says, “I'm hoping it's just on hold. Nothing is certain in the world at the moment, which means there's no promises but always hope."
As part of The Impossible Project we have been inviting artists to conceive of, attempt and document an attempt at An Impossible Task or to undertake a conversation with Anna Tregloan where she attempts (the similarly impossible task) of capturing their creative endeavours in sketch form.

Whittet retold the story of this unrealised project to Anna Tregloan. They attempted to capture that telling. The drawings below are the result.
KINDNESS CREDITS
Director - Lee Lewis 
Designer - Renee Mulder 
Lighting Designer - Trent Suidgeest 
Composer and Sound Designer - Paul Charlier 
Actor - Christian Byers 
Actor - Brenna Harding 
Actor - Shiv Palekar 
Actor - Nikita Waldron 
Image - Brett Boardman, courtesy of Griffin Theatre

NEW TASKS AND IMPOSSIBLE OUTCOMES ARE BEING ADDED EVERY WEEK. COME BACK SOON.​​​​​​​
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