Rachel House says she didn’t intend to become a youth acting coach. She was thrown into it by Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner for Boy, after being cast as Auntie Gracie. 

It’s a support role she continued in Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, in contrast to her on screen role as a CYFS case manager.

Drawing on her youth acting coaching alongside her theatre experience (director of Hui, Have Car Will Travel, The Mercy Seat and the Te Reo Māori version of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida performed at Globe Theatre in London), she was the perfect fit for Medea, the first time Auckland's Silo Theatre has worked with children.

The contemporary update of Euripides’ classic text Medea, Rachel directs the children in material rarely given to actors of their age, as two brothers play out the final hours of their lives. Led by 9 -14 year old boys, they are on stage for the full 75 minutes driving the story and contributing their own ideas to the script.

"Watching them not just cope with that but excel...yeah it was wowzers. But the show takes on its own energy which is such an exciting journey. They need to own it now and keep flying."

Rachel tells us about working with the young actors, from nerf gun fights to old fashioned script analysis - and plans to take a break from coaching and theatre. 

Iwi/Hapu: Ngai Tahu, Ngati Mutunga

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

A good and well told story can make the world curious about each other.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

Both! One would get lost without the other.

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

Learn to do heaps within it so you get to choose what you really like and if you don’t love it don’t do it. Find people you really love to work with and hold them close because there is nothing like a good team.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

The Maori Troilus and Cressida was a heck of challenge. I’m not sure anyone got a lot of sleep in the last three weeks before we opened but we got there. Sweat and tears - no blood. Working on shows with the students at PIPA. The kids performances in Medea. But lot’s more too.

Who or what has inspired you recently? 

So much and so many people. Te Puea Marae made us remember what marae are for and what we can do if we get together and just do it. I have so much respect for that community. And there are some extraordinary women doing great things in the arts.  I haven’t seen Mana Wahine this run but I was knocked over by it a few years back. Wairoa Film Festival is utterly magic and the short films that screened were really fantastic. Get there if you can next year. I’ve been listening to Nadia Reid, Tiny Ruins and Aldous Harding; what fantastic young women, entirely themselves. Go girls! Daily inspiration comes from listening to audio books and podcasts; RNZ always, Lindy West, This American Life, Patti Smith’s latest...and the biggest inspiration of all right now are the caregivers in my life - unsung heroes, angels, seriously.

Tell us a bit about your creative background.  

Yikes. My mum and Dad loved the arts - all of it. We were dragged around to every dance piece, theatre show, symphony orchestra, art exhibition, opera, film festival...that Whangarei and Auckland had to offer. We were pretty lucky, it took a while to realise that as really we just wanted to watch The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. 

Tell us about your work as an acting coach with young people. How/when did get involved in this, what keeps you involved?
 
I got thrown into it by Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner when they were about to shoot Boy. I’d been cast already as Auntie Gracie but the acting coach they had needed to do something else so I was approached. I was fine with the acting coaching but the chaperoning I needed help with and amazing people in the community did help out. I’m not sure I’ll do as much coaching anymore but it’s been a great ride. I got to do a bit of coaching with Jane Campion on her new series and Alison McClean on her film The Rehearsal. Working with them was pretty much the dream but also a realisation to get on with it and tell some stories.

Along with your role on Hunt for the Wilderpeople as the child welfare officer, you were also working with the child actors. Tell us a bit about this: 

Ha! Julian doesn’t need any coaching, he’s a seasoned pro! But we did do a lot of rehearsals together with Sam, sometimes in hot-pools with the rest of the crew. Taika knew exactly what he wanted and knows how to get it. He’s a great director. I was there as extra support. Julian’s mum is also an actor and was always on set which was awesome. Me and Tioreore had a nice time, she was very focused and had that kind of kapahaka discipline that meant she was used to working hard until she got it the way she wanted it.

Tell us about Medea and why you were interested in directing it?

I liked the idea of two young kids carrying a whole play!  And the change in perspective that the writers had created from the classic tale of Medea, the perspective of her sons. Also Silo director Sophie Roberts pretty much forced me to do it (ha). I think I’d like to give theatre a long, long rest so I’m glad it was with these extraordinary young guys.

The young actors play leading roles. Tell us about your work with them.

How much time do we have? They are just...fantastic. It’s been such an honour to work with them. We had a very cool bunch in the rehearsal room including Bronwyn Bradley, Jordan Keyzer and Virginia Frankovich. The nerf gun fights were ongoing and frequent and looked like fun (I scampered away). We did old fashioned script analysis and objectives...and they loved it. Watching them not just cope with that but excel...yeah it was wowzers. But the show takes on its own energy which is such an exciting journey. They need to own it now and keep flying.

How did you approach dealing with the sensitive nature of the play with the young actors, and their parents?
 
The parents were very supportive and considerate and, I think like all of us, really taken by the re-imagining of this ancient story from Greece. We concentrated on it being a story, a retelling of a specific story. We told the kids the story of Medea, they figured out how that relates to the interpretation. We had to create a positive environment which was very important to do for our young cast. We "got deep" when figuring out their feelings throughout the story. The resonance today speaks for itself. 
 
This retelling of Medea is told from the point of the view of the children, why is that important and what role did the young actors have in contributing to this production?
 
