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The first show Ben Crowder put on was at a fringe festival. A few decades later the Theatre Stampede director is joining the ‘fresh spirit and energy' around the Auckland Fringe.

“A fringe festival is an essential part of an arts scene and an important place for people to take risks and also to emerge."

Spirit House is the fourth collaboration with Nightsong Productions, including Te Pō at Auckland Arts Festival last year. 

Ben tells us about the new play, by co-director Carl Bland, and how screen legend Ian Mune is an inspiration to work with. 

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

I really enjoy the moment when something that has not been right in rehearsal suddenly has a break through. Often this element has been bugging you for a while – you have tinkered away at it – often exhausting ideas. Perhaps you have settled on something – but either you or one of your collaborators instinctively knows it is not right. I find that if you continue to push, something will suddenly emerge and it will be perfect.

Tell us a bit about your background 

I was bought up on the Isle of Wight. I had British father and a New Zealand mother. I wasn’t exposed to any theatre as such – but was surrounded by eccentric personalities. I moved to NZ as a teenager where I discovered theatre at university and ended up training at the John Bolton School in Melbourne. I began working with Carl Bland and the now deceased Peta Rutter over ten years ago.

Tell us a bit about Spirit House?

Spirit House is my fourth collaboration with Nightsong Productions. After Te Pō, 360 – A Theatre of Recollections and Head. It is a new play by Carl Bland – set in Nong Khai in Northern Thailand. It follows two New Zealand artists who are visited by the same young woman in 1932 and also today. There is a six foot cat – and also a Thai musician. It is funny and sad. It’s fantastic – what more can I say!

Why did you want it to be part of Auckland Fringe?

In part I like Lydia Zanetti who is running it. I believe the Fringe has been through a tricky time and is re-emerging with fresh spirit and energy. A fringe festival is an essential part of an arts scene and an important place for people to take risks and also to emerge. The first show I ever put on was when five of us relocated a hire car from Auckland and performed a show at the Bats Fringe Festival in 1993. Our recent shows have been associated with the Auckland Arts Festival – I feel it is a sign of the maturity of the city that we can as artists move between them. I note other leading artists such as Malia and also Silo have jumped on the fringe wagon. As well as a myriad of other artists.

What are some of your other recent or upcoming projects?

The last show I worked on was Te Pō at last year’s Auckland Arts Festival. It looks like it will be my next too – as we are set to return the work to Q Theatre later in the year. The other thing I have been working on is moving Theatre Stampede/Nightsong Productions to a more sustainable model. To that end we have been seeking Kahikatea funding from CNZ. This is something we have yet to achieve, but am hoping to be able to re-apply this May.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Be creative as a business. Don’t be put off by no’s. There is always a way.

What are some of the current challenges and opportunities in the creative sector?

A challenge is staying fresh and continuing to create quality work. So often your life becomes bogged down with producing the work – that finding time to reflect and finding the space to dream and create is too limited. I believe there is great opportunity for more cross over between art forms and also engage and excite new audiences with rich theatre.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

Currently we are working with Ian Mune on the show. It inspires me that someone in their mid 70’s can turn up to work every day and give so much. And also put themselves at risk – having to stand in front of an audience and deliver a mighty role, it is huge mentally and physically. Seeing him up for the challenge, brimming with ideas and deep thought is inspiring.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

A good friend once reminded me – as I had recounted the latest dramas unfolding in a production week – ‘it’s just theatre’. At times it feels life and death so on occasion it’s good to put some perspective on it and also remember there is always some drama. Best to have glass of wine at night and try to do some yoga in the morning!

What’s your big idea for 2017?

My big idea is to enjoy some space in my life. I have been pushing pretty hard for the last 15 years!

About Ben Crowder 

Ben is a talented and respected theatre director and creator, and co-founder of Theatre Stampede. He creates bold theatre that is hallmarked by striking visuals and a sense of thrill – coupled with dramatic integrity. He has directed all of Theatre Stampede’s productions since 1999. Past productions include: 360 - A Theatre of Recollections, Head (both in collaboration with Nightsong Productions), The Young Baron, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, A Midsummer Night's Dream and the national tour of Blossom.
 
Ben also works extensively as a freelance director and creator. He’s worked with Auckland Theatre Company, Silo Theatre, Red Leap, Dust Palace and The Edge (now Auckland Live) amongst others. He is often engaged on the development of new works. Recent productions include Nui Sila, The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate, Famous Flora and 360 - A Theatre Of Recollections.

Nightsong Productions and Theatre Stampede with Auckland Live present:
Spirit House – Sometimes you can’t keep life still
Written by Carl Bland. Directed by Ben Crowder and Carl Bland 

Two artists occupy the same studio in Nong Khai: one in 1932, the other in 2017. Charles, all oil and pigment, paints moments frozen in time. Steven is a foot soldier for the new media economy, living and breathing the commercial system, with a brand to protect. Both men are visited by the same woman. She's the ultimate muse and provocateur. But who is she? And what does she want? Speaking the unspoken, her presence in both worlds will force each man to come to terms with what they've been trying oh-so-hard to forget.

Although a regular on stage and screen it’s been 17 years since Mune has taken on the leading role in such an intimate yet epic NZ story. Alongside the mighty Mune, in this haunting and startling theatrical event are acting heavyweights Mia Blake (The Book of Everything, Angels in America), Tim Carlsen (One Day Moko, Dirty Laundry) and a giant 6-foot cat called Claude. 

Backed by the trademark visual storytelling, expect bodies to emerge from water, cobras to haunt their victims, housecats to attack. Spirit House will be vivid, wild, entertaining, dramatic, beautiful, funny provocative and will see this visionary company yet again attempt to stage the impossible. 

Writer and director Carl Bland along with collaborator and director Ben Crowder have been working together on some remarkable work over the last decade. Their March 2016 NZ Festival and Auckland Arts Festival Season of Te Pō (based on the work and life of Bruce Mason) received outstanding reviews and had audiences spellbound. 

Prior to this presentation, alongside the late Peta Rutter, the pair delivered an extraordinary experience with the much-lauded 360: a theatre of recollections. Completely sold out in Auckland and Wellington, this outstanding production enclosed the audience inside a proverbial bullring as action including pyrotechnics and giant puppets unfolded around them. It was for this work and their first production of Head in 2005 that earned the collaborators a Chapman Tripp Award, Auckland Theatre Excellence Award and the Hackman Cup People’s Choice Award for Most Original Production.  

Ben Crowder co-directs Spirit House at the Herald Theatre Thursday 16 February – Sunday 5 March as part of Auckland Fringe.