Episode 5 - Richard Crawford - Theatre Director - Secret Theatre

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Welcome to the second episode of season 2! The SINGERS, ACTORS, WRITERS and INFLUENCERS showcase on a global scale!
Richard Crawford is the Artistic Director of Secret Theatres!

His company is hugely successful, having immersive theatre shows operating in the US, London, HK, Singapore and India to name a few.

His latest venture is Redemption Room https://www.redemption... for tickets. An online film project that where audience members a can join the action from all around the world. The trailer can be found at the end of the video.

Richard Crawford:
IG:   / richard_crawford_director 
  / secret_theatre 
FB:   / rich1888 
Secret Theatre FB:   / secrettheatreglobal 

Host Warren Adams - Warren Telling Tales
Website https://warrentellingtales.buzzsprout.com/
IG:   / warrentelli...​   or   / warrenadams...​  
Facebook :   / warren.adams...​  

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

a six week six week old baby yeah and uh which was pretty mad the timing of that coinciding with the timing of opening like a new online film uh experience uh which we've never done before so there's a lot of like new new new new elements to my life right now um so yeah it's been pretty nuts I'm not gonna lie yeah no I've uh I've been through the uh I mean I'm still sort of going through it but I've got two two young kids myself and I remember that that first period is um yeah I mean it's new challenges every five seconds but yeah that's uh it's uh it's a difficult one particularly when you Yeah I think you know and you think because everyone's done it right you know like your parents you know you know my my you know my dad you know somebody who I wouldn't say is the most skilled craftsman in the world uh the most able person perhaps I'm like well if he can do it you know and now I've just got a huge newfound respect for anyone who's done it you know like I walk down the street and I see a mum with two kids I'm like shit like give that woman a fucking medal because it's um nothing can prepare you for it um and um but you know it's it it's it's an amazing thing um and it's nothing could prepare you for how amazing it is and how ridiculous it is as well because it just changes changes everything overnight really you know it does it does it does oh yeah no I've got uh I've got one kid that's uh approaching four it's his fourth birthday very soon and I was out trying to uh to find him something half decent for his birthday so uh and then my other one is turning two in May um but thankfully they're both in school at the moment so it gives me a chance to uh to get some work done and uh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so you're in you're in Spain right yeah yeah we we we moved to I had a show running in London about a year ago um when everything got kind of cancelled obviously um and we were already planning on moving to Spain um to San Sebastian I'd lived in London I'd lived in cities my whole life um and we kind of thought we wanted to change a pace and I travel so much with the shows that rather that and my shows will always be in in large cities so we thought it'd be nicer to be able to come back to somewhere with a completely different you know it's not about the hustle here it's not about the career here no one gives a shit it's about enjoying life it's about long lunches it's about it's it's all about um you know kind of you know having a more kind of enjoyable life you know that's a southern Italian French and uh and and kind of Spanish way which is which is quite appealing as you get a little bit older when you know the grind of London or the hustle of New York just doesn't isn't that appealing anymore you know yeah yeah yeah no I I totally feel that I went uh I'm I'm now in Sweden myself and uh after living in Hong Kong for five years coming here it's just a completely different uh pace and you know there's fun how come you're in Sweden how come my wife is uh my wife is Swedish uh and she's from from Gothenburg so I I've been here quite a few times over the years uh but um we lived in London for a very long time before moving to Hong Kong so similarly we we had the the the hustle and bustle and we lived in these these huge cities and then um when the kids came we were sort of like we were living out in Discovery Bay I mean you you may have you may be familiar with it um yeah exactly so uh so yeah that was um that was it was it was nice I really enjoyed it out there and it was a lot of fun uh but when uh as the kids were starting to get older we were like maybe maybe we can try something a little different for a while and uh and see how that goes um so yeah so now we're in Gothenburg we've got a little uh Stuga uh which is uh sort of Swedish for summer house like a mini mini cabin in the forest which is super remote so we we're not there all the time but it's nice to get out there and uh and you know enjoy the enjoy the wildlife and you know the forests and that but uh so Sebastian San Sebastian my um my wife actually was there for quite a while she was doing a um a dance project there many years ago she's she's not dancing now but she was uh a professional dancer for a while and um so I went out to see her quite on a few occasions and I absolutely love it there it's such a nice uh beautiful place super chill as you said and uh it it rained quite a lot when I was there is it is it it does it rain a lot generally or is it uh oh would you get a favorite of some channel as well I'm Scottish so for me it's shock call mate it's not I'm wearing a t-shirt right now you can see the rain I'm wearing a t-shirt so for me it's all right here is like it can rain a little bit but you know the summers are hot and um you know it's uh it it does rain that is a kind of frustrating thing about it I was a bit like why did we move here but you know like you my wife is Spanish she's from the Basque country so it made sense if you want to have a kid rather than trying to go alone in one of these big cities you know so it makes sense for a lot of other reasons but yeah it does it can rain it can rain but you get like you get like the proper four seasons in in one day and then it's you know and then it's then it's beautiful and and it's kind of run by kids and the older people like you got you see guys like 60 years old tearing into the sea you know which is quite inspiring you know and young kids surfing and skateboarding and and doing all that kind of stuff so it's it's an interesting place and it's got like a big film festival it has a kind of um yeah which is similar to Cannes I guess so it has a it has a it has just enough to keep it keep it like you know interesting um and and yeah the food's amazing so yeah it's great nice nice nice um cool so I um I'm really happy to have uh Richard on for for for those that aren't familiar with your work I'm sure there aren't there aren't many people out there that are not familiar with your work but Richard is uh the artistic director of Secret Theatre uh which is a phenomenal immersive theatre company uh they've traveled all around the world doing these shows um and that they are they are they are brilliant um I I was uh very close to to being in one of your shows which I which I was uh super gutted I couldn't do in the end um but I had a lot of friends that were that were involved I had Candice who's actually been on the podcast as well um who was who was directing and and acting in it and uh Hamish Campbell who who who came on board and uh Barry I've weard a lot of familiar names and faces for me and uh um but but your work is is is phenomenal and you've got a brand new show coming out which as you said at the beginning is online um and so what were were there any uh did you face what sort of challenges did you face when you were creating this huge online where do I begin yeah where do I begin um and the challenges that I'm facing on a daily basis every show every joke show has its problems and every show is almost a miracle to pull off including the one that I did in Hong Kong that um you know we talked to you about being a part of at Tycoon you know um but the online thing is is pretty crazy because what we wanted to do was you know we've done shows in different cities in the world so we thought we'd have sort of characters from each city in the world and do it live from different time zones.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

