Nightsong

Nightsong is an independent theatre company based in Auckland, New Zealand (Aotearoa). It describes itself as a company of risk-takers whose work pushes boundaries and aims to excite and surprise audiences with what is possible theatrically. Its productions are characterised by high production values and a distinctive blend of rich poetic language with music, visual arts, puppetry, illusion and choreographed movement — an approach that treats theatre as the ideal space to incorporate all art forms. The company's roots lie in earlier collaborations. Director Ben Crowder trained at The John Bolton Theatre School in Melbourne and later set up Theatre Stampede with Vanessa Chapple, creating works including The Young Baron, Blossom and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 2005 he began collaborating with Carl Bland and Peta Rutter from Nightsong Productions, making Head and 360 — a theatre of recollections. Crowder and Bland continued working together, and in 2017 they officially formed Nightsong. Their joint productions include Te Pō, Spirit House, Mr Red Light, The Worm, A Stab in the Dark and I Want To Be Happy. Nightsong presents its work to New Zealand audiences and positions itself within the cultural landscape of Aotearoa. Alongside mainstage productions, the company runs an education strand aimed at young minds, operates an online store selling artworks, publications and merchandise, and invites supporters to join a supporters' alliance through which donations directly contribute to the future of Nightsong and the country's cultural landscape. The company acknowledges the support of funders and partners without whom, it says, it could not present its work. As an independent, not-for-profit-style arts organisation, Nightsong is privately constituted rather than publicly listed. Its public identity rests on the creative partnership of Crowder and Bland and on a body of original New Zealand theatre that mixes narrative, visual spectacle and music.

Nightsong's history begins with a series of collaborations rather than a single founding moment. Director Ben Crowder trained at The John Bolton Theatre School in Melbourne. After graduating, he set up Theatre Stampede with Vanessa Chapple, and together they created a range of works including The Young Baron, Blossom and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 2005, Crowder began collaborating with Carl Bland and Peta Rutter from Nightsong Productions. Together they made Head and 360 — a theatre of recollections. This collaboration proved formative: Carl and Ben continued to work together over the following years, developing a shared artistic language that would eventually be formalised as a company. In 2017, Crowder and Bland officially formed Nightsong. The company's subsequent productions include Te Pō, Spirit House, Mr Red Light, The Worm, A Stab in the Dark and I Want To Be Happy. These works reflect the company's stated ambition to push boundaries and to mix rich poetic language with music, visual arts, puppetry, illusion and choreographed movement. Beyond its mainstage work, Nightsong has built an ecosystem around its productions: an education strand that reaches young minds, an online store offering artworks, publications and merchandise, and a supporters' alliance through which donations are directed to the company's future and to the cultural landscape of Aotearoa. The company publicly acknowledges its funders and partners as essential to its ability to present work. As of the available evidence, Nightsong remains an active independent theatre company based in Auckland, New Zealand, led artistically by Ben Crowder and rooted in his long-running creative partnership with Carl Bland.

• 2017

  Ben Crowder and Carl Bland officially form Nightsong.

• 2005

  Ben Crowder begins collaborating with Carl Bland and Peta Rutter from Nightsong Productions, creating Head and 360.

Independent, boundary-pushing New Zealand theatre with high production values, blending poetic language with music, visual arts, puppetry, illusion and choreographed movement.

• Te Pō

• Spirit House

• Mr Red Light

• The Worm

• A Stab in the Dark

• I Want To Be Happy

• Head

• 360

• Peter Pan

• Store

• Supporters' alliance
• Touching the lives of young minds

1. 1Innovators of Independent New Zealand Theatrenightsong.co.nz
2. 2About — Nightsongnightsong.co.nz
3. 3Nightsongwikidata.org