Ben Grant, creator and actor, The Shrink and Swell of Knots
Try to be true to yourself and kind to everyone else ...
A man stands alone on a stage, crafting his own coffin from rope and wood. As he works, we gain insight into his internal struggles, ones that have been knotting his emotions and scratching away at his sense of peace. Before the hour is over, the coffin is destined to become a raft. As the sole creator and performer of The Shrink and Swell of Knots, award-winning Australian talent Ben Grant began with the intention to produce an optimistic piece of live theatre without ignoring the pervasive realities of life and death. The result is a mind-tickling one-man show that will echo in your thoughts long after you’ve left your seat. Before Ben graces La Boite Theatre with a series of Brisbane Festival performances in September, The Weekend Edition took the opportunity to tap into his curious mind.
The Shrink and Swell of Knots will make a very welcome appearance at Brisbane Festival in September. What can audiences expect from the show?
A man struggling through a labyrinth of knots to build from darkness to light.
It’s been touted as ‘theatre for thinking people’, what do you hope your audience will take away from the experience?
You’ll leave with your brain brimming: an hour filled with coffins and possibilities, volcanoes and song, rafts, rabbits, rope and wood.
What planted the seed of the idea in your mind?
How to talk to my nieces and nephews about my sister’s slow defeat by cancer and how to make an optimistic show without ignoring the realities of life and death.
What are the pre-performance nerves like when you’re the sole creator of a work?
Luckily, I have a lot to prepare every night before this show, so I just focus on getting the set-up right.
The Shrink and Swell of Knots explores the idea of advice-giving. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Get a job where they pay you to travel.
What about the worst?
That I should go into advertising because I’ve ‘got the voice you can trust’.
You write, compose, direct and act – do you have a personal favourite?
It’s pretty hard to choose between acting and music. I’ve been acting since I was four years old and I think I’ll make music until I die. Moving from one to the other refreshes me.
Do you have a favourite score that really resonated with you?
I love Bernard Herrmann’s score to the film Taxi Driver and for a long time I thought it was incredibly original. Then I discovered Charles Mingus.
What life or career achievement are you most proud of?
Apart from this show, being the first Australian actor to co-create a show with Robert Lepage is something that will be hard to top. But realistically, just being able to do what I’m passionate about.
What are your essentials for complete happiness?
Try to be true to yourself and kind to everyone else.
What’s worth fighting for?
Personal integrity.
What’s something you care less about than you did ten years ago?
Ian Thorpe’s sexuality.
What would the childhood version of Ben Grant think of the adult today?
I don’t think I’d notice me, I’d be too busy running down bluestone laneways trying to keep up with the big kids.
What’s your personal definition of success?
Gaining respect for my practice on my own terms.
What are your words of wisdom?
Don’t give advice that isn’t asked for.
FAVOURITE WEEKEND SPOT TO:
Perk up … whale watching in a zodiac at Tadoussac, Quebec.
Relax … at my partner’s flat with a steaming bowl straight from the pressure cooker.
Catch up … with friends at Grand Central Oyster Bar, NYC.
Be inspired … by what I’m going to discover when I get to Brisbane.