So it's it's kind of an it's kind of a nightmare to program from that perspective because you've got to put it on at different times. Also um people from my company you know it's about live performance right so um and this is a new online thing and I think there's a lot of uncertainty about what exactly it is and what exactly I'm gonna gonna do in this thing because how do you make you know my currency is immersive you know that's what I've I wanted you know all those years ago when I was studying theatre as an actor and stuff and you know I wanted to kind of cross that line to make it more interesting and see if you you could make theater progressive which of course it has now I think immersive everyone's aware of what that is there's loads of different versions of it. So making it live has been difficult programming has been difficult and making it an experience where when you watch it you can get involved is tricky. And yeah so and and also the the nature of the world just now with obtaining props and costumes and and having to direct something with covet regulations and having to be really aware of that is is is a real challenge. And you know but we we just felt we don't know when we're going to be able to open the doors again for live live theatre um I mean London is still if you're looking at Broadway or the West End as kind of a a sign of of when things are going to happen well then they're not talking they're talking about summer maybe so it's a long time for us not to be in operation. So we felt it was a good time to create something and also people can watch it at home. Yeah yeah which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Amazing that is amazing um and uh so can can you uh explain to our listeners very briefly like how the you know how it how it how it's gonna work like how do they actually enjoy this immersive experience through I I presume it's run uh through Zoom or or or a similar platform to that. Yeah so how how does it actually work?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

How do people get in into it and and and and enjoy the show so it's redemption room um I we wanted to do a play on something that we could all attach ourselves to now like celebrity culture. So we have these um six characters who are kind of disgraced that we're gonna put through their paces on a kind of dark version a black mirror version of the Hunger Games if you like right so we've got a politician in London um a disgraced athlete in in New York a disgraced comedian in Sydney etc etc a DJ in Mumbai and these guys are going to all come into the studio so when you if you bought your ticket today you can actually go into the website and start messaging these people straight away so you can message Addison in New York and ask her why she's going on the program why she why she took steroids at the Olympics because they've all got a little bit of a backstory um you know why why the DJ why the the the um the comedian told that racist joke that got him cancelled so straight away they can kind of build a relationship and a rapport with these guys um and then um when the show begins you can there's a chat box and there's you can you vote live on what you want these characters to do.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