Those are such great questions and I think they are the ones the audience decide best. It's such a great part of going to see a story, what we interpret when we see it. "Why is it important" is up to the audience to decide rather than me telling them what to think. The playwrights work shopped the script with two young cast members. A lot of the dialogue and story beats are a result of their input - pretty awesome! Our young boys brought their personalities and their interpretation of what goes on between these two brothers, that's something we really wanted so they would own it.

Why do you not intend to do theatre or youth acting coaching going forward. What are you focusing on next for your career, what are your upcoming projects?

I've done a lot of theatre and loved it and I love seeing the next generation owning it, changing it up, burning for it. It feels good to move on for a while. I learnt a lot from coaching and was so inspired watching Jane, Alison, Taika - all of the directors I worked with. I'm a bit of a chicken talking about projects in the making especially when they're incomplete but there's a lot I'd love to do and I'm giving it a go, so... WOW! So mysterious. Sorry.

What are your top tips for film-makers and theatre directors working with children?

If you see it as hard, it will be.

What are your top tips for aspiring child actors and caregivers?

Process is cool. 

Any resources or courses you can recommend for either?

Be brave and try stuff out like classes etc that might be at school or close to your neighborhood or be really brave and just make stuff up with your friends, write a play, make a film. It’s all possible. 

What’s your big idea for 2016?

Time travel.

• Rachel House directs the new Silo Theatre production Medea, playing now until 9 July at the Herald Theatre.

Silo Theatre presents Medea
Written by Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks 
Original concept by Anne-Louise Sarks after Euripides
Directed by Rachel House
Performance: Quinn Bevan, Aedan Burmester, Levi Kereama, Joe Valentine & Bronwyn Bradley
Design: John Verryt, Kristin Seth, Leon Radojkovic

This is the New Zealand premiere of this adaptation of Medea, penned by Australian theatre-makers Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks. This contemporary update of Euripides’ classic text radically shifts perspective to that of the previously unheard children of Medea. 

It was devised with the original young cast who Anne-Louise says, “gave us the precious gift of seeing again.” The play originated at Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre in 2012 before having a London season in 2015 at Gate Theatre. It was met with widespread critical acclaim and received multiple awards, including the 2012 Sydney Theatre Award for Best New Australian Work and the 2013 Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Stage Play. 

About Rachel

Rachel was born in Auckland but raised in Kamo, Whangarei by her Glaswegian immigrant parents John and Sheila House. After many failed attempts at sport she was lovingly but firmly pushed into Ballet, Piano, Classical singing, speech and drama lessons - drama being the only one that really stuck.

She graduated from Toi Whakaari (New Zealand Drama School) in 1992 and went straight on to work with Pacific Underground Theatre and then Auckland Theatre Company on Roger Hall’s By Degrees.

Since then she has performed in 28 plays including Manawa Taua/Savage Hearts, Waiora, Wit, Beauty and the Beast and The Worlds Wife - many of these productions touring nationally and internationally.

She has won the Chapman Tripp (1995) Most Promising Female Newcomer of the Year Award for Briar Grace-Smiths' one-woman show Nga Pou Wahine, (2002) Most Outstanding Performance for Witi Ihimaera's Woman Far Walking and (2003) Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Ibsen's Enemy of the People.

Rachel has also performed in the international award winning feature films Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, Eagle vs. Shark and Whale Rider. Behind the scenes she was the acting coach for the child actors in Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. She has also appeared in numerous television productions including the BBC/South Pacific Pictures co-production of Maddigans Quest and the Christchurch Earthquake miniseries, Hope and Wire. 

In 2001, Rachel directed Mitch Tawhi Thomas' play Have Car Will Travel, which won her Director of the Year at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards and Best Director in the New Zealand Listener awards.

Since then she has gone on to direct several productions including Neil LaBute’s The Mercy Seat, Tusiata Avia's Wild Dogs under my Skirt, Kirk Torrence’s Flintlock Musket, Makerita Urale’s Frangipani Perfume which toured Canada, the festival of the Dreaming in Brisbane and the Cambridge festival in the UK, Gavin Bishop’s Hinepau which she also helped to adapt for the stage and toured in Aotearoa and Australia. For Silo Theatre, she directed the 2013 Auckland Arts Festival co-production of Mitch Tawhi Thomas’ Hui to rave reviews and sold-out houses. 

In 2012, Rachel was the Artistic Director with co-director James Webster of the highly successful Te Reo Maori version of Shakespeare's historical masterpiece, Troilus and Cressida at the Globe Theatre, England.

In 2008, Rachel attended the Prague film school and was awarded Best Director for her first short film Bravo and the Best Film audience award for her second short New Skirt.
In 2010, Rachel directed Kylie Meehan's short film The Winter Boy produced by Hineani Melbourne for the NZFC's Premiere Shorts. This went on to be selected for the NZ Film Festival, International de Films de Femmes Creteil, Saint Tropez Festival in France, Kyoto Children's Film Festival in Japan, the Hawaii International Film Festival and the Dreamspeakers Festival in Canada.

Rachel has years of experience in radio and as a voice artist for television including projects for The Natural History Unit. She was a regular panelist for Ask your Aunties on Maori television, a television director for cinco cines Korero mai and had a published piece in Huia's Short Stories 3. She is also a part time tutor at the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts (PIPA).

Rachel received an Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2012.  The Laureate Award is an investment in excellence across a range of art forms for an artist with prominence and outstanding potential for future growth. Their work is rich but their richest work still lies ahead of them. The Award recognises a moment in the artists' career that will allow them to have their next great success.