EBKM: Exploring every corner of creative practice

Eleanor Bishop & Karin McCracken (EBKM) are an award winning partnership of theatre makers who have been making work together since 2017. They make high quality, socially minded, formally innovative contemporary theatre for a range of audiences in New Zealand and abroad, and they develop their work through extensive research and in consultation with audiences, social agencies and academics, as well as long-term collaboration with designers and performers. 

Eleanor Bishop is a director and writer and Karin McCracken is a writer and performer. Their works include Heartbreak Hotel, Gravity & Grace, and Yes Yes Yes, and have toured across Aotearoa, as well as Australia, Canada, the USA, Serbia, Iceland, Germany and the UK. Yes Yes Yes has been translated and licensed by companies in Wales and Catalonia, with forthcoming translations from Brazil and Hungary.

EBKM is a force in contemporary performance. Their work is cinematic, literary, visceral, and deeply invested in the possibilities of live performance as both a storytelling and social influencer.

The Hannah is proud to be hosting EBKM as residents in 2025, giving them access to the space as a theatre and performance lab; allowing them to work on new and existing projects and affording them the time and space to develop their practice. 

“We’ve been working together since 2017,” says Eleanor, “and we’re interested in contemporary performance, social commentary, adaptations of literature and mining the memoir of our lives to make shows.” It’s a focus that has produced critically acclaimed works like the award-winning Gravity & Grace, an adaptation of Chris Kraus’s writing, and Heartbreak Hotel, a visually stunning and emotionally reflective production that has toured internationally.

But the journey to making world-class work hasn’t been without its challenges. 

“We weren't successful in receiving annual funding last year, like we had done in the past,” Karin says. “We found ourselves touring internationally but unable to afford making work at home. It felt so grim. So sad.”

At the same time, a long-standing relationship with Wellington City Council and The Hannah had been quietly maturing. EBKM was offered a 12-month residency at The Hannah Playhouse, now publicly operating as a performance lab, as well as a theatre.

For Eleanor and Karin, the residency was more than symbolic. “It’s grounding,” says Eleanor. “You’ve got a key. Your bag goes there. You feel at home. That sense of belonging makes everything else easier.” And when it doesn’t have to be about comfort, it can be about creation. “Any time you spend wrangling space, discomfort, logistics… is time you’re not spending on the work. And the work is always better when it has more time,” says Karin.

Their shows aren’t devised in isolation. They are collaborative and design-led, integrating projection, light, sound, and physical space in complex and sophisticated ways. “We’re working with such integrated design that access to a theatre at an early point is crucial,” Karin explains. “You just can’t make a show like Heartbreak Hotel in a community hall.”

The Hannah, in that sense, isn’t just a venue or a base. Its new identity as a performance lab signals something bold: that Wellington is a city not just of consumption, but of creation. And in that laboratory, EBKM have quietly been refining a shared creative language among their recurring collaborators, people like actor Simon Leary, and producer Melanie Hamilton, who are considered part of the company’s extended creative family.

“It’s like a band that’s played together for years,” Eleanor says. “We’re developing a language of making that wouldn’t exist without places like The Hannah.”

The impact of that support is measurable. Gravity & Grace, which had some early support from Wellington City Council, won not only critical acclaim but a major design award; one typically reserved for architecture. Heartbreak Hotel, developed at The Hannah, is now touring internationally. “People always talk about how integrated the design and writing and performance is in that show,” Karin notes. “And that’s because we had time in the theatre. There’s a direct correlation.”

EBKM’s success speaks to something deeper: the place of performing arts in the cultural and civic identity of Aotearoa New Zealand. Wellington may have a reputation for its vibrant arts scene, but the reality is often more precarious. Independent companies like EBKM are often lauded in public, even awarded, while privately navigating unstable funding and limited infrastructure.

The residency at The Hannah, then, was not just a gift, it was a lifeline. And the courage to speak honestly about that need was what made the difference. “We’d just won Production of the Year for Gravity & Grace,” Karin recalls. “And I said to Eleanor, if we win, we need to say how ridiculous it is that we can’t afford to make work here.” 

“That moment led to conversations,” Eleanor says. “And credit to the City Council, they were overt about wanting to keep talent in the city. They asked, ‘What can we do to help?’ It’s so rare. But it’s the kind of support that makes all the difference.”

As for The Hannah’s new identity as a performance lab, one that isn’t open every night, but rather supports the industry by incubating ideas behind closed doors, both artists are enthusiastic.

“It’s cool,” says Eleanor. “It’s like when musicians say they’re in the studio. People understand that something’s being made. There’s mystery, intrigue. It’s a lab. We’re cooking.”

That reframe is powerful. It invites the public to understand theatre-making and performance not just as entertainment but as a full, end-to-end creative process. As something researched, tested, refined, and finally shared. It helps to clarify that behind every opening night is a long hallway of work, often invisible until the first audience sees the work.

As Karin puts it: “For example, you want design to be important? You have to work with it along the way. It’s like a painter trying to paint without paint. You can’t just imagine the picture and expect it to work first off. You need space. You need time. You need the ability to test and try. And to do that, you need support.”

Through the lens of EBKM’s residency at The Hannah, we are able to see what’s possible when these things are granted. The results are not just better shows, they’re bolder visions, international opportunities, and a stronger cultural identity for Aotearoa. 

It’s offering visibility and acknowledgement for artists and practitioners who spend a large portion of their creative practice working away from the public eye. And it’s recognising the value of artistry, in all its many forms.

The Hannah isn’t just keeping the lights on. It’s cultivating something luminous.

Follow EBKM’s journey on social media, and via their website.