And then we we've got a bit of a twist on it where kind of it turns into a bit of a kind of horror thriller experience where you see kind of um a kind of uh a horror thriller experience unfold live um for these guys on this kind of um platform so it's that like the tour mood of it would be like a kind of episode of Black Mirror um but live um and um yeah it's it's it's it's something that's it should be a lot of fun you know yeah yeah if you like horror films you know yeah wow yeah no I I mean a lot of your shows are uh from what I've seen are quite um they're intense they're spooky they keep you on the edge of your seat they keep you thinking but also that the audience have such a massive part to play in the production and I think that's such a such an an awesome aspect to it that they they're not just coming to sit down and and and and take a look at a bit of theatre and and you know uh have a bit of food and and you know whatever it is it is sort of like an all-round you could well you can come in you can have a little bite to eat beforehand but then they are thrown into this world and then you know they have such power over the final conclusion and how it all sort of how it all sort of works itself out and it's just um it's super exciting. I can't wait uh to I definitely want to jump in to one of these rooms and and take a look myself um but how let's jump back a little bit how did uh how did it all come about in the first place for you this this concept of uh you know the secret theater the immersive theater is that something you've always wanted to do or did it just sort of did you see an avenue or like a a you know an an aspect you could jump on or yeah what was the the initial journey for though for those that you know might be interested in doing something similar themselves how did how did you get into that in in in the first place what what was the sort of driving force for it um well I was an actor and I was in London and I was a I was I would say a struggling actor but a lot an actor's life really is a struggle um as you know it's a hustle um and um I found it difficult and expensive to kind of um keep doing uh acting classes uh so I started doing stand-up comedy not because I thought I was particularly funny or I had good material but I could create these characters and it meant that I could write I could direct and I could practice acting which in common comedians you know fall into two categories really realism or they create a character of themselves.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

So one of the things I loved doing when I did that was the interacting with the audience. So I thought that was really interesting and really fun and something that they really enjoyed doing rather than just seeing a guy stand up there cracking jokes was actually bring them into it. And I loved that part of stand up comedy. I got a show in uh a play in New York so then I was in New York and then I started attended the Lee Strasberg Institute acting studio while I was there and I was looking at method acting whilst doing a bit of stand-up comedy and I was like you know met some really interesting people there. We ended up moving into a big 2000 square foot warehouse where like kind of photo shoots and movies were being filmed and me and a couple of my friends were like we should totally do you know a live live theater here. So we started doing live shows um and we started progressing them and and then they became a little bit immersive um because we just wanted to to be progressive move away from Broadway you know when I was living in New York no one could afford no one went to see new plays on Broadway. It wasn't something that um young actors or artists were doing because they couldn't afford it. And I think a lot of the shows weren't that maybe appealing anyway. So we were like can we do something that appeals to people that make up the fabric of the city rather than tourists people who wouldn't normally go to see plays and get them involved so they can talk to the characters and the actors um and we just kept pushing it and pushing it. And then you know we ended up doing really cool shows there. We did a Edward scissor hands production in line with when Tim Burton had a show on at the MoMA where you kind of you know it was in a secret location and Edward was there walking around and um people were kind of loving it. So I just felt like it was something we could just kind of keep pushing and then yeah and then move back to London and kept it going kept it going and and then you know it moved just just moved on from there. So it's kind of like this sort of natural progression from seeing audiences wanting people want watching stuff wanting to interact now wanting to get more involved bringing it into theater and then really just just pushing it. And it is sometimes it is a real challenge to create something um that works because it needs to work you know and sometimes in the early days it didn't um and then you know the last few years we've had success because we've through trial and error we kind of know what we're doing now. Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Wow um that's that's awesome um so okay cool uh how how did you overcome any uh any challenges that you faced in those early days you mentioned that you know sometimes it didn't quite work out for for other people out there that might be at the beginning of their their journey as as you will in terms of creating theatre for for themselves and others um what was the what was the the how did you get around that how did you get around those particular challenges that you faced um well I mean if like early shows so I did an immersive uh we did an immersive reservoir dogs in London um um and I love reservoir dogs and and I and I I wanted to change it up I didn't want it to be a bunch of white guys so like you know when I was looking at because when I change these adaptations I always set them there in the town they're in.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

So for example in in London you know like Mr. White was black and Mr. Pink was a girl and the gang had a really different feel to it and I really loved the show but making that immersive was almost like Mission Impossible. So you and and some of the actors didn't get on and there was a lot of tension around that. So when you're running it or creating it like me you you need to roll it it's it's really tough but you you have to roll the punches and you have to get through it. You have to get through um bad reviews you have to get get through um it it being a new concept so actors not really getting it like oh wait a minute you want me to start talking to the audience now um so that side of it was really difficult with Reservoir Dogs and it felt like you know when you when actors were falling out and the reviews weren't great there was like this this problem. But then the other side of it was it was selling out and people were audiences were really enjoying it and um we extended the run. So I could see that there was a taste for it um but I needed to take a big break after that and take a big deep breath and go, okay, like how do I make it so that it's an enjoyable experience for everyone and that it is it's it's effective so that um it it will get you know recognized so that the the actors can enjoy those shows as well. And you have to in London you had to get through a lot of problems. A lot of traditional theatre critics still to this day will come and savage my shows because they don't like the idea of immersive theatre they don't like that it's they think it's a bit of a gimmick they think it's kind of ruining you know taking away the traditional four walls of of theatre which I love but it's just it's just uh it's just another concept and it's something that's progressive. But when you do something progressive and new you're always going to face a bit of criticism. But if people come then it kind of spurns you on just to keep going and you know by the end of it you know the casts are all getting on the cast are all seeing it and I'm like biting my lip because I felt I didn't push it kind of far enough. But now I could and and I didn't know all the answers then. Now I can sit in a room with like the guys in Hong Kong in Tycoon and they go wait a minute at this point 150 people get up and try and dismantle a bomb how the hell is that going to work and I can say this is how it's gonna work because I've got the experience but in the early days you had to kind of go trust me and I was like you know I was young you know I was directing some of these shows 28 29 years old you know some shows directing older guys who've been there and done it in London and having to have a kind of thick skin which was difficult. So you got to roll with criticism you got to roll punches got to believe in what you're doing and um and persevere and then believe in the believe in the projects and then you know now it's just been you know the last few years have been really really kind of um successful for us until COVID.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

That's so cool. So um well there we go guys so it you know there's there's gonna be challenges uh you know creating and making new theater particularly if it's moving away from you know uh conventional theater quotation marks um but to be strong to be to be to believe in what you're doing uh and and to sort of you know push push through those initial challenges and barriers and then on the on the end of that on the other side of that you know it once you uh have the experience and then and the know-how it it all sort of starts to fall into place um but persistence and and tenacity seem to be uh pretty key in the early days for for Richard um can you can you talk to us a little bit about your experience uh in New York and at the the Lee Strasbourg Theatre School because I myself personally have always had this sort of admiration for that school for for many reasons but but largely my two of my favorite actors back in the day Pacino and De Niro obviously trained there and Meryl Streep and there's just so many huge names coming out of that school um so I've always had this admiration for for the school and it's a place that I would have loved to have gone to I mean I could still potentially go one day who knows but um but how was that time for you and did did you what was the experience like how what were the teachers like you know I mean was it an enjoyable experience or or or or or not so much it was it was it was it was the you know I come from a small town in Scotland so for me I've always been like if I am well like when I first moved to London and I was just trying to be an actor that was like enough and when I was in like going to an audition not getting the park when I was going to an audition in Times Square I was just like wow so that can that kind of helped me and then when I when I went to Lee Strasbourg and started taking classes it was it was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

