The tyranny of distance, the roadblock of language barriers, the moral conundrum of carbon footprints.

Each issue can be enough to snuff out a creative ambition before it even gets a chance to take flight - but one Wellington theatre company has found a way to overcome all three of them at once, thanks to a new partnership that is innovative, with the potential to be transformative.

Binge Culture - a much-loved and established creative collective helmed by Artistic Director Joel Baxendale that's coming off a sold-out season of comedy-thriller Werewolf at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - is set to reveal the first step in what they hope is a long and fruitful path in a new performance exchange. 

Next month, Wellington theatre-goers will be exposed to Disaster (2-6 October), in what will be the international premiere of global award-winning, Berlin-based game collective machina eX’s highly immersive theatre experience. 

In return, machina eX will present an original Binge Culture show in Germany in 2025.

Baxendale explains to The Big Idea how this came to life. "I met Clara (Ehrenwerth, machine eX General Manager) in Pōneke late 2022, shockingly discovering that our theatre company had a twin separated at birth. While machina eX has natural differences - no doubt from having been nurtured in Berlin - the company does display uncanny likeness in taste for technology and audience interaction.

"Binge and machina eX both like to put the audience right in the centre of the action, and we both bring a lot of humour to our theatrical experiments, including playing around with what’s part of the show and what’s ‘real’. We’re both intrigued by how technology can involve the audience in strange and special tasks.

"As we unpacked the similarities, we talked about how we both generate a lot of new works but that some of these - whether for reasons of tourability, experimental form or whatever - don’t get the life that we believe they deserve. So while our first idea was that our companies might like to collaborate on another new work in the future, this thought quickly turned to how we might help each other extend the life of each others’ existing work.

"We decided to embark on a performance exchange, where we would perform their work, Disaster, in Pōneke and they would perform our work, You and A.I., over in Germany. 

"Basically, it’s a form of concept touring, but a mutual exchange. 

"In the process we each rethink, adapt and tweak the shows to a new context. We have the benefit of becoming immersed in another company’s work and we trust each other to exercise a higher degree of artistic latitude than if it were a simple licensing agreement. In fact, because of the shared artistic values, we are interested to see what happens when another company takes the work and runs with it. 

"It is almost more akin to a collaboration, but instead of starting from scratch, we get to start with something already really solid. We’re learning about their work from the inside out, by staging it." 

A Kiwi Disaster

Disaster is a German theatre experience, performed in German and created for a German audience - so how will that work here?

The show uses technology, storytelling, and design to take you deep into the meta world of a theatre game about game theatre, and it holds true to its original tone and personality. But, along with the 18,127 kilometres difference in location, there have been plenty of local touches to ensure it will hit the right chord with local audiences here in Aotearoa too.

The script has been translated from German, with humour and audience interaction adapted for New Zealand audiences; the design is also reimagined and reconstructed by a collective of innovative New Zealand designers for the Hannah Playhouse space for groups of 12 to experience. 

Baxendale states "We have had the original script translated, and worked closely with machina eX’s designer to get the tech working. The script works well here because it has a very recognisable spy/thriller narrative running through it. The show is half experimental theatre, half escape room - both parts are about universal ideas like artistic ambition, problem-solving, and collaboration. 

"But it also feels very German - something to do with the gentle absurdity of it all - and we don’t want to lose that!"

Kicking down the door

Any creative will tell you that getting your mahi recognised internationally is no easy feat from our corner of the world. The talent in Aotearoa is immense but there are often so many obstacles to overcome before touring a work can become a reality. 

Baxendale hopes this new relationship with machina eX can give other creative organisations a platform for future opportunities.

"I think this idea of performance exchange means more than just that the work gets another outing.

"It means international presentation - but with people who know the local context, who are best-placed for making creative adaptations and who have the knowledge and networks to navigate the local ecosystem to secure presentation.

"It means you can present ‘riskier’ work overseas - because you only need to convince your peers, not international presenters or agents.

"It means both companies supporting each other’s development and future opportunities, potentially even acting as regional providers for more of the other’s work."

There's another reason this performance exchange approach will be attractive to many besides the bottom line - it will appeal to the conscience of those worried about the size of their carbon footprint.

"It means minimising the impact on the climate, with fewer or no personnel needing to travel internationally. It also means if you were eventually to travel to that region, it would be much more impactful because of the existing depth of connection, getting more out of the travel and the associated environmental cost. In this way, the ethical choice may also be a strategic choice for artistic companies wanting to enter new markets.

"Regardless of how 'mainstream' or 'fringe' a work is, it feels like the days of flying visits are numbered, and for the best. Out of necessity, we are going to see more initiatives that seek to maximise gains from minimum resources, and I hope that performance exchanges can be one of them."

The success of the New Zealand season of Disaster is obviously important to Binge - just as the German debut of their show You and A.I. next year.  But it's also clear Baxendale is committed to a long-term impact with this proactive approach.

"While we are still in the early stages of this initiative, I already have the sense that this is something we are going to want to repeat. 

"We’re developing stronger relationships and learning from each other's practice in a deeper way due to a process that spans years rather than days, and by engaging so deeply with the dramaturgy of the work, we really see what they are about and learn from that."