I mean you've got the Marilyn Moreau theater you've got the pictures and all the walls of all these you know Marilyn Monroe De Niro whoever all these guys who who went there you've got teachers who talk about you know stories about you know their acting was Gene Hackman and how Lee Strasberg developed his um his his warm-up techniques and how he developed all his um all his approaches to acting the huge misconception with method acting now is people go you know you'll they'll take someone like uh Shia LaBeouf and they'll go he's a method actor because he plays he's playing an alcoholic guy who is a killer so he goes out at night and he gets drunk in his car and he kills you know rodents or whatever he got found out for doing recently which is just like the opposite of what it is you know it's taking um like it's taking um your self-life experiences and putting it into into like real life kind of drama so it was really interesting seeing some of the uh teachers um pull that out of um an actor and an act or an actress and see them put that into a scene you know this whole like notion of it oh I'm I'm playing like a guy who's insomniac so I don't sleep is just really kind of that's kind of the the badge it's got now but none of those guys do that because as you know if you're if you're you know Lee Strasberg designed things for theatre so in theatre if you're doing eight shows a week and you want to hit if you're Marlon Brando and you're in street carning desire you want to hit those notes every night that's technique you know it's not a movie where you get loads of takes it's it's so there's so the technique is really interesting and it gives you quite a lot of tools um which um can work for can work for you but they might not a lot of actors who are very impulsive struggle with it um but it was you know mind-blowingly interesting and you know I really um you know one of my acting teachers she just passed away so if you if you went there in the next few years you'd still catch um teachers and directors who sat in rooms and you know taught Pacino or taught you know these guys and they have all these like insane stories that that are kind of like you know uh just so interesting like oh I remember you know Scarlett Johansson she couldn't get to the scene you know she was trying to trying too hard so I just went back to a moment in her life where she was really unhappy and and then and then you know it's it's it's that that side of it is really cool. So yeah it was it was an amazing experience and it inspired me to to really do my own thing and a lot of um teachers come a lot of actors who to come to the school and and talk to you right which is really cool because they're like really famous people James Gandalfini you know Tony Soprano and Michael Improliano who who played Tony Soprano's nephew Chris um and he was like you you know the advice he gave to everyone was start your own thing start your own thing because you're never going to consistently work and the the horrible thing about being an actor is we're not painters we're not musicians we need to be around people to act to to train you know we need to be around you know you need a script you need a director you need you can't just do it by yourself you know so he him and Pacino you know all these guys Kevin Spacey they all have small uh Philip Seymour Hoffman they all have small theatre companies in New York that's what's so interesting about New York as opposed to any other city including London that I've seen it has this huge world of small independent theatre and a lot of these big guys do it and it's because you know they get to play you know they get to play the roles you know Shylock you know Pacino wanted to be so I'll just do it in my own company the guy from the Sopranos he was constantly getting cast as like the Italian mafia guy well I can do more than that so I'm gonna start my own company and and and show that and people went because it was him but they saw him doing different things and that was that kind of inspired me as well to go right okay you know I was getting a little bit of work here and there in in New York but I was like I'm gonna start my own thing so that if I'm ever not working I I open my own show. So I'm surrounded by actors so I'm meeting costume designers all the time I'm in New York I'm meeting I'm that was my my whole network um so that that's always the advice I would give people is it's quite difficult to it sounded pretentious of me in London because I was doing so many different things I was in comedy I was working at a nightclub I was doing all the different things I didn't define myself as an actor but when I went to New York I could really do that. I woke up every morning I was like I'm an actor and when I wasn't working even if I was walking dogs or serving drinks or whatever I was doing I always had something up my sleeve I've got this show coming out I'm working on the script with my my company and then I would do my shows and then my shows took over my my my other my professional side of my agent so I ended up just doing just doing my shows so it's it's quite a kind of hard thing to do but I think that's not something that they drill into actors acting schools and um you know they they you just kind of fly out of these schools and you don't know the business of acting and you don't know how important it is to that skill of just with three or four of your friends to just start something new you can amazing plays of only four people in them and you can go to Edinburgh festival you can go at festivals all over the world that do shows cheap and just keep that kind of that kind of um maintenance of being an actor that can lead you into writing can lead you into directing and all that kind of stuff and they don't quite teach you to do that I think no no uh wow um do you miss it?

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Do you miss being in in in that world in in New York with all that going on around you or do you get to go back at at all?

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Well obviously outside of COVID but yeah I mean I was there you know I was there four or five years you know I was in London on and off for eight and I I miss I miss the people of course and I miss those um I I do miss I miss I miss that city for sure you know and I'm you know this but you know there's all these other cities you know I've lived I've done what it four or five shows in Hong Kong you know like I've lived in four or five different parts of Hong Kong I've got friends there now um I miss Sundays show in Singapore in Singapore as well right yeah we've done Singapore you know I've done Los Angeles and there's look and you know I always make friends in these cities and that's one of the cool things about today's world is that you know you have all these friends all over the world that you can connect to in social media but then you always kind of envy I always envy sort of people that you know stayed in this small town because they've got like this nucleus of like six real friends that are just always there. So yeah for sure some days I miss some days I miss it but it was a hustle I mean it was the the it was a lot those early years were a lot of hard work you know I mean great I was I was able to feel lucky and really enjoy them in the moment but that that that road to like becoming you know an artist is is is is pretty rocky in the early years um and um it took it took quite a lot out of me um so I'd love to go back now as a tourist um and kind of enjoy a nice holiday there I was actually planning on doing it when I'm one of the characters in redemption room is from New York Addison Blank so yeah I'd love to go back yeah yeah I had a similar feeling with London I still do have a similar feeling with London it was a hustle for me um but I also really enjoy uh enjoyed the city and I went back uh a friend of mine was got married about two years ago and I went back to to obviously for the wedding and then I was just there as a tourist I had a week and I just wandered around and saw all the nice you know nice coffee shops went to the theatre um went to the parks and it was just a it was a completely different feeling for me uh compared to what I had remembered about London which was you know being on the underground dealing with all the people and the pollution and blah blah blah blah blah but yeah that week just going back and having nothing really to do apart from obviously attend the wedding I uh um I I I had a really lovely uh experience and uh very fond memories now of London as a result of that but um cool all right so um when when is your new show uh the redemption room when does it uh open up it's towards the end of February right yeah I mean I think I think it's like in three weeks which is pretty scary um so so yeah I mean it's all I'm flying to London on or filming parts of it out of London out of a studio in London so I'm flying to London on Saturday um so yeah I mean it's um it's it's pretty it's a pretty crazy thing to come together um but you know it's one one of the interesting things is that for the first time in over a decade I'm not there's no audience there so the audience can it you know that's it's my currency it's what I do but it can be problematic right you've got hundreds of drunk people like attending your shows I mean I've had some like crazy experiences like for example in Hong Kong we had a show and the first part of it started on a boat so people went got went to a pier and then we put them on a boat and there was a bar on the boat so everyone got really drunk and then there was a bomb on the boat and then these boats came and had to take them off but I just didn't think I just didn't think we'd be that drunk and people were like jumping off the the this this boat onto a speedboat and like tearing to this like um this such this haunted house on in Lama Island in Hong Kong and every every night I was like they were like oh this is so cool this feels so dangerous and I was like I was like yeah don't worry we've got marines swimming around you guys can totally do this so um you know and uh they they loved it of course um but so this is the first time I don't have the audience there in a long time so it's gonna feel kind of it's more like directing a movie you know um my relationship with the actors and I've got to wear a mask and I'm gonna be directing a lot of people from in different rooms you know so it's uh it's gonna be it's gonna be totally unique and I think there's obviously a sadness there about that's where we're at um but it's how everyone is suffering everyone I mean as we know films and TV and everything's still being made it's just under kind of extreme kind of circumstances and um it's quite tough for me because I I do love that aspect of it like you know normally we have the read through and a nice venue and we go for drinks or whatever whereas this one you know everything's on Zoom and um you know I might not even I mean I probably will but I might not meet some of the actors which is crazy if you think of it. So bizarre so I'm interested to see how it goes.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Is it an experience uh providing it all goes well which I'm sure it will do is it would you consider running another production in this fashion in the future through the online medium or would are you desperate to get an audience back in again as soon as humanly possible or virus possible I mean to be honest I'm I I think we just all we've always got to take each day as it comes like I don't I mean we've got I've got a call on Thursday about a new show in Hong Kong because in Hong Kong you know we're doing really well we had a waiting list for the last show we you know it was probably our most successful numbers um but we're just this this just now keeps us in the game and one of the one of the amazing things about this is because it's online it's a lot cheaper so for example if you're a student in Hong Kong you know you might not be able to go to Tycoon because it wasn't the cheapest ticket.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Whereas and a lot of young people you know they don't want to I don't know get dressed up and do the immersive stuff. So this opens us up to a new audience who don't necessarily like live immersive shows not everyone loves it you know um and it also means that it's nuts that on you know the opening night we sold tickets in Sydney and Mumbai and Delhi and in um you know Bali in in in Singapore and San Diego Chicago Glasgow you know in Scotland so it's like it's an insane insane and in a really cool way that you're you're you're able to show people kind of what you're doing in all these different cities that you would never get the chance to normally go to so I'm seeing the value in that um and um I think it's something you know this is an experience it's experimental it's immersive it's live it's uh really it's a really cool concept they've got some really interesting guys working on it got one of the stunt guys uh from Vikings the TV show Vikings don't give too much away but I think we're gonna set someone on fire um you know we've got magician doing some work on it I've got um you know a sort of a woman from a horror movie that I really like for one little bit so it's it's it's a really cool fun experience for me so I'm gonna try and just really really enjoy it and I think that's as as challenging as it is you know whatever whatever happens with this because I need to you know I need to go back to the early days because this might you know might people might not enjoy this it could might not be a commercial critical success um but just for us to give people the opportunity to do something because like London is on total lockdown right they can't there's cinemas everything's closed you know so this is something that everyone in in the in the United Kingdom um can can check out you know in in Europe as well it's not exactly fun and games anywhere in the world right now um so we're we're putting something out there that I don't know about you but you know my wife and I were we're kind of so bored of um Netflix and Amazon you know what we're gonna watch now is like it's scary it's a struggle to find anything on Netflix for me at the moment um yeah everyone's going on about the uh the the the um the show about chess the get the gambit one i can't remember the full title pretty good is it good yeah it's worth watching because i'm really struggling for something i yeah i would watch that um i watched uh i love that show euphoria don't know if you saw that with the young girls and dai and then she just did a uh uh a kind of a theatrical film on netflix uh i think it's called markham mode um i watched that last night that was pretty good but like we've just watched everything and we're just you know I'd love to do I'd I'd love to do this is what this is when you know you're in a good place because I would love to watch what I'm putting out there I want I want to I want to connect with my friends say can we watch this together guys um in all these different cities I want to hit the lights I love horror and thriller films um you know I think it's just a nice it's a nice escape you know I'm not doing a drama I'm not doing a whatever it's just an escape from from the reality that we live in right now which is which is a really tough you know reality you know I think a lot of I mean actors must be you know I've been trying to keep in contact and touching base with them because you know very unique um people actors people who think that they're you know very confident and it takes confidence to go out on a stage or do a film but a lot of that confidence comes from being able to be someone else because you aren't always the happiest in your own skin and you can be quite introverted but be a very like flamboyant actor you know um so it's been you know it's been really cool to give people the opportunity to work on this these actors um so yeah I'm excited yeah yeah I am too I I want to get a ticket for sure it sounds great but but what what will you always do horror or or have you considered another another genre or is it is it always gonna be this sort of like uh the yeah the the horror style well I mean I did we did um we did an immersive Romeo and Juliet in London which is of course a tragedy um and but I you know I guess I do feel like I'm connected to kind of darker horror violent maybe material um but I always try and find um I think the best people that do it you know you can laugh out loud in a in a in a Tarantino film. You can enjoy from Dustal Dawn Robert Rodriguez's horror film which is one of my favorites which I've done adaptations of which is like you know vampires um meets gangster meets a comedy you know you know so it's it's people can have a laugh you know I don't you know it's not just it's not just that kind of you know create something dark but I think that it's just I think it's the escape that people like they like something kind of dark mysterious um you know I don't know if if if I did an immersive comedy or drama just straight drama how how that how it could kind of work you know unless it had horror horror and tragic elements to it um but yeah I wouldn't rule anything out yeah yeah yeah nice so if uh if our listeners would like to uh reach out to you say hi or if they're interested in coming to uh or jumping online and and watching the redemption room what what's the best way for people to to get in in touch with you well I get messages from actors all the time on Instagram and I don't I don't mind to be honest. It actually comes in handy for example like I had a girl message me like hey if you're ever looking for actors um I was actually trying to find I just when I wrote this redemption room had a specific look in mind for this athlete uh from America and she has a British passport she's American she's really good for the role and I wouldn't have got her in the in the show if she hadn't contacted me so I'm on Instagram Richard Crawford director um and the comp my company's secret features is just www.secretfeatresplural.com and you can see information on redemption room and you can see some of the shows we've done before and um I think there's a there's a contact uh on that website which you know uh goes through to a different department but can come back to me if it's uh an actor or you know I was an actor myself so I know the hustle for it and I know the kind of I don't know the cringe of like oh you know contacting directors contacting companies but you know we are a company that are fine with it.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

Cool. Very good there we go guys nice and easy um I'll put all of the links down that you mentioned uh in the description for the podcast itself so uh they'll be able to see that through YouTube and uh whatever podcast platform they use. Um good so before we go Rich I know you're very very busy and you've got a young baby that's probably somewhere at home I imagine um I don't know what it is but um we're gonna play a little game if you don't mind uh would you rather I'm gonna ask you five questions uh don't give it too much thought the first thing that pops into your head uh are you ready to roll yeah good good all right number one would you rather sing like an opera star or cook like a gourmet chef uh great question um ah cook like a gourmet chef very good I like it number two would you rather be able to breathe underwater or fly through the air uh breathe underwater nice would you rather um eat pizza or ice cream is the only food for eternity I I went through a stage uh when I was living in New York where I ate pizza for an eternity actually I used to live off one dollar slices so I'd go for ice cream okay very good um okay let's uh slightly morbid question but if you could choose the way that you die end this life how would it be how would it be done um I think like you know really overweight in the south of France in a house surrounded by kind of grandkids a bit like uh Vito Corleone a huge lunch and my heart finally goes enough but I'm just so content and fat I just kind of dribble died I think that'd be I think I think that's how I'd like to go nice some so maybe some dollar slice pizzas surrounded uh somewhere in there as well yeah yeah yeah good good and last but not least if you could do one thing to make the world a better place what would it be um I think it would be to get more interesting uh humane people into politics I think that uh that's the the the politicians are that we have and that we vote in in Britain in Hong Kong in America are uh I don't I don't know what we're thinking you know I think more people need to more interesting honest people need to stop doing the arts or anything else um athletics or whatever they find themselves doing and get into politics so we actually have some decent options of some real people and make a real difference love it all right and very lastly Richard um with all of my guests I'm asking for their final thoughts uh a way to approach life a way to deal with difficult circumstances a way to embrace positive and negative uh change um can you give us one thing your final thought that that hope you know ideally uplifting and inspiring for our listeners out there yeah I mean I think that I think something that changed my life was um I just moved to America I and I got given a dog right really in in really weird circumstances

SPEAKER_01 44:00

And he's now like 11 years old. And that completely transformed my life because then I needed to live next to parks. I need to start each day. I need to start each day walking my dog and having a coffee. I can't rush into work, rush onto my phone. I can't do anything of that. And it's such a simple way of giving like a small, cute thing. I always wanted like a big tough dog. He's like this small ball of fur. So every day I have to start in nature. And it kind of changed my outlook on a lot of things. I didn't, I could process my thoughts, be around nature, be with my dog. He's loyal to me. He'll never leave me. He'll never steal from me. He's like the best, the best thing ever. So I think like that would be my advice is to be just to those little simple things in life. And and it's probably why I've never had therapy or anything like that, because I do feel like I've had this connect, I've taken him everywhere. He's been everywhere. He was actually in a couple of shows. Oh, amazing. Um, so yeah, I think that's that's kind of um, you know, those kind of simple um solutions to to to quite dramatic problems. Because, you know, it like I said, you know, I had a bit of a tough time in life, and it kind of changed a lot of things for me. That kind of relationship with him.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

Very good. Love it. All right, there you go, guys. That is Richard Crawford, and your we're gonna uh post all the links for our listeners to jump on and and and hopefully come and see your show, or or just to say hello. Um, thank you very much for joining us today, Richard. I really appreciate it. And uh I wish wish you all all the best with uh the redemption room. And I'm gonna uh do my best to to jump on and watch it as well.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

So please do, please do let me know your thoughts. Okay, guys, take